The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is holding a free 2025 Multiple Sclerosis Symposium on March 15 to discuss treatment options and research initiatives and to hear from Arkansans living with the disease.
The event will be held from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Jo Ellen Ford Auditorium in the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging on the UAMS campus. For those unable to attend in person, it will also be available on Zoom.
The symposium is geared toward patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), their caregivers and family, neurologists, and anyone who would like to learn more about the disease.
Topics include medication therapy management, the psychological impacts of MS, and an expert panel that features UAMS neurologists Robert “Lee” Archer, MD, Rucha Bahekar, MD, and Carolyn Mehaffey MD; UAMS interventional pain specialist Aparna Jindal, MD; UAMS physical therapist Amanda Williams, DPT; and Kathryn Chenault, MD, of The Neurology Clinic & MS Clinic of Arkansas in North Little Rock.
MS is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. During MS, the immune system gets confused and attacks the myelin sheath, which protects the nerves. This damage, commonly referred to as lesions, interrupts the transmission of nerve signals, causing a variety of issues.
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2.9 million people worldwide live with MS, including nearly 1 million in the United States.
To register for the free symposium, visit medicine.uams.edu/neurology/ms-symposium/.