Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279 www.elsevier.com/locate/nmd
19th World Muscle Society Congress, Berlin 2014
A City of Cranes and Dinosaurs From the wild and sunny landscape of California in 2013, to the beating heart of Europe, with myriad layers of history and heritage: the WMS 21st Century tour bus alighted in Berlin, host city for the 19th World Muscle Society congress, and, as always, offered Education, Entertainment and Excitement as senior myology experts from around the globe congregated to exchange ideas, discuss new theories, and disseminate their knowledge to the younger, up-and-coming players in the muscle field. Delegates began to assemble in the preceding days to take some time to explore the city, or, in the hours before the Welcome Ceremony, to put up posters in spacious areas within two grand historical buildings, one at the Humboldt Graduate School with its high ceilings and ornate interior plaster and paintwork, and the second an expansive central glass roofed space at the Faculty of Agriculture and Gardening, providing abundant natural light, ideal for Facilitators and Prize Judges to scrutinise every detail of the posters vying for their position of glory in world muscle history. The central location for this year’s congress was LangenbeckVirchow-Haus. During its 100 year history, starting out as the home of the German Surgical Society and Berlin Medical Association, it fell into the hands of the Soviet military following World War II and was robbed of its much-prized paintings, furniture and its extensive library. In 1949 it became the People’s Chamber of the nascent German Democratic Republic and only in 2003, following legal twists, turns and political intrigue was it http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nmd.2015.02.004
finally returned to its rightful owners for use in the causes of science and medicine. As dusk fell on Tuesday, delegates congregated in the great auditorium in Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus for the Welcome Ceremony. Our top man with the muscle for coordinating events as Chair of the Local Organising Committee for this year’s congress was Werner Stenzel, who greeted the audience and provided a taste of Berlin’s maverick character, a beacon of freedom and non-conformity in defiance during times of oppression in history. He introduced Dr. Annette Grüters-Kieslich, Dean of the Charité Hospital, who welcomed the World Muscle Society on behalf of the Charité: this hospital’s specialist strengths and most important area of research lay in the neurosciences and neurology, earning it many Nobel Prizes. Dr. Grüters-Kieslich echoed the philosophy of the WMS as she declared that the Charité’s interest in the congress was not about size and money, but to push forward the boundaries of knowledge and learning, best achieved by focusing on “smaller is beautiful” with just three specific topics and no concurrently running sessions. Dr. Hanns Zischler, multi-talented author, scientist and philosopher, then stepped to the podium to take WMS guests on a journey through the history of Berlin and its people, in particular its prominent industrial past and its evolution into a great centre of science and medicine. Berliners, once “Pharaohs of industry”, had become “Pharaohs of science”. His detailed narrative was interspersed with song, as Martin Bresgott’s male
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
The Athesinus Consort Berlin sings in harmony for the congress delegates.
quartet, Athesinus Consort Berlin, brought song to the audience with compositions by Johannes Brahms and Ralph Vaughan Williams, among other distinguished composers. Delegates, now well rested but starting to crave sustenance, were ushered from Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus, along the street and across the wide Invalidenstrasse to the Natural History Museum, where they were transported back in time and walked among dinosaurs – or at least their skeletons – their muscle having atrophied into oblivion some time ago. But poetic balance was restored as myologists mingled among their bony Jurassic forbears and caught up with neuromuscular colleagues and
Muscle and bone: a winning combination. WMS reception with wine and canapés at the Natural History Museum, Berlin.
