NMD4C: The Neuromuscular Disease Network for Canada

Over May 27-28 2024, the NMD4C animal and cell-based research team hosted the first-ever annual basic research summer school for neuromuscular research trainees at McGill University in Montréal, QC. 

We were pleased to welcome 36 trainees at the MSc, PhD, and postdoctoral level, alongside patient partners, senior scientists and members of industry for a packed program over two full days. Trainees presented flash talks on their research interests, received lectures from patient partners, senior scientists and industry members before participating in hands-on workshops in the afternoon. Each evening, the attendees also had the chance to attend networking events and ask questions to a panel on the topic of “Careers in NMD research”.

Dr Benoit Gentil leads a cohort of summer school attendees through a cell modelling workshop.

Alessio Cusmano (Chang lab) demonstrates techniques in muscle satellite stem cell isolation from mouse models.

Panel discussion with senior investigators and industry member on day 2 of summer school.

Thank you to all attendees at the first NMD4C summer school!

The diverse sessions offered opportunities for attendees to receive training in cutting-edge wet lab and bioinformatics techniques, while providing an environment to network in-person with colleagues and senior investigators from across Canada, broadening their academic network and fostering future collaborations. 

We hope to see you next year

We are also excited to announce that we will host this event again next summer, with details on the event location, organizing team and registration to come! Stay tuned to our event webpage for the latest updates.

Thank you to the Organizing team

Lastly, we would like to extend a special thank-you to our organizing team – without their tireless work behind the scenes, this event would not have been possible. Thank you to Dr Natasha Chang, Dr Kessen Patten, Dr Marine Christin, Alessio Cusmano, Dr Nicolas Dumont, Dr Benoit Gentil, Dr Rashmi Kothary, Dr Léa Lescouzères, Dr Homira Osman, Dr Martine Tétreault, Dr Erin Beattie and James Davis. 

Thank you to our sponsors 

Thank you to the institutions and organizations who provided support for this event: McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill School of Biomedical Sciences, The Stem Cell Network, ThéCell, and Amazon Web Services.