Keynote Speakers

Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi

NIHR Senior Investigator and Professor of Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics at King’s College London

Ammar Al-Chalabi is an NIHR Senior Investigator and Professor of Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics at King’s College London. He is co-Director of the UK MND Research Institute, King’s MND Centre Director, and chairs the International Symposium on ALS/MND Programme Committee. He co-leads the Project MinE international whole genome sequencing consortium and the MND Register of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. He is the recipient of several international prizes including the Forbes Norris Award for Outstanding Care and Research in ALS, the Healey Prize for Innovation in ALS, and the Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research.

Dr Lucie Brujin
Ph.D. MBA

Novartis

I have worked in the neurodegenerative field for the past 28 years with a specific interest in developing therapies for these devastating disorders. As Therapeutic Area Lead for ALS at Novartis I oversea therapeutic strategies and biomarker development for antibody, small molecule and gene therapy assets. Prior to joining Avexis, Gene Therapies and now Novartis, as Chief Scientist at The ALS Association, I established the first translational research program for ALS, Translational Research Advancing Therapies for ALS (TREAT ALS). Through partnerships between academia, government and industry and soliciting donor contributions for strategic programs, I established initiatives for drug development, clinical trials, biomarkers, assistive

Professor Dame
Pamela Shaw

University of Sheffield

Professor Dame Pam Shaw is Professor of Neurology and a Clinician Scientist at the University of Sheffield and Director of: the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN); the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre and the Sheffield Care and Research Centre for Motor Neuron Disorders. Her team investigates genetic, molecular and neurochemical mechanisms underlying ALS/MND; investigates new therapeutic targets and translates new neuroprotective and symptomatic treatment approaches into the clinic. She has authored more than 590 publications (H-index 122). She has received many awards for her research including DBE for Services to Neuroscience (2014),the Queen’s Anniversary Prize (2019) and the British Neuroscience Association Outstanding Contribution award (2022).

Dr Angela Genge

Montreal Neurological Institute

Dr. Angela Genge is the director of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) clinic at The Neuro at Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital and the executive director of The ALS center of Excellence. She earned her MD at the Memorial University of Newfoundland,. Since her appointment as director of the CRU from2004-2024, she established it as the largest neurological clinical research centers in Canada, home to a first-of-its-kind Phase 1 Unit dedicated to neurological diseases. Recognized as an international leader in clinical trial design and an expert in rare neurological conditions. Dr. Genge has led trials involving ALS, the dementias, myopathies, neuropathies, myasthenia gravis, and pain. She has extensive experience in drug development, including early phase, post-approval real world evidence (RWE), and regulatory and medical affairs. Her work and dedication have been acknowledged with multiple awards, including the 2023 Wings over Wall Street Award, 2018 Forbes Norris Award

Dr Jeffrey Rothstein

Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Rothstein is Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University. He is the Founder and Director of the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research and the Director of the Brain Science Institute and the Founder and Co-Director of the ALS Clinic. His lab first discovered that excitotoxicity might be a common pathophysiological process in sporadic ALS, which lead to Riluzole for ALS. He made discoveries on fundamental pathways that underlay familial and sporadic ALS including excitotoxicity, astroglial dysfunction, oligodendroglial dysfunction and the role of nuclear pore complex and nucleocytoplasmic transport in familial and sporadic ALS. He is the author of more than 360 research articles on ALS pathophysiology and basic neuroscience. He is the founder and Director of the Answer ALS program which combines longitudinal clinical data, at home smartphone data collection and the generation of iPS neurons from form more than 1000 USA ALS patients, and their comprehensive

Professor Kevin Talbot

Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford

Kevin Talbot is a clinician scientist with 25 years of experience of diagnosing and managing MND and related diseases. He is Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford, and also leads the Neurodegeneration and Cerebrovascular Theme of the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. The main focus of his laboratory research is to improve pre-clinical models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, focussing on early stage disease. His laboratory has identified disease-specific phenotypes in motor neurons which provide the tools for screening drugs of potential therapeutic benefit in ALS. This is closely linked to work with Oxford colleagues on biomarkers with application to experimental medicine studies to accelerate translation of promising drugs.

Dr Nortina Shahrizalia

Professor of Neurology at University of Malaya

Dr Nortina Shahrizaila graduated from University of Nottingham Medical School, UK in 1997. She went on to complete her general medical training, specialist neurology training and doctorate degree in the UK before returning to Malaysia in 2009. She is currently employed as Consultant Neurologist at University Malaya Medical Centre as well as Professor of Neurology at University of Malaya. She has subspecialty clinical and research interests in the field of peripheral neuropathies, motor neurone disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and peripheral neurophysiology.

A/Prof Shyuan Ngo

The University of Queensland

Group leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

Shyuan Ngo is a group leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. She leads a translational MND/ALS research program that blends mouse and human cell-derived models with in-clinic patient data and sample collection, as well as human post-mortem samples to identify disease mechanisms for therapeutic development and repurposing. Her work has led to the expediting of therapeutics into clinical trials.