Global MND Research Roundtable

FightMND’s Global MND Research Roundtable brings together leading researchers, clinicians, strategic experts and people with lived experience of motor neurone disease (MND) from around the world. The Roundtable was created to address the biggest challenges slowing progress in MND research and to identify solutions to help move the field forward faster. Through collaboration, open discussion and shared problem‑solving, the Roundtable aims to drive breakthroughs that will improve outcomes for people living with MND.  

Global MND Roundtable Highlights, August 2024, Melbourne

Attendees will talk about the barriers stopping research from becoming treatments, and a cure, for MND. These themes were determined based on feedback received from the global MND research community. The roundtable themes are: 

• Disease heterogeneity. Understanding the variability and genetics in a person’s disease. 
• Disease fundamentals and drug targets. Understanding the fundamentals of the disease to develop drugs to target MND.  
• Patient stratification and classification. Ways to help guide patients to the right clinical trials. 
• Biomarkers. To develop a diagnostic test, as there isn’t one, and a way to measure how a disease is progressing. 
• Global collaboration. Ways for researchers around the world to collaborate on projects focusing on MND. 

An outcomes-focused event, Roundtable attendees will discuss and develop activities aimed at addressing the barriers. This may include the establishment of a working group and the collaboration on publications and funding proposals.