Hear from experts in the fields of MND research and neurology and to ask questions at this Forum. This is an opportunity for people living with MND, their family, and friends to learn the latest developments in MND.

For those who are shy about talking in public, have speech difficulties or have a query they would rather have someone else ask, you can pass your question onto MND NSW staff and they will ask the question(s) on your behalf. Remember your question may be just the one others want to ask!

There is no charge for you to attend this Forum but you will need to RSVP by 1 November to reserve your place. Morning tea and lunch are provided. To RSVP or for more information contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or ph. 8877 0999 or Freecall 1800 777 175.

PROGRAM

10am Tea and coffee on arrival

10.30am Welcome - and overview of day

10.35am About Motor Neurone Disease - Dr Rebeka Ahmed, Consultant Neurologist, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Memory and Cognition Clinic at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney

11.15am Question time

11.40am Genetic factors in MND; progress and hopes for familial and sporadic MND - Associate Professor Ian Blair, Macquarie University Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research

12.15pm Question time

12.30pm LUNCH

1.15pm Getting involved - MND research and clinical trials - Dr Shyuan Ngo, Scott Sullivan MND Research Fellow, University of Queensland

2pm Question time

2.20pm Closing address

Presenter Biographies

Dr Rebekah Ahmed is a Consultant Neurologist, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Memory and Cognition Clinic at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney. She undertook her Physician and Neurology training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Concord Hospital. She was awarded the prestigious Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurology (ANZAN) Fellowship to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom.  She then undertook a Clinical Research Fellowship at the Dementia Research Centre, University College London, managing clinical trials in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal dementia. Her research focuses on the metabolic aspects of neurodegenerative dementias.

Associate Professor Ian Blair is Director of the Macquarie University Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, a large multidisciplinary MND research program of over 70 research personnel. He conceives, instigates and leads studies to unravel the molecular genetic and cellular basis of MND and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In the past 10 years, his group has played a key role in most MND gene discoveries worldwide. His team uses these mutant genes as tools to develop cell and animal models that express the mutant proteins to explore the molecular and cellular pathogenesis underlying the disease. These discoveries are also used to develop new diagnostic tests, predict disease onset and progression, and establish new models for therapeutic development.

Dr Shyuan Ngo obtained her PhD in Neuroscience in 2009 at UQ’s School of Biomedical Sciences. Following this, she took up a postdoctoral position spanning UQCCR and the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital to pursue translational research under the mentorship of neurologists Prof Pamela McCombe and A/Prof Robert Henderson. In 2012, she was awarded a Bill Gole Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Motor Neurone Disease Research Institute of Australia (MNDRIA) and returned to the School of Biomedical Sciences with this fellowship to initiate a research program to study the impact of metabolic dysfunction on motor neuron disease (MND). In 2015, Dr Ngo was awarded the Scott Sullivan MND Research Fellowship and started her independent research laboratory at UQ. In 2017, she relocated her laboratory to the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and expanded her research program to introduce the use of stem cells for disease modelling and therapeutic drug screening. Working across UQ (Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, and Queensland Brain Institute) and the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital, and Wesley Medical Research, Dr Ngo actively conducts research with laboratory models and MND patients. By gaining a better understanding of how MND affects individuals on a patient-by-patient basis, Dr Ngo’s goal is to drive precision medicine for MND.