The ECTRIMS Podcast

What were some of the most important new developments in multiple sclerosis research and treatment at ECTRIMS 2025? Dr. Barry Singer, Director and Founder of The MS Center for Innovations in Care, joins host Brett Drummond to unpack the key research, clinical findings, and emerging treatment developments presented during the second day of the 41st ECTRIMS Congress in Barcelona.

Together, they explore the findings generating discussion among MS experts, what they could mean for people living with multiple sclerosis, and the research and treatment advances that could help shape the future of MS care.

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This podcast episode is supported by an educational grant from Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Diseases, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, and UCB. Educational grant providers have no input into the podcast series content.

The 41st Congress of ECTRIMS opened in Barcelona with Professor Maria Pia Amato of the University of Florence delivering the ECTRIMS Lecture. In this conversation with host Brett Drummond, she highlights the key takeaways from Day One of ECTRIMS 2025 and shares insights on cognition and what's shaping the future of multiple sclerosis research and care.

Direct from Barcelona, listen to Alvaro Cobo Calvo from the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia (Cemcat) and host Brett Drummond discuss the highlights of ECTRIMS 2025 Pre-Day, which is focused on specialised topics in MS and related neuroinflammatory autoimmune diseases such as MOGAD and NMOSD.

The 2024 Revisions of the McDonald Diagnostic Criteria for MS have been published in The Lancet Neurology. What do these changes mean for clinical practice?

In this episode, we are joined by two authors of the paper: Prof. Xavier Montalban, Chair of the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in MS (IACCTMS), and Dr. Jiwon Oh of the University of Toronto. Together with host Brett Drummond of MStranslate, they discuss the significance of the updates, how these changes could expedite diagnosis and reduce misdiagnosis, and what they mean for the future of MS care globally.

Reference: Montalban, X. et al. Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: 2024 revisions of the McDonald criteria. Lancet Neurol. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(25)00270-4 (2025).

Genetics not only influence the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), but also affect how the disease progresses and how patients respond to different treatments.

Professor Philip De Jager, Chief of Neuroimmunology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center joins host Brett Drummond of MStranslate to discuss recent discoveries in MS genetics. They explore what these findings mean for patients and their families, and how these could shape primary prevention and personalised therapies for MS.

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have become a critical tool for capturing the lived experience of multiple sclerosis (MS), offering a perspective that extends beyond traditional clinical and imaging metrics. As research increasingly prioritises real-world relevance and individualised care, PROs provide valuable insights into symptoms such as fatigue, mood changes, and cognitive decline—factors that often evade objective measurement but have a profound impact on quality of life. Professor Jan Hillert of Karolinska Institute in Sweden and chair of the Swedish MS Registry joins host Brett Drummond of MStranslate to discuss how patient reported data are being integrated into clinical trial design and observational studies. They also explore current limitations to their use and highlight best practices for validation and interpretation.

Biomarkers are one of the most exciting and fast-evolving areas in multiple sclerosis research, offering promise for earlier diagnosis, accurate prognosis, and truly personalised treatment. Yet despite their potential, there is still significant debate that limits their widespread application in clinical and research settings. In this episode, host Brett Drummond is joined by two leading voices in this field, Professor Charlotte Teunissen of Amsterdam UMC in The Netherlands and Associate Professor Michael Khalil of Medical University of Graz in Austria to explore the most promising biomarker candidates and when and how they might be implemented.

Over the past few years, the MS research community has been following developments in a new class of therapies called Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKis). At ECTRIMS 2024, the results of two tolebrutinib trials were presented as late-breaking abstracts by Dr. Robert Fox, Neurologist at the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis at Cleveland Clinic in the US, and Dr. Jiwon Oh, Neurologist at St. Michael's Hospital at the University of Toronto. The full results were recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine. In this episode, host Brett Drummond of MStranslate spoke with Drs. Oh and Fox about the outcomes and what they mean for people with MS.

What do the latest research findings tell us about the role diet can play in the management of multiple sclerosis (MS)? How should neurologists talk about diet with their patients?

While people living with MS may view their food choices as a way to exert some control over the disease, the concept of an "ideal diet" remains hotly contested. Dr. Brigit de Jong, Neurologist at MS Center Amsterdam, investigates non-pharmacological interventions, including diet, that determine the clinical outcome and pathogenesis of MS. She joins host Brett Drummond of MSTranslate to discuss the latest evidence on dietary modifications and how they should be communicated and implemented by neurologists.

Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) has gained considerable attention in recent years as a treatment option for multiple sclerosis (MS). As long-term clinical trial data on AHSCT continues to grow, there is increasing debate about where it fits in the current MS therapeutic landscape.

Dr. Joachim Burman, Neurologist and Associate Professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, and Dr. Jennifer Massey, Neurologist at St. Vincent's Hospital and a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Australia, discuss the latest research and insights on this hot topic with host Brett Drummond of MStranslate.