275
friends from around the globe, talked muscle, and eagerly anticipated the cerebral activities of the coming days, while caterers emerged from concealed corners and served wines and canapés. Scientific proceedings were launched at nine in the morning on Wednesday following WMS President Victor Dubowitz’s own welcome speech to the assembled delegates. He paid tribute to Professor Yukio Fukuyama, world leading myologist and father figure and mentor to many, who had passed away earlier in 2014. Professor Fukuyama had also been a longstanding supporter of the WMS since the outset in 1996, and would be in our thoughts over this congress. Victor Dubowitz touched on local history and the Charité’s heritage under the prominent 19th century muscle pathologist, Wilhelm Griesinger. And moving to modern heritage he highlighted some of the features that reflected the contemporary culture of Berlin: the idiosyncratic Arte Luise Hotel whose rooms had been decorated by different local artists. For this congress our President was delighted to announce that the standard of abstracts submitted had once again been extremely high, and the WMS had been able to award a record 70 fellowships of 500 Euros to deserving delegates. The high standard of abstracts had also been reflected in the number selected for the ‘late-breaking’ session which, following discussions within the WMS executive board, had been increased from six to nine. Concluding his Welcome, Victor Dubowitz displayed a photograph of a sign in a shop window he had serendipitously
WMS delegates fill the Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus auditorium. Once the People’s Chamber of the German Democratic Republic, it is home again to science and medicine.
276
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
Delegates top up on tea and listen intently to the oral presentations in the morning. Then on to poster viewing and discussion in the afternoon.
encountered, that declared “Work Hard! Party Hard!” and urged the assembled turbo-charged muscle disciples to take this to their hearts as they embarked on their high-octane congress activities. Scientific proceedings then commenced with oral sessions on protein aggregation, disease mechanisms, autophagy and proteomics in the morning, followed by guided poster sessions with the help of facilitators through the afternoon. Further treats for the knowledge-thirsty delegates were in store at the end of the afternoon, courtesy of Sarepta who hosted a two-hour symposium open to all congress participants, and preceded by food and drink to keep muscle cells and neurons well-nourished and receptive to continued learning. Following a similar format to Wednesday, Thursday morning oral sessions focused on the limb-girdle muscular dystrophies, with poster sessions once again in the afternoon. For the evening, Genzyme hosted another stimulating symposium evening, completing another full and long day of academic activities. While the scientific hyperactivity might consume most of the time and attention of muscle delegates, their accompanying partners, friends and family would never be short of attractions to keep mind and body engaged. There are the better-known places of historical and cultural interest such as the German Parliament building and the Brandenburg Gate, so familiar in images of Berlin past and present; or the Berlin TV tower rising from Alexanderplatz, and the many museums and places of worship. One might also follow roads and pavements with the embedded
brick line marking the route of the Berlin Wall, and visit a section still intact as a memorial and museum at Bernauerstrasse. There are also quirkier tourist activities: take a ‘Segway Safari’, a guided tour through the streets of Berlin on this strange twowheeled rolling platform; or a “Trabi” safari, similarly guided, to celebrate this previously much-derived “people’s car” of the former German Democratic Republic, now a cult vehicle and embraced with much affection – the Trabant. Friday morning. With two packed days behind them, superkeen delegates still leapt out of their snug beds before dawn and raced through the dark streets to attend a third symposium at the crack of dawn, hosted by PTC Therapeutics. This was immediately followed by another intensive morning of invited lectures and oral presentations on advances in the treatment of neuromuscular disorders and approaches to the treatment of neurogenic disorders. At lunchtime, however, academic activity ceased. It was time for some diversionary pursuits to enable the mind to absorb and process the learning of recent days, to discuss events so far, to network, to simply socialise and relax. Two large boats accommodated 500 congress participants on a trip on the river Spree on this mellow autumnal day. As the soft sunshine warmed the muscles of these myo-passengers on deck, a guide on each boat engaged listeners with commentaries on this everactive city as one floated past sights and buildings, revealing events from recent history back to earlier times – a watchtower
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
A trip on the Spree on a sunny autumn day.
