Biology to Therapy for Neuro-Muscular Diseases

Join us for an exciting in-person event at Manawa in the heart of the medical precinct in Christchurch, New Zealand. The symposium is a must-attend gathering for professionals in the industry, including scientists, clinicians, counsellors, geneticists, nurses, and physiotherapists with interest or expertise in neurological or myopathic diseases. The key social and scientific opportunities from this symposium will include:

Discovering the latest fundamental research and therapeutic advancement for neurological and myopathy diseases
Opportunities to network with like-minded individuals and industry leaders
Professional development and collaborative opportunities

Lunch and afternoon tea will be provided for registrants.

Speakers

We are delighted to welcome experts from New Zealand, Australia and France, covering fundamental science and clinical advancements for diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, myotonic dystrophy, Batten disease, Parkinson's disease, adenylosuccinate synthetase 1 myopathy, and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

Dr Aurélie Goyenvalle - Director of Research at INSERM and Head of the Biotherapies for Neuromuscular Diseases Lab at Université Paris-Saclay, France
- Presentation: Antisense approaches for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and recent advances to address DMD brain comorbidities
Dr Cyrille Vaillend - Director of Research at CNRS and Head of the Cognition, Plasticity & Neuropathologies Lab at Université Paris-Saclay, France
- Presentation: Neurobiology of brain-related comorbidities in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Dr Ian Woodcock - paediatric neurologist at Royal Children's Hospital and Research Fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia
- Presentation: Spinal Muscular Atrophy in 2026: The Era of Disease Modifying Therapies and newborn screening
Associate Professor Richard Roxburgh - neurologist and lead of the Neurogenetics Research Clinic, University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Presentation: The rise of New Zealand as the place for Clinical trials for Neurogenetic disease
Dr Michelle Lorentzos - paediatric neurologist and Advanced Therapeutics Medical Lead at The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Australia
- Presentation: Precision, Promises and Pitfalls: Genetic Therapies in Neuromuscular Medicine
Professor Emma Rybalka - Director of the Inherited and Acquired Myopathies Program at Victoria University, Australia
- Presentation: Developing adenylosuccinic acid as the first therapy for ultra-rare ADSS1 (adenylosuccinate synthase 1) deficient myopathy
Dr Vanessa Morris - Director of the protein aggregation laboratory at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand
- Presentation: Do shed a tear for me: investigating novel biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease from reflex tears
Dr Nadia Mitchell - Director of the Batten disease research group at Lincoln University, New Zealand
- Presentation: Translational gene therapies for CLN5 Batten disease: Lessons to be learnt from sheep

Program at a glance

0900: Registration

0930 - 1000: Welcome

1000 - 1200: Presentations

1200 - 1300pm: Lunch

1300 - 1500: Presentations

1500 - 1530: Afternoon tea break

1530 - 1630: Presentations

1630 - 1640: Closing

Sponsors

Roche

Muscular Dystrophy Association of New Zealand

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