ACTRIMS 2021 Post-Conference Expert Perspective: Jeffrey Cohen, MD

“We put on the large, combined meeting with ECTRIMS in the fall—MS Virtual 2020—so we learned a lot of lessons from that.”

For a year now, medical organizations and societies around the world have been forced to shift to a virtual format for their annual meetings, adjusting from the normal ebbs and flows on the exhibit hall floors to an all-digital, on-demand style. For the major multiple sclerosis (MS) groups like the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) and its Forum 2021, this was no different.

This year’s meeting ran from February 25-27, with a theme focused on the spectrum of MS, and was granted a distinct advantage regarding its planning, as Jeffrey Cohen, MD, president, ACTRIMS, and director, Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research, Cleveland Clinic, told NeurologyLive. Specifically, ACTRIMS had fortunately already in-part run a virtual meeting—the joint meeting with its European counterpart, ECTRIMS. Conversely, the 2020 meeting was one of the final in-person conferences of the year.

In this interview, Cohen offers his perspective on the forum in this new format. He shared his thoughts the impact of missing the personal interactions that are so vital to the experience, such as hallway conversations and discussions over coffee, and how ACTRIMS tried to re-create those experiences. Additionally, he spoke to what he envisions the future of the ACTRIMS Forum to look like as future meetings take on a hybrid nature.

For more coverage of ACTRIMS Forum 2021, click here.