MND-SMART Gathering - Edinburgh July 2023
Jul 2023: The MND-SMART teams from across the UK came together for an informative and enjoyable afternoon symposium to discuss all aspects of the trial.
We were delighted to host nearly 80 people in Edinburgh at the beginning of July for the annual MND-SMART gathering.
This was a truly multi-disciplinary meeting, including trial management staff, principal investigators and research nurses from 13 of the 20 trial sites, members of our Patient Advisory Group, as well as representatives from Huddersfield Pharmacy Specials our drug suppliers, and the drug discovery team from the Euan MacDonald Centre laboratories at the University of Edinburgh,
With the beautiful backdrop of the Edinburgh skyline, we enjoyed short presentations that spanned the full breadth of trial activity. We heard about how the drugs to be tested are chosen, how they are manufactured (including the challenges of making different drugs look and taste the same), how the trial is delivered across the UK and how the data are analysed statistically.
There was also time for informal discussion to share experiences and address issues faced by the site delivery teams. It was heartening to hear, for example, teams from Highland and Newcastle discussing how they overcome geographical challenges in their catchment areas, to provide the very best experience possible for people with MND who are participating in the trial.
Overall the meeting was friendly and positive, with all teams eagerly awaiting the next interim analysis results and keen to expand the trial to test more drugs and reach more people across the UK.
