One week to go...

With exactly a week to go until the doors to the symposium open for researchers, clinicians and health and social care professionals, we are all feeling a growing sense of anticipation. A last minute bombardment of enquiries from panicked poster presenters asking their ‘better late than never’ questions of what size their poster needs to be informs us that this feeling is mutual. In case you wondered, posters can be any size up to a maximum of 1 metre square.

As it stands today, a total of 812 people have registered to attend the symposium – that’s already 59 people more than last year without taking into consideration those who will be registering on the day.

Some of you may already be aware that the symposium platform presentations are split into two sessions, scientific and clinical, that run simultaneously. In general, the scientific sessions aim to reveal recent advances into the causes and mechanisms of motor neurone degeneration and the clinical sessions aim to stimulate improvement in quality of life for people living with MND.

This would normally leave us with a dilemma as to which session to attend. However, with the help of two of our regional care and development advisers, Chris Lynch (Greater Manchester and South Lancashire) and Kevin Thomas (North Wales) our dilemma is evaded. With Chris’ and Kevin’s help and expertise with regard to care issues, I will be able to report on both sessions with what they really mean to you.

For those of you with a curiosity as to what this year’s symposium is all about before it all begins, you may be interested to know that the abstract book (see blog entry below of an explanation of what the abstract book is) is now live on our 20th International Symposium website just click on ‘Abstract Book 2009’ – just please don’t tell me if you find any typing errors!