Episode 441: The 2026 ACTRIMS Forum with Dr. Manuel Friese, Dr. Amit Bar-Or, and Dr. Haritha Desu

Last week, over 1,400 scientists and clinicians gathered in San Diego, California, at the 2026 Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis annual meeting, better known as the ACTRIMS Forum. This week, in Part One of our coverage, you'll hear from three of the experts who presented their research at the ACTRIMS Forum. Dr. Manuel Friese, a clinician-scientist at the Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany, where he serves as the Director of the Center for Molecular Neurobiology, and the Director of the Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis, is this year's winner of the Barancik Prize for Innovation in Multiple Sclerosis. I had an opportunity to talk with Dr. Friese about some of his truly remarkable research. Dr. Amit Bar-Or, the Director of the Centre for Neuroinflammation and Experimental Therapeutics (CNET) and Chief of the Division of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and related disorders at the University of Pennsylvania, presented encouraging results from two important clinical trials. Dr. Bar-Or and I discussed what those results might mean for people living with relapsing-remitting and primary progressive MS. Dr. Haritha Desu, a young investigator at the ACTRIMS Forum, presented her cutting-edge research on how immune cells interact with cells already resident in the brain to drive damage or potentially promote repair. I talked with Dr. Desu about how her work could be key to stopping MS progression independent of relapse activity. We have a lot to talk about! Are you ready for RealTalk MS??! This Week: The 2026 ACTRIMS Forum :22 Barancik Prize winner Dr. Manuel Friese discusses his pioneering discoveries 1:34 Dr. Amit Bar-Or shares encouraging results from two important clinical trials 16:27 Dr. Haritha Desu discusses her research 25:27 Share this episode 32:23 Next week's episode 32:42 SHARE THIS EPISODE OF REALTALK MS Just copy this link & paste it into your text or email: https://realtalkms.com/441 ADD YOUR VOICE TO THE CONVERSATION I've always thought about the RealTalk MS podcast as a conversation. And this is your opportunity to join the conversation by sharing your feedback, questions, and suggestions for topics that we can discuss in future podcast episodes. Please shoot me an email or call the RealTalk MS Listener Hotline and share your thoughts! Email: [e-mail] Phone: [phone] And don't forget to join us in the RealTalk MS Facebook group! LINKS If your podcast app doesn't allow you to click on these links, you'll find them in the show notes in the RealTalk MS app or at www.RealTalkMS.com Support Jon at WALK MS https://realtalkms.com/walkms Find out about ABLEnow Accounts https://ablenow.com JOIN: The RealTalk MS Facebook Group https://facebook.com/groups/realtalkms REVIEW: Give RealTalk MS a rating and review http://www.realtalkms.com/review Follow RealTalk MS on Twitter, @RealTalkMS_jon, and subscribe to our newsletter at our website, RealTalkMS.com. RealTalk MS Episode 441 Guests: Dr. Manuel Friese, Dr. Amit Bar-Or, and Dr. Haritha Desu Privacy Policy