NMD4C: The Neuromuscular Disease Network for Canada

This September 7th to 9th the University of Ottawa Éric Poulin Centre for Neuromuscular Disease (CNMD) hosted the 6th Ottawa International Conference on Neuromuscular Disease and Biology (Ottawa NMD 2023), with a program emphasizing recent breakthroughs in basic and translational research and clinical discoveries in neuromuscular disease. As a network, we had the opportunity to present three posters on the outcomes of select network activities from the first NMD4C grant period. Read the NMD4C abstracts here. All of the Ottawa NMD abstracts are also available on the event website. We also hosted a booth at the conference to share information on the network, recruit new members, and discuss our work with the many investigators and neuromuscular stakeholders who visited! 

NMD4C Posters at Ottawa NMD 2023 

• Compliance to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Care Considerations in Canada  
• Expert Patient Capacity Building in Neuromuscular Disease Research   
• The Neuromuscular Disease Network for Canada (NMD4C): An interdisciplinary national collaboration to tackle unmet needs for NMD research and care

Read the NMD4C abstracts here.

NMD4C Investigators that Presented at Ottawa NMD 2023 

The three-day Ottawa NMD 2023 conference hosted nationally and internationally renowned basic researchers and clinicians to present talks highlighting advances in all aspects of NMD research, including new clinical diagnostic techniques, biology of disease pathogenesis, basic muscle and stem cell biology, and promising therapies to treat NMDs. Several network investigators delivered talks across the action-packed three-day program. 

• Dr Craig Campbell: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Episignature 
• Dr Natasha Chang: Muscle stem cell dysfunction in Duchenne muscular dystrophy 
• Dr Gerald Pfeffer: Transcriptomic profiles and pathologic correlation in adult-onset myopathies 

• Dr Hernan Gonorazky: MRI in the age of Artificial Intelligence 
• Dr Mireille Khacho: Impact of Mitochondrial Dynamics on Muscle Stem Cell Function: Insights from Physiology, Diseases and Ageing 
• Dr Hanns Lochmüller: Congenital myasthenic syndromes – diagnosis and therapy 
• Dr Rami Massie: Update in autoimmune neuropathies 
• Dr Hugh McMillan: Gene therapy in spinal muscular atrophy 

• Dr Kerri Schellenberg: Clinical Updates in Spinal Bulbar Muscular Atrophy 
• Dr Jodi Warman Chardon: Muscle Imaging in Genetic and Autoimmune Muscle Diseases 
• Dr Nicolas Dumont: Clearance of defective muscle stem cells by senolytics reduces the expression of senescence associated secretory phenotype and restores myogenesis in myotonic dystrophy type 1 
• Stacey Lintern / Dr Homira Osman: Opening remarks at Keynote Session 

We are looking forward to Ottawa NMD 2025!