NeurologyLive® Year in Review 2023: Most-Listened Mind Moments® Episodes

Every other Friday, the NeurologyLive^® team publishes a new episode of our podcast, Mind Moments^®. The show features guests who are experts in the clinical care of patients, executives of pharmaceutical companies, top researchers and investigators, and key voices in the advocacy communities.

Over the past year, the podcast has grown immensely, with more than 30 posted episodes covering various topics in the neurology field. In addition, the team has increased efforts to provide timely coverage of FDA approvals with conversations with clinicians who will ultimately use those newly approved products. Furthermore, we've tried to capture the sights and sounds of some of the biggest conferences in neurology by producing multiple recaps featuring bits from presenting clinicians and those chairing sessions.

Here, we'll highlight the most-listened-to episodes of the podcast that appeared on NeurologyLive^® this year. Click play to listen to any one of these episodes.

1. Special Episode: Lecanemab Approved for Alzheimer Disease

LISTEN TIME: 15 minutes

This special episode features an exclusive interview with Sharon Cohen, MD, FRCPC, a behavioral neurologist and medical director of the Toronto Memory Program at the University of Toronto, and a trial investigator for Clarity AD, the supportive phase 3 trial of lecanemab (Leqembi; Eisai). Lecanemab was approved via the accelerated approval pathway, with the application supported by data from the phase 2b proof-of-concept clinical trial, known as Study 201 (NCT01767311). The pivotal phase 3 Clarity AD trial (NCT03887455) is anticipated to serve as supplementary data and is pending review by the FDA.

2. Episode 81: Widening the Therapeutic Window in Parkinson Disease

LISTEN TIME: 20 minutes

Episode 81 features an exclusive interview with Robert A. Hauser, MD, MBA, director of the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center at the University of South Florida. He spoke about the current state of therapeutics in Parkinson disease (PD), some of the lingering challenges in day-to-day management, the promise of novel agents in development such as IPX203, and more.

3. Episode 80: Advancing Treatment for Rare Neuromuscular Disorders

LISTEN TIME: 20 minutes

Episode 80 features an exclusive interview with Sarah Boyce, president and CEO of Avidity Biosciences, who shared insight into the company's ongoing work with its antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOC) platform and the focus on myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) treatments, as well as the challenges with developing successful RNA therapies, and more.

4. Episode 94: Daridorexant Approved for Insomnia

LISTEN TIME: 47 minutes

This special episode features an exclusive interview with 2 experts in neurology clinical care: Anton P. Porsteinsson, MD, the William B. and Sheila Konar Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Medicine, and the director of the Alzheimer's Disease Care, Research and Education Program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry; and Alberto Espay, MD, PhD, the division director and Research Endowed Chair of the James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, and a professor of clinical neurology and rehabilitation medicine at the University of Cincinnati. The duo provide in-depth dive into the recent approval of lecanemab (Leqembi; Eisai) for Alzheimer disease and the ongoing debate about its potential benefit, the amyloid-targeting class of medicines, and the communication of data.

5. Special Episode: Tofersen Approved for SOD1 ALS

LISTEN TIME: 12 minutes

This special episode featured an interview with Angela Genge, MD, FRCPC, the director of the ALS Centre of Excellence for Research and Patient Care at McGill University, and an executive at the Clinical Research Unit at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital). She gave her immediate reaction and thoughts to the approval of tofersen (Qalsody; Biogen/Ionis), the first approved therapy for SOD1 mutation-mediated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Tofersen is an antisense oligonucleotide, and its new drug application (NDA) was supported by data from a phase 1 study of healthy volunteers, a phase 1/2 dose-ascending study, the pivotal phase 3 VALOR study (NCT02623699), and its open-label extension.

6. Episode 82: Managing Seizures After Ischemic Stroke

LISTEN TIME: 25 minutes

Episode 82 features an interview with Carolina Ferreira Atuesta, MD, MSc, a scientific researcher and clinical data manager at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She spoke about research she and colleagues recently presented at the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting on poststroke epilepsy, the ongoing clinical efforts to manage seizures occurring after stroke, what studies still need to explore, and more.

7. Special Episode: SRP-9001 Approved As First Gene Therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

LISTEN TIME: 12 minutes

This special episode features an exclusive interview with Natalie Goedeker, CPNP, a nurse practitioner in neurology in the Neuromuscular Division at Washington University in St Louis, who offered comment on SRP-9001 (Elevidys; Sarepta), the first approved gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). SRP-9001 is an AAV vector-based gene therapy that was greenlit for ambulatory patients with DMD with a confirmed mutation in the DMD gene aged 4 to 5 years, based on data from the phase 3 EMBARK study (NCT05096221).

8. Episode 88: 2023 AAN Annual Meeting Highlights

LISTEN TIME: 41 minutes

Episode 88 features interviews with a variety of specialists in neurology who presented research and gave talks at the 75th American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, held April 22-27, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. These included: Michael H. Barnett, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, a consultant neurologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) Sydney, director of the RPAH MS Clinic and the MS Clinical Trials Unit at the Brain and Mind Centre; codirector of the MS Research Australia Brain Bank; and a senior professor at the University of Sydney; Nancy R. Foldvary-Schaefer, DO, FAAN, the director of the Sleep Disorders Center and staff in the Epilepsy Center at Cleveland Clinic, and a professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University; Sean J. Pittock, MD, the director of the Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology and director of the Neuroimmunology Research Laboratory at Mayo Clinic; Katherine W. Turk, MD, a neurologist at Boston VA Memory Disorders Clinic, principal investigator and codirector of the Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience lab (CTCN) at VA Boston; and assistant professor of neurology and coleader of the Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement core of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Boston University; Erika U. Augustine, MD, MS, the associate chief science officer and director of the Clinical Trials Unit at the Kennedy Krieger Institute; Jeffrey M. Statland, MD, a neuromuscular disease specialist and professor of neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center; and Chian-Chun Chiang, MD, a stroke and migraine specialist and assistant professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic.

9. Special Episode: Trofinetide Approved for Rett Syndrome

LISTEN TIME: 11 minutes

This special episode features an exclusive interview with Jeffrey L. Neul, MD, PhD, the Annette Schaffer Eskind Chair and director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, and professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and the lead investigator on the phase 3 study of the drug, called LAVENDER (NCT04181723). Trofinetide is a synthetic analog of the amino‐terminal tripeptide of IGF-1, and is now the first treatment approval for Rett syndrome, marking a milestone in the field of developmental disorder care.

10. Pimavanserin and Atypical Antipsychotics to Treat Parkinson Disease Psychosis

LISTEN TIME: 21 minutes

Episode 86 features an exclusive interview with Dilesh Doshi, PharmD, vice president of Health Economic and Outcomes Research at Acadia Pharmaceuticals. He spoke on the advantages and benefits of pimavanserin (Nuplazid; Acadia), the only FDA-approved therapy to treat Parkinson disease psychosis. Additionally, he discussed recent data that compared efficacy and safety of other off-label therapies such as clozapine and quetiapine.