Inside Look at Themes, Sessions at ACTRIMS 2023 Forum: Daniel Ontaneda, MD

WATCH TIME: 7 minutes

"It’s really a venue for a combination of clinicians, scientists, folks who work in industry, and different stakeholders in the MS community, to get together and discuss topics of relevance. Specifically, topics of relevance to research and how we’re trying to help cure this disease."

The eighth annual Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2023 kicks off February 23 in San Diego, California, with this year’s theme being “MS: Going Viral.” Several sessions and posters will address the role of different viruses that have been implicated in the ongoing disease process in multiple sclerosis (MS), and in particular the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which has been associated with the onset of MS.

Highlights of the Forum include the Kenneth P. Johnson Memorial Lecture and the National MS Society Barancik Award presentation and talk. The meeting is also geared towards young investigators with an interest in MS, with the first session of the Forum completely composed of platform presentations by young investigators. Daniel Ontaneda, MD, program committee vice-chair, believes the meeting is a solid mix of translational science, basic science, and upper-level clinical science.

Prior to the kickoff, Ontaneda sat down to provide an overview of the Forum, including the notable sessions and presentations clinicians should key in on. He spoke about the different topics related to the theme of the meeting, including the progress made on understanding EBV and viral infections. Additionally, he discussed several promising areas of research that have gone "viral," such as calorie restriction, treating fatigue, and EBV vaccination.

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