from the days when Germany was divided; the renovated Reichstag parliament building and its great dome from which one can peer down and watch parliament in session; Museum Island, its museums rich in cultural and architectural heritage, and Berlin Cathedral, in its magnificence, also bearing the bullet scars of battle from World War II. As the light faded and the air cooled, congress participants and accompanying persons returned to their hotels and exchanged boating attire for bow ties and ball gowns in preparation for the grand gala on Friday night. A convoy of coaches transported merry myologists to their next treat located in a former industrial district of the city. A grand old factory, elegantly refurbished yet still retaining a robust ambiance, played host to gala guests, elevating them 30 at a time in a large industrial lift to the second floor venue. Here this erstwhile shop floor of mechanical machinations, now with snowy white, clean, minimalist walls and ceiling, and dozens of large tables draped in white and softly lit by candles in stylish candelabras, afforded ample space for a stage and – a ‘must’ for every WMS congress gala – a large dance floor. On arrival guests gathered in the reception area and enjoyed a glass of bubbly before finding their way to a seat at table. From the menu one could savour some sumptuous cuisine – cream pumpkin soup and smoked duck to tease the taste buds followed by confit halibut; and for the main course some tender veal with fried parsley roots and potato gratin, all coaxed down with a steady supply of high quality dry Riesling, Borsao Tinto Seleccion, or pure and simple water. For dessert an array of choices: colourful, marinated autumn berries on white chocolate mousse, coconut panna cotta, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, basil sorbet, all-critical ‘fuel’ for topping up one’s energy levels in preparation for the dance floor. As diners made their selections from the cheese board, eyes turned to the stage and to our magnificent trinity of hosts, Werner Stenzel, Hans Goebel and Arpad von Moers. Glasses raised and much cheer, the President was called to the stage and was honoured to receive from Arpad von Moers an attractive screen print by contemporary artist Sabine Welz. A dual sketch depicted enduring images of two cities symbolising
277
partnership: London’s Tower Bridge and a stretch of the Berlin Wall; a fitting momentum of this congress. After three days of extensive neuronal exercise it was time for myologists to do what they do best at WMS congresses – exercise their muscles. And at this point we discovered a whole new dimension to the talents among members of the Charité’s highly skilled clinical and scientific community: their great gift for music. The band took to the stage: named “Echte Ärzte” (Real Doctors) they comprised paediatricians, a neurologist, a psychotherapist and a radiologist. The saxophonist looked rather familiar – and indeed it was our co-host Arpad von Moers once again, who had quickly disappeared backstage following the presentation to the President and re-emerged in his gigging gear, saxophone poised for action. The band struck up, and enthusiastic muscle delegates launched themselves onto the dance floor. The multi-talented musical medics performed with unstinting energy deep into the night to entertain their dance-crazed revellers, maximising movement in the gluteus maximus, brandishing biceps and pulsating the pecs well into the early hours. In anticipation that a few delegates might have sore heads or be fighting fatigue after a long session on the dance floor the previous night, Saturday’s schedule commenced at the relatively civilised time of 9 o’clock with oral presentations on approaches to treatment in the clinic. After morning tea the program continued with poster highlights before moving to the WMS
Berlin and London in partnership: Arpad von Moers presents Victor Dubowitz with a piece of contemporary art as a memento.
278
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
Fuelled with good food and wine, myologists take to the dance floor and move muscle to the sounds of the multi-talented medical muscians, “Echte Ärzte”.
