Special Episode: A Consensus Paper on Smoldering MS with Dr. Antonio Scalfari
Release Date: 02/20/2025
Episode 401: The Things That (Should) Happen at Your Appointment With Your Neurologist with Dr. Barbara Giesser
RealTalk MS
Most people living with MS don't see their neurologist often. For many, it might be only once or twice a year. A lot of important things take place during that appointment. Symptoms are assessed. Decisions about disease-modifying therapies are made or, sometimes, changed. Questions get asked and, hopefully, answered. Dr. Barbara Giesser returns to the podcast, this time, to review the things that should be discussed and followed up on at your appointment with your neurologist or MS specialist. We're also sharing some good news about MS research funding from the National MS Society and...
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Episode 400: The President and CEO of the National MS Society Looks Back at the Past and Shares a Vision of the Future with Dr. Tim Coetzee
RealTalk MS
Welcome to the 400th episode of RealTalk MS! Over the past nearly eight years, it's been my absolute honor to bring you insights from leading experts, researchers, advocates, and, perhaps most importantly, from people living with MS themselves. And we have no intention of stopping here! We're excited to continue bringing you the information and conversations that matter most to the MS community. In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Tim Coetzee, President and CEO of the National MS Society, looks back at a significant milestone that took place eighty years ago. Tim also shares his...
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Episode 399: How Spirituality Can Make a Difference If You're Living with MS with Dr. Mana Ali Carter
RealTalk MS
Research shows that spirituality can benefit mental health and improve overall well-being. And it can play a meaningful role in helping people cope with life’s challenges, like living with MS. This week, Dr. Mana Ali Carter, a rehabilitation psychologist at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington D.C., joins me to discuss the positive effects that spirituality can have on the mind and body, and how it's been shown to make a difference for people living with MS. We're also sharing encouraging initial reports from a Phase 1 clinical trial for KYV-101, Kyverna's...
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Episode 398: How Breakthrough Discoveries in MS Research Will Impact MS Care with Dr. Amit Bar-Or
RealTalk MS
Last week, at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, Dr. Amit Bar-Or received the John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research for his multiple achievements that have advanced our knowledge of neuroimmunology, precision medicine, and biomarkers in MS. We talked with Dr. Bar-Or about how some of the latest discoveries in MS research would impact patient care. Tolebrutinib, an investigational disease-modifying therapy, is currently making its way through the FDA's regulatory process. Last week, the results of the Phase 3 clinical trials for Tolebrutinib were published, and...
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Episode 397: Managing Grief and MS with Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor
RealTalk MS
For many people, it can be difficult to talk about the feelings of loss that can accompany MS. For some, it's the loss of the way they imagined their life would turn out. For others, it's the more specific loss of function. Perhaps the loss of their mobility. Or a decline in their cognitive skills. It's painful to imagine any of these scenarios, let alone experience them in real life. The human response to loss is grief. And grieving itself can affect your physical, emotional, and cognitive health. Joining me today to discuss how grieving can affect you, along with ways to best...
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Episode 396: The Importance of Cancer Screenings for People Living with MS With Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie
RealTalk MS
Managing MS means staying focused not only on your MS but also on your overall health. That includes getting routine health screenings to stay ahead of potential complications. Recent research has shown that, compared to healthy people, people with MS are more likely to develop some cancers. Clinician-scientist Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie joins me to discuss which cancers pose a greater risk to someone with MS, why you need to make those appointments for cancer screenings, where you can find low-cost or no-cost cancer screenings, and things you can do to further minimize your risk of...
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Episode 395: Things You Need to Know When You're Managing MS While You're Managing Menopause with Dr. Riley Bove
RealTalk MS
When you look at a list of the typical symptoms associated with perimenopause, you'd think you were looking at a list of MS symptoms. And, for women living with MS, that's where the confusion begins. With an estimated 30% of the current MS population now in peri- or post-menopause, researchers are beginning to focus on how menopause and MS interact and the best ways to treat symptoms. Dr. Riley Bove, a neurologist and founding director of the Sex and Gender-Enriched (SAGE) Neurology Program at the University of California San Francisco, joins me to talk about the things you need to know...
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Episode 394: Probably The Most Important Conversation About MS Advocacy That We Will Ever Have with Steffany Stern
RealTalk MS
Next week, a couple of hundred MS activists will gather in Washington, D.C. for the National MS Society's Public Policy Conference. As we're seeing devastating cuts in funding for MS research, layoffs in every major governmental agency that impacts our healthcare, including the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, CDC, Health and Human Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and even Medicaid funding is at serious risk, advocacy has never been more important than it is right now. I'm devoting this entire episode to a conversation with Steffany Stern, the National MS...
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Bonus: An ACTRIMS Forum Conversation with Kristine Werner Ozug
RealTalk MS
Just a couple of weeks ago, 1,800 scientists, clinicians, postdoctoral fellows, and medical residents gathered in West Palm Beach, Florida, for the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis annual meeting, better known as the ACTRIMS Forum. Kristine Werner Ozug lives with MS and, full disclosure, she's a member of the RealTalk MS team. After the ACTRIMS Forum, Kristine shared her impressions of the conference. We have a lot to talk about! Are you ready for RealTalk MS??! SHARE THIS EPISODE OF REALTALK MS Just copy this link & paste it into your text or...
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Bonus: An ACTRIMS Forum Conversation with Dr. Emanuelle Waubant
RealTalk MS
Just a couple of weeks ago, 1,800 scientists, clinicians, postdoctoral fellows, and medical residents gathered in West Palm Beach, Florida, for the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis annual meeting, better known as the ACTRIMS Forum. Dr. Emanuelle Waubant is a neurologist who specializes in treating patients with MS, and she is the Director of the UCSF Regional Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center. At the ACTRIMS Forum, we talked with Dr. Waubant about advances in pediatric MS treatment and care, and the importance of the International Women in Multiple...
info_outlineThis special episode of RealTalk MS is sponsored by Sanofi. By now, you may have come across the term smoldering MS and wondered what it means. An international panel of MS experts has published a consensus statement on the definition, biology, and clinical implications of smoldering MS. Joining me is the lead author of that paper, Dr. Antonio Scalfari.
Dr. Antonio Scalfari has a research background in multiple sclerosis and neuro-inflammatory conditions. From 2003 to 2006, he was a clinical fellow in the neurology department of Oxford University. In 2011, Dr. Scalfari obtained his PhD in neuro-epidemiology at Imperial College London, where he was then a post-doctorate research fellow from 2011 to 2013.
Since 2006, Dr. Scalfari has been working at the London North West Healthcare NHS Trust, and in 2013, he started working at the multiple sclerosis unit at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. In 2017, Dr. Scalfari was appointed as a substantive consultant neurologist. Along with other consultants, he manages the multiple sclerosis and neuro-inflammatory diseases service at Charing Cross and St Mary's hospitals and is a general neurologist at London North West Healthcare NHS Trust.
Sanofi convened the meetings and paid for medical writing assistance, but the authors worked independently to develop and draft the consensus statement. While Dr. Scalfari has been compensated by Sanofi, his views and opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sanofi.