INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

This recording from Thursday, 27 November 2025 features leading international experts who discuss the importance of accurate assays for diagnosing AQP4-NMOSD and MOGAD, explore regional assay availability, and share innovative approaches for sample testing and disease monitoring.

Agenda:

• Welcome and introduction – The importance of having accurate assays for the diagnosis of AQP4-NMOSD and MOGAD - Sara Samadzadeh (Germany/Denmark)

• Current assays available for testing (assay availability survey) - Patrick Waters (UK)

• Q&A – Regional perspectives on assay availability- Adriana Casallas Vanegas (Colombia/Spain) & Sanja Glucevic (Montenegro)

• Sample types and testing approaches: CSF vs. serum for AQP4-NMOSD and MOGAD - Sara Mariotto (Italy) - Other approaches and experiences (Rapid IDOT)

• Other approaches and experiences (Rapid IDOT) - Rui Li (China) 

• Limited availability of Live CBA for AQP4-IgG testing in LATAM countries - Vinícius Boldrini (Brazil)

• Closing and wrap-up

The iWiMS Clinical Research Group convened in October 2025 to discuss ongoing and emerging clinical research initiatives.

Please note, these videos are intended for a medical and scientific audience for educational purposes. Please acknowledge the speaker if you reference their work.

For the November 2024 Global Epidemiology Study Group, iWiMS featured Mitra Barzine who spoke on "Scrutinizing NMOSD and MOGAD: Genetic Insights From French Patient cohort", as well as Chloe Pierret, who spoke on "Cancer Risk Among Patients with Multiple Sclerosis."

Please note, these videos are intended for a medical and scientific audience for educational purposes. Please acknowledge the speaker if you reference their work.

For the August 2024 Global Epidemiology Conference, iWiMS featured Dr. Claudia Pestchanker, Hospital Central Dr. Ramón Carrillo, Argentina and Dr. Prashanth Rajarajan, Massachusetts General Brigham, United States.

Dr. Pestchanker spoke about MOGAD and the Latin American region and its limitations in clincial practice. Dr. Rajarajan discussed neurologic outcomes in people with MS who are treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors for oncologic indications.

Please note, these videos are intended for a medical and scientific audience for educational purposes. Please acknowledge the speaker if you reference their work.

For the February 2024 Global Epidemiology Conference, iWiMS featured Dr. Zuhal Abasiyanik who spoke on the use of psychometric properties of patient-reported outcome measures to assess dual-task difficulties in daily life, as well as Dr. Gloria Dalla Costa, who spoke on a wearable device perspective on the standard definitions of disability progression in multiple sclerosis.

Please note, these videos are intended for a medical and scientific audience for educational purposes. Please acknowledge the speaker if you reference their work.

For the November 2023 Global Epidemiology Conference, iWiMS featured Dr. Alice Saul, University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and Dr. Akash Virupakshaiah, University of California, San Francisco, USA.

Dr. Saul spoke about how a pro-inflammatory diet in people with Multiple Sclerosis is associated with an increased rate of relapse and increased FLAIR lesion volume on MRI. Dr. Virupakshaiah discussed predictors of a relapsing course in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease.

Please note, these videos are intended for a medical and scientific audience for educational purposes. Please acknowledge the speaker if you reference their work.

For the April 2023 Global Epidemiology Conference, iWiMS features presentations from the following individuals:

Dr. Eline Van Doninck, University Hospital of Antwerp, Belgium

Dr. Anna-Victoria De Keersmaecker, University Hospital of Antwerp, Belgium

Dr. Vinicius Andreoli Schoeps, University of California San Francisco, United States

Dr. Erin Longbrake, Yale University, United States

Dr. Van Doninck and Dr. De Keersmaecker spoke about their research titled MACSiMiSE-BRAIN: Metformin Add-on Clinical Study in Multiple Sclerosis to Evaluate Brain Remyelination And Neurodegeneration .

Dr. Schoeps discussed Repurposing N-Acetyl Cysteine for Neuroprotection in Progressive MS.

Dr. Longbrake explained the CELLO clinical trial for evaluating short-term ocrelizumab for radiologically isolated syndrome.

Please note, these videos are intended for a medical and scientific audience for educational purposes. Please acknowledge the speaker if you reference their work.

For the March 2023 Global Epidemiology Conference, iWiMS featured Dr. Carmen Tur, Centre d'Escleosi Múltiple de Catalunya (Cemcat), Barcelona and Dr. Nicole Bou, Department of Neurology Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Baltimore, Baltimore.

Dr. Tur spoke about the association of early progression independent of relapse activity and long-term disability after a first demyelinating event. Dr. Bou discussed how the extended interval dosing of Ocrelizumab in patients with Multiple Sclerosis is not associated with meaningful differences in disease activity.

Please note, these videos are intended for a medical and scientific audience for educational purposes. Please acknowledge the speaker if you reference their work.

For the August 22, 2022 Global Epidemiology Conference, iWiMS featured Dr. Julia O’Mahoney, Dr. Antonia Ceccarelli and Dr. Francesca Bovis.