General Assembly. Energy restored over lunch, delegates launched themselves into the Late Breaking oral presentations with renewed vigour for the final session of the congress. Following some exciting talks and discussion, the congress came to its final event, the prize-giving, awaited with much anticipation by the younger dynamic muscle movers, keen to pump academic iron and achieve great goals in the clinic and in the laboratory to benefit the health of generations to come. The first prize winners to be announced were the four winners of the Elsevier Award of 500 Euros for the best oral or poster presentation: Yukari Endo for her oral presentation (GO1) ‘Dominant mutations in ORAI1 cause tubular aggregate myopathy with hypocalcemia via constitutive activation of store-operated Ca2+ channels’ – at the end of her oral presentation she had announced she was seeking a boyfriend and a post-doc position: an Elsevier Prize certainly bodes well; Patricia Sondergaard for her talk (GO9) ‘AAV gene transfer utilizing homologous overlap vectors mediates functional recovery of dysferlin deficiency’; Laurine Buscara for her poster (GP43) ‘Gene replacement therapy of myotubular myopathy: restricting expression of MTM1 in skeletal muscle’; and Véronique Bolduc who presented her poster (GP216)
‘Allele specific silencing of a dominant-negative mutation using siRNA or LNA antisense oligonucleotides alleviates the phenotype of a cellular model of Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy’. Congratulations to these talented stars in the muscle world! Close runners-up to these four top prizes came 15 researchers who each receive a one-year subscription to the World Muscle Society for their excellent work: Lindsay Alfano, Yves Allenbach, Macarena Cabrera, Ivana Dabaj, Nathalie Doorenweerd, Danielle Griffin, Julia Hofhuis, Ying Hu, Mirjam Larsen, Alexandra Maerkens, Emily Oates, Eric Pozsgai, Jun Tanihata, Heike Trippe and Lindsay Wallace. Moving on to the two President’s Prizes comprising 500 Euros and a copy Victor Dubowitz’s famous ‘Ramblings of a Peripatetic Paediatrician’, Young Myologist of the Year was awarded to Nicol Voermans for her oral presentation (GO28): ‘Sporadic late onset nemaline myopathy with MGUS: long term follow-up after melphalan and autologous stem cell transplantation’, while the Prize for Best First Timer was presented to Michaela Kreissl for her oral presentation (GO2) ‘Mutations in LMOD3 cause severe nemaline myopathy by disrupting thin filament organisation in skeletal muscle’. First
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
279
Worthy prizewinners pose for photographs on the stage. Hearty thanks to our magnificent hosts, Werner Stenzel, Hans Goebel and Arpad von Moers, and to the Re:member team headed by Cornelia Probst and Juliane Schöppe, for a memorable congress. Handing over the flag: welcome to the hot seat, Francesco Muntoni. Brighton, here we come!
introduced in 2006, the Léa Rose Foundation continues to fund the Léa Rose Spinal Muscular Atrophy Award which was awarded this year to Linda Lowes, for her poster (GO16) ‘Reliability and validity of the ACTIVE-mini (Ability Captured Through Interactive Video Evaluation-mini) to quantify infant movement’. To conclude the prize-giving, the Duchenne Research Fund Prize for the best presentation on Duchenne muscular dystrophy was awarded to Maggie Walter who captured the judges’ imagination with her poster (GP82) ‘Dystrophin-deficient pigs provide new insights into the hierarchy of physiological derangements of dystrophic muscle’. We congratulate all these winners for their excellent achievement and look forward to hearing more from them in the years to come! As this 19th WMS congress drew to a close it remained to extend a huge ‘thank you’ to the Re:member management team for their invaluable support under the unfaltering guidance of Cordula Probst and Juliane Schöppe, who constituted the congress skeleton, vital in keeping all that muscle in its correct shape and fully functioning. They received their own souvenir certificate from the WMS President, and a bouquet of flowers from Werner Stenzel for their triumphant endeavours.
