8th Annual Scientific Meeting

(4th – 6th September 2019)
Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales

Local Organising Committee

Manoj Menezes
Hugo Sampaio
Michelle Farrar
Alexandra Johnson
Shekeeb Mohammad
Simone Ardern-Holmes

International Speakers

Anne M. Connolly, MD, is chief of the Division of Neurology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and a member of the Center for Gene Therapy in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s. An internationally recognized expert in pediatric neuromuscular disease and neuroimmunology, Dr. Connolly’s early research examined the relationship between auto-antibodies and childhood neurological disorders. She has also help develop outcome measures for infants and boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and has led or been a collaborator in numerous pivotal clinical trials in children with neuromuscular disorders. She has served as a national thought leader for multiple foundation and government agency efforts and has specifically contributed to efforts to achieve newborn screening for neuromuscular disorders including SMA and DMD. She is an American Academy of Neurology Fellow, and member of the Child Neurology and the World Muscle Societie. Named among the “Best Doctors in America,” Dr. Connolly has also participated in numerous national and international work groups for the development of standards of care for SMA, DMD, and CMD.

John Svaren, Ph.D. is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a member/core-director in the Waisman Center, which is dedicated to research in developmental disabilities. His laboratory focuses on gene regulation of peripheral nerve myelination and translational research for the heritable neuropathy Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT). The latter studies include development of drug screening assays, biomarker development, and genomic/epigenomic studies of peripheral neuropathy, with a focus on the most prevalent form of CMT (CMT1A). He is a member of the board of the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association, and chair of its scientific advisory board.

Francesco Pisani is Associate Professor and head of the Child Neuropsychiatry Unit at the University of Parma Hospital. Francesco’s training and experience in Child Neurology has been in Italy and the UK. He is the author of more than a hundred publications. Prof Pisani’s research interest covers a spectrum of childhood neurological disorders: he is internationally acclaimed and recognised for his work on neonatal seizures and neonatal neurology. Prof Pisani is also active in teaching neonatal neurology and neonatal EEGs across Europe.

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