EndMS Summer School in Winnipeg Manitoba

Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to be join the endMS Summer School conference, hosted by the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg. The week-long conference was themed “MS Pathogenesis, Prognosis, and Repair” this year and consisted of daily talks from a diverse group of researchers, active participation workshops, networking events with peers, and career panels from those working closely to MS clinical research. Within the duration of the conference, professionals in the MS field and beyond shared their knowledge of Remyelination, MS heritability, Diagnostic imaging and the pathway towards MS Diagnosis, and the MS prodrome.

The endMS Summer School provided me the opportunity to learn about aspects of MS research and treatment from a clinical standpoint and from perspectives I typically wouldn’t encounter in my doctoral studies. It also provided me the unique opportunity to meet other MS researchers and trainees from across the country whom I may have never had the chance to meet otherwise.

Breaks were also good

My lab work as a grad student is typically very ‘zoomed-in’ and I rarely have the chance to step back and see the broad spectrum of how our work in the lab is applied outside of the lab setting alongside the ‘big picture’ of MS research. This conference was an invaluable experience and has reminded me how many people are impacted and care about the research that I do in my little corner of the country. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity I had to attend this year’s endMS Summer School conference and hope to attend next year’s in Alberta and others like it.