Finally, on behalf of all members of the WMS, Victor Dubowitz expressed his heartfelt appreciation to Werner Stenzel, Chair of the Local Organising Committee and to Co-Chairs Hans Goebel and Arpad von Moers, who, with the help of the local organising committee, had born the weight of the World in this Muscle Society in the weeks and months leading up to the event and ensured the resounding success of the congress. They could finally take some rest as the golden WMS flag and the weighty WMS Myogenesis sculpture passed to Francesco Muntoni in preparation for the WMS 20th anniversary congress to be held in Brighton, UK, from 30 September to 4 October 2015. With the abstract deadline of 2 April rapidly approaching and even more prizes on offer for this anniversary congress it’s time to register now to avoid disappointment! So it’s farewell, Berlin, and roll on, Brighton. We look forward to seeing you all again in the autumn! Jane Miller Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK
ScienceDirect Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279 www.elsevier.com/locate/nmd
19th World Muscle Society Congress, Berlin 2014
A City of Cranes and Dinosaurs From the wild and sunny landscape of California in 2013, to the beating heart of Europe, with myriad layers of history and heritage: the WMS 21st Century tour bus alighted in Berlin, host city for the 19th World Muscle Society congress, and, as always, offered Education, Entertainment and Excitement as senior myology experts from around the globe congregated to exchange ideas, discuss new theories, and disseminate their knowledge to the younger, up-and-coming players in the muscle field. Delegates began to assemble in the preceding days to take some time to explore the city, or, in the hours before the Welcome Ceremony, to put up posters in spacious areas within two grand historical buildings, one at the Humboldt Graduate School with its high ceilings and ornate interior plaster and paintwork, and the second an expansive central glass roofed space at the Faculty of Agriculture and Gardening, providing abundant natural light, ideal for Facilitators and Prize Judges to scrutinise every detail of the posters vying for their position of glory in world muscle history. The central location for this year’s congress was LangenbeckVirchow-Haus. During its 100 year history, starting out as the home of the German Surgical Society and Berlin Medical Association, it fell into the hands of the Soviet military following World War II and was robbed of its much-prized paintings, furniture and its extensive library. In 1949 it became the People’s Chamber of the nascent German Democratic Republic and only in 2003, following legal twists, turns and political intrigue was it http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nmd.2015.02.004
finally returned to its rightful owners for use in the causes of science and medicine. As dusk fell on Tuesday, delegates congregated in the great auditorium in Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus for the Welcome Ceremony. Our top man with the muscle for coordinating events as Chair of the Local Organising Committee for this year’s congress was Werner Stenzel, who greeted the audience and provided a taste of Berlin’s maverick character, a beacon of freedom and non-conformity in defiance during times of oppression in history. He introduced Dr. Annette Grüters-Kieslich, Dean of the Charité Hospital, who welcomed the World Muscle Society on behalf of the Charité: this hospital’s specialist strengths and most important area of research lay in the neurosciences and neurology, earning it many Nobel Prizes. Dr. Grüters-Kieslich echoed the philosophy of the WMS as she declared that the Charité’s interest in the congress was not about size and money, but to push forward the boundaries of knowledge and learning, best achieved by focusing on “smaller is beautiful” with just three specific topics and no concurrently running sessions. Dr. Hanns Zischler, multi-talented author, scientist and philosopher, then stepped to the podium to take WMS guests on a journey through the history of Berlin and its people, in particular its prominent industrial past and its evolution into a great centre of science and medicine. Berliners, once “Pharaohs of industry”, had become “Pharaohs of science”. His detailed narrative was interspersed with song, as Martin Bresgott’s male
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
The Athesinus Consort Berlin sings in harmony for the congress delegates.
quartet, Athesinus Consort Berlin, brought song to the audience with compositions by Johannes Brahms and Ralph Vaughan Williams, among other distinguished composers. Delegates, now well rested but starting to crave sustenance, were ushered from Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus, along the street and across the wide Invalidenstrasse to the Natural History Museum, where they were transported back in time and walked among dinosaurs – or at least their skeletons – their muscle having atrophied into oblivion some time ago. But poetic balance was restored as myologists mingled among their bony Jurassic forbears and caught up with neuromuscular colleagues and
Muscle and bone: a winning combination. WMS reception with wine and canapés at the Natural History Museum, Berlin.
