Reflecting on the 7th International ARSACS Symposium 2023
The 7th International Symposium on Autosomal Spastic Recessive Ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) was held on 19th-20th October, welcoming 200 people online and in-person, from researchers to clinicians, neurologists, physiotherapists, medical students, patients and their families. The event was an opportunity to hear about the latest advancements in ARSACS research and build upon knowledge to lead towards treatments.
ARSACS is a rare neurological condition that was originally discovered in Quebec, Canada. However, several cases have been documented in many other countries.
The PROSPAX Project, a 3-year international collaborative research project (2020-2023) funded by the European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases (EJPRD), focuses primarily on ARSACS as well as Spastic paraplegia type 7 (SPG7). You can read about how the PROSPAX project will chart disease progression and outcomes in ARSACS here.
This year, the ARSACS Symposium was a satellite meeting of the 2023 World Congress of Neurology held in Montreal, Canada. The keynote speakers were Dr Stefan Pulst of the University of Utah and Dr Esther Becker of the University of Oxford. Researchers from across the world were in attendance to present their work.
The symposium made for a dynamic and collaborative two days, bringing together enthusiasm and insight to drive future research.
Sonia Gobeil, Co-Founder of the ARSACS Foundation, reflected on the symposium:
“Thank you to all the researchers, neurologists, patients and their families, sponsors and the public who participated and worked towards improving the well-being of people affected by ARSACS. Special thanks to the Neuro for its valuable support in organizing this event”.
You can watch the recordings of the talks from the symposium here.
You can also read more about the ARSACS Foundation here.
You can read about ARSACS research, including ARSACS research funded by Ataxia UK here.