275
friends from around the globe, talked muscle, and eagerly anticipated the cerebral activities of the coming days, while caterers emerged from concealed corners and served wines and canapés. Scientific proceedings were launched at nine in the morning on Wednesday following WMS President Victor Dubowitz’s own welcome speech to the assembled delegates. He paid tribute to Professor Yukio Fukuyama, world leading myologist and father figure and mentor to many, who had passed away earlier in 2014. Professor Fukuyama had also been a longstanding supporter of the WMS since the outset in 1996, and would be in our thoughts over this congress. Victor Dubowitz touched on local history and the Charité’s heritage under the prominent 19th century muscle pathologist, Wilhelm Griesinger. And moving to modern heritage he highlighted some of the features that reflected the contemporary culture of Berlin: the idiosyncratic Arte Luise Hotel whose rooms had been decorated by different local artists. For this congress our President was delighted to announce that the standard of abstracts submitted had once again been extremely high, and the WMS had been able to award a record 70 fellowships of 500 Euros to deserving delegates. The high standard of abstracts had also been reflected in the number selected for the ‘late-breaking’ session which, following discussions within the WMS executive board, had been increased from six to nine. Concluding his Welcome, Victor Dubowitz displayed a photograph of a sign in a shop window he had serendipitously
WMS delegates fill the Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus auditorium. Once the People’s Chamber of the German Democratic Republic, it is home again to science and medicine.
276
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
Delegates top up on tea and listen intently to the oral presentations in the morning. Then on to poster viewing and discussion in the afternoon.
encountered, that declared “Work Hard! Party Hard!” and urged the assembled turbo-charged muscle disciples to take this to their hearts as they embarked on their high-octane congress activities. Scientific proceedings then commenced with oral sessions on protein aggregation, disease mechanisms, autophagy and proteomics in the morning, followed by guided poster sessions with the help of facilitators through the afternoon. Further treats for the knowledge-thirsty delegates were in store at the end of the afternoon, courtesy of Sarepta who hosted a two-hour symposium open to all congress participants, and preceded by food and drink to keep muscle cells and neurons well-nourished and receptive to continued learning. Following a similar format to Wednesday, Thursday morning oral sessions focused on the limb-girdle muscular dystrophies, with poster sessions once again in the afternoon. For the evening, Genzyme hosted another stimulating symposium evening, completing another full and long day of academic activities. While the scientific hyperactivity might consume most of the time and attention of muscle delegates, their accompanying partners, friends and family would never be short of attractions to keep mind and body engaged. There are the better-known places of historical and cultural interest such as the German Parliament building and the Brandenburg Gate, so familiar in images of Berlin past and present; or the Berlin TV tower rising from Alexanderplatz, and the many museums and places of worship. One might also follow roads and pavements with the embedded
brick line marking the route of the Berlin Wall, and visit a section still intact as a memorial and museum at Bernauerstrasse. There are also quirkier tourist activities: take a ‘Segway Safari’, a guided tour through the streets of Berlin on this strange twowheeled rolling platform; or a “Trabi” safari, similarly guided, to celebrate this previously much-derived “people’s car” of the former German Democratic Republic, now a cult vehicle and embraced with much affection – the Trabant. Friday morning. With two packed days behind them, superkeen delegates still leapt out of their snug beds before dawn and raced through the dark streets to attend a third symposium at the crack of dawn, hosted by PTC Therapeutics. This was immediately followed by another intensive morning of invited lectures and oral presentations on advances in the treatment of neuromuscular disorders and approaches to the treatment of neurogenic disorders. At lunchtime, however, academic activity ceased. It was time for some diversionary pursuits to enable the mind to absorb and process the learning of recent days, to discuss events so far, to network, to simply socialise and relax. Two large boats accommodated 500 congress participants on a trip on the river Spree on this mellow autumnal day. As the soft sunshine warmed the muscles of these myo-passengers on deck, a guide on each boat engaged listeners with commentaries on this everactive city as one floated past sights and buildings, revealing events from recent history back to earlier times – a watchtower
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
A trip on the Spree on a sunny autumn day.
from the days when Germany was divided; the renovated Reichstag parliament building and its great dome from which one can peer down and watch parliament in session; Museum Island, its museums rich in cultural and architectural heritage, and Berlin Cathedral, in its magnificence, also bearing the bullet scars of battle from World War II. As the light faded and the air cooled, congress participants and accompanying persons returned to their hotels and exchanged boating attire for bow ties and ball gowns in preparation for the grand gala on Friday night. A convoy of coaches transported merry myologists to their next treat located in a former industrial district of the city. A grand old factory, elegantly refurbished yet still retaining a robust ambiance, played host to gala guests, elevating them 30 at a time in a large industrial lift to the second floor venue. Here this erstwhile shop floor of mechanical machinations, now with snowy white, clean, minimalist walls and ceiling, and dozens of large tables draped in white and softly lit by candles in stylish candelabras, afforded ample space for a stage and – a ‘must’ for every WMS congress gala – a large dance floor. On arrival guests gathered in the reception area and enjoyed a glass of bubbly before finding their way to a seat at table. From the menu one could savour some sumptuous cuisine – cream pumpkin soup and smoked duck to tease the taste buds followed by confit halibut; and for the main course some tender veal with fried parsley roots and potato gratin, all coaxed down with a steady supply of high quality dry Riesling, Borsao Tinto Seleccion, or pure and simple water. For dessert an array of choices: colourful, marinated autumn berries on white chocolate mousse, coconut panna cotta, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, basil sorbet, all-critical ‘fuel’ for topping up one’s energy levels in preparation for the dance floor. As diners made their selections from the cheese board, eyes turned to the stage and to our magnificent trinity of hosts, Werner Stenzel, Hans Goebel and Arpad von Moers. Glasses raised and much cheer, the President was called to the stage and was honoured to receive from Arpad von Moers an attractive screen print by contemporary artist Sabine Welz. A dual sketch depicted enduring images of two cities symbolising
277
partnership: London’s Tower Bridge and a stretch of the Berlin Wall; a fitting momentum of this congress. After three days of extensive neuronal exercise it was time for myologists to do what they do best at WMS congresses – exercise their muscles. And at this point we discovered a whole new dimension to the talents among members of the Charité’s highly skilled clinical and scientific community: their great gift for music. The band took to the stage: named “Echte Ärzte” (Real Doctors) they comprised paediatricians, a neurologist, a psychotherapist and a radiologist. The saxophonist looked rather familiar – and indeed it was our co-host Arpad von Moers once again, who had quickly disappeared backstage following the presentation to the President and re-emerged in his gigging gear, saxophone poised for action. The band struck up, and enthusiastic muscle delegates launched themselves onto the dance floor. The multi-talented musical medics performed with unstinting energy deep into the night to entertain their dance-crazed revellers, maximising movement in the gluteus maximus, brandishing biceps and pulsating the pecs well into the early hours. In anticipation that a few delegates might have sore heads or be fighting fatigue after a long session on the dance floor the previous night, Saturday’s schedule commenced at the relatively civilised time of 9 o’clock with oral presentations on approaches to treatment in the clinic. After morning tea the program continued with poster highlights before moving to the WMS
Berlin and London in partnership: Arpad von Moers presents Victor Dubowitz with a piece of contemporary art as a memento.
278
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
Fuelled with good food and wine, myologists take to the dance floor and move muscle to the sounds of the multi-talented medical muscians, “Echte Ärzte”.
General Assembly. Energy restored over lunch, delegates launched themselves into the Late Breaking oral presentations with renewed vigour for the final session of the congress. Following some exciting talks and discussion, the congress came to its final event, the prize-giving, awaited with much anticipation by the younger dynamic muscle movers, keen to pump academic iron and achieve great goals in the clinic and in the laboratory to benefit the health of generations to come. The first prize winners to be announced were the four winners of the Elsevier Award of 500 Euros for the best oral or poster presentation: Yukari Endo for her oral presentation (GO1) ‘Dominant mutations in ORAI1 cause tubular aggregate myopathy with hypocalcemia via constitutive activation of store-operated Ca2+ channels’ – at the end of her oral presentation she had announced she was seeking a boyfriend and a post-doc position: an Elsevier Prize certainly bodes well; Patricia Sondergaard for her talk (GO9) ‘AAV gene transfer utilizing homologous overlap vectors mediates functional recovery of dysferlin deficiency’; Laurine Buscara for her poster (GP43) ‘Gene replacement therapy of myotubular myopathy: restricting expression of MTM1 in skeletal muscle’; and Véronique Bolduc who presented her poster (GP216)
‘Allele specific silencing of a dominant-negative mutation using siRNA or LNA antisense oligonucleotides alleviates the phenotype of a cellular model of Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy’. Congratulations to these talented stars in the muscle world! Close runners-up to these four top prizes came 15 researchers who each receive a one-year subscription to the World Muscle Society for their excellent work: Lindsay Alfano, Yves Allenbach, Macarena Cabrera, Ivana Dabaj, Nathalie Doorenweerd, Danielle Griffin, Julia Hofhuis, Ying Hu, Mirjam Larsen, Alexandra Maerkens, Emily Oates, Eric Pozsgai, Jun Tanihata, Heike Trippe and Lindsay Wallace. Moving on to the two President’s Prizes comprising 500 Euros and a copy Victor Dubowitz’s famous ‘Ramblings of a Peripatetic Paediatrician’, Young Myologist of the Year was awarded to Nicol Voermans for her oral presentation (GO28): ‘Sporadic late onset nemaline myopathy with MGUS: long term follow-up after melphalan and autologous stem cell transplantation’, while the Prize for Best First Timer was presented to Michaela Kreissl for her oral presentation (GO2) ‘Mutations in LMOD3 cause severe nemaline myopathy by disrupting thin filament organisation in skeletal muscle’. First
Conference Report / Neuromuscular Disorders 25 (2015) 274–279
279
Worthy prizewinners pose for photographs on the stage. Hearty thanks to our magnificent hosts, Werner Stenzel, Hans Goebel and Arpad von Moers, and to the Re:member team headed by Cornelia Probst and Juliane Schöppe, for a memorable congress. Handing over the flag: welcome to the hot seat, Francesco Muntoni. Brighton, here we come!
introduced in 2006, the Léa Rose Foundation continues to fund the Léa Rose Spinal Muscular Atrophy Award which was awarded this year to Linda Lowes, for her poster (GO16) ‘Reliability and validity of the ACTIVE-mini (Ability Captured Through Interactive Video Evaluation-mini) to quantify infant movement’. To conclude the prize-giving, the Duchenne Research Fund Prize for the best presentation on Duchenne muscular dystrophy was awarded to Maggie Walter who captured the judges’ imagination with her poster (GP82) ‘Dystrophin-deficient pigs provide new insights into the hierarchy of physiological derangements of dystrophic muscle’. We congratulate all these winners for their excellent achievement and look forward to hearing more from them in the years to come! As this 19th WMS congress drew to a close it remained to extend a huge ‘thank you’ to the Re:member management team for their invaluable support under the unfaltering guidance of Cordula Probst and Juliane Schöppe, who constituted the congress skeleton, vital in keeping all that muscle in its correct shape and fully functioning. They received their own souvenir certificate from the WMS President, and a bouquet of flowers from Werner Stenzel for their triumphant endeavours.
Finally, on behalf of all members of the WMS, Victor Dubowitz expressed his heartfelt appreciation to Werner Stenzel, Chair of the Local Organising Committee and to Co-Chairs Hans Goebel and Arpad von Moers, who, with the help of the local organising committee, had born the weight of the World in this Muscle Society in the weeks and months leading up to the event and ensured the resounding success of the congress. They could finally take some rest as the golden WMS flag and the weighty WMS Myogenesis sculpture passed to Francesco Muntoni in preparation for the WMS 20th anniversary congress to be held in Brighton, UK, from 30 September to 4 October 2015. With the abstract deadline of 2 April rapidly approaching and even more prizes on offer for this anniversary congress it’s time to register now to avoid disappointment! So it’s farewell, Berlin, and roll on, Brighton. We look forward to seeing you all again in the autumn! Jane Miller Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK
