RealTalk MS

The Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that people living with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations at work. That law also applies to students attending most colleges and universities. And the ADA doesn't limit itself to physical disabilities. It's often applied to invisible disabilities, as well. This week, Britt Neff, the Access Specialist at the University of Washington School of...

A short while ago, we shared very positive results from the Phase 3 clinical trials for fenebrutinib in both relapsing-remitting and primary progressive MS. Those results have been submitted to the FDA for approval. This week, Dr. Jiwon Oh, the principal investigator in one of the Phase 3 trials for fenebrutinib, walks us through these positive results and explains what makes fenebrutinib a differ...

Next week, Matt Knaggs and Colin Goodman will attempt to set a Guinness World Record for running the 350-mile length of Ireland with MS. This week, you'll meet Matt and Colin and learn why this undertaking is so important to each of them.  We're also sharing survey results that point to gaps in how we approach MS care from the day of diagnosis. We'll tell you what it really means when you read tha...

For years, the standard medical advice for someone diagnosed with multiple sclerosis was simple, cautious, and as we now know, incredibly limiting: "Take it easy. Don't overexert yourself. And get plenty of rest."   Today, like almost every other aspect of MS care, neurological rehabilitation is being entirely rewritten. It's no longer about just managing decline; it's about leveraging emerging te...

This week, our coverage of the Consortium of MS Centers annual meeting continues with my guest, Dr. Stephen Krieger. In a wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Krieger offers a very encouraging clinical trial update, shares his thoughts on what treating someone living with advanced MS ought to look like, and points out potential obstacles to implementing the updated criteria for diagnosing MS.  Dr. Krieg...

Last week, the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers, best known as CMSC, hosted its annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, where we had a chance to talk with some of the world's top MS experts. We'll be sharing those conversations over the next few episodes of the podcast. Welcome to Part One of our coverage of CMSC 2026! In what has become an annual tradition at this conference, Dr. Kat...

May 30th is World MS Day! This year, the theme for World MS Day is "My MS Diagnosis," and I've been thinking about what happens right after that diagnosis. After   an individual hears, " You have MS. " This week, Dr. Nancy Sicotte joins me to discuss the things you should know, the things you should be thinking about, and the things you should be doing in the first 100 days following an MS diagnos...

When we talk about managing Multiple Sclerosis, our conversations naturally focus on things like disease-modifying therapies, mobility, MRI scans, and symptom management. But in this week's episode, we're shining a light on a critical aspect of MS wellness that doesn't get nearly enough attention: your oral health. Living with MS can introduce a whole host of unexpected challenges to maintaining a...

One out of every two people with MS will experience clinical depression at some point in their MS journey, making depression one of the most significant yet under-discussed aspects of living with MS. While the physical symptoms of MS often take center stage, the neuropsychiatric challenges can be just as impactful on an individual's overall quality of life and long-term outcomes. Joining us to she...

For decades, an MS diagnosis came with outdated advice and significant uncertainty regarding starting a family. Today, the conversation has shifted from "Is it possible?" to "How do we optimize the journey?" This week, we're taking a deep dive into the essential considerations for family planning, managing MS during pregnancy, and the crucial postpartum period.  We're joined by Dr. Riley Bove, an...

Myelin repair is a natural function. But, for people living with MS, that ability to repair myelin eventually stops working. New research led by my guest, Dr. Larry Sherman, may explain why that happens and point to new possibilities for future myelin repair treatments. Dr. Sherman is a professor at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University, and his research...

The annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology is underway in Chicago this week, and one of the highlights is the presentation of the John Dystel Prize for Research in Multiple Sclerosis, awarded jointly by the National MS Society and the American Academy of Neurology. This year's winner of the Dystel Prize is Dr. Ludwig Kappos, a physician-scientist at the University Hospital Basel in Ba...

An exercise program can be hard to start and even more difficult to stick with. But the evidence-based benefits speak for themselves. For people living with MS, it can mean improving quality of life without having to rely on a pill, injection, or infusion. And exercise is 100% affordable! Dr. Robert Motl, the Director of the Exercise Neuroscience Research Laboratory at the College of Applied Healt...

When you join the iConquer MS community, you're no longer just a patient; you become a research partner. Not just a data point in someone's study. You become the person to suggest the study, to help define the study, and to participate in sharing the outcome of the study. In this week's episode, I talk with the iConquer MS leadership team about what it means to be part of this people-powered resea...

Last week, about 170 MS activists from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C. to participate in the National MS Society's Public Policy Conference. It's hard to come away from this event and not feel outraged by the stories that are shared, but also inspired by the resilience and bravery of the MS Activists who are willing to share some of the worst moments in their MS journey to make sur...

In 1988, there were just 42 Walk MS events, raising approximately $4 million. In 2025, there were 170 events across the country that raised over $30 million. As the largest private funder of MS research in the world, the National MS Society relies on funds raised at events like Walk MS to continue supporting the work that brings us closer to cures.   This week, Brigitte Delaney, an amazing fundrai...

175 MS activists are heading to Washington, D.C. next week for the National MS Society's Public Policy Conference. Their mission: to bring the concerns of the MS community directly to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.  When it comes to the legislative support for healthcare and medical research, it's no secret that these are unusual times. Joining me to brief us on the National MS Society's ongoing advoc...

It's MS Awareness Week, and this year we're diving into a theme that hits home for millions: Unseen MS . Multiple sclerosis is a master of disguise; it can be entirely invisible to the naked eye while remaining profoundly life-altering for the person living it. In this episode, we're exploring the spectrum of the MS experience through two distinct, yet deeply connected stories.  First, you'll hear...

You know them by their trade names such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. This class of medications is known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. And while they are best known for managing diabetes and promoting weight loss, researchers are finding that these drugs are also effective in a broad range of other health conditions. So, what about MS? My guest this week is Dr. Ellen Mowry, the princip...

Welcome back to the third and final part of our coverage of the 2026 ACTRIMS Forum. This week's episode bridges the gap between groundbreaking clinical research and the nuanced reality of living with MS every day. First, we'll dive into the "before" and "after" of a diagnosis, starting with Dr. Helen Tremlett's insights into the MS prodrome—those subtle, early signs that appear years before typica...

Welcome back to Part Two of our coverage of the 2026 ACTRIMS Forum. This week, we shift our focus to emerging therapies and clinical insights that are re-shaping the future of MS care. From the latest information on stem cell transplantation to evolving treatment strategies to the labels used to describe MS, we're breaking down the complex science into the conversations that matter most to the MS...

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 Instit...

This past December, the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter to drug manufacturer Sanofi in response to Sanofi's application seeking approval for Tolebrutinib, the first in a new category of investigational disease-modifying therapies to undergo FDA review.    A Complete Response Letter is an official letter from the FDA to a drug manufacturer stating that the agency can't approve a new medicine...

The first coordinated global research strategy to prevent MS has been announced. This week, Dr. Bruce Bebo, the National MS Society's Executive Vice President and Chief Research & Medical Affairs Officer, joins me to explain what MS prevention looks like and how experts plan to achieve this remarkable goal. We'll also tell you who won the 2025 Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research, and we'l...

One of the more confusing aspects of MS is that it can present differently from one person to the next. A research team at University College London may have uncovered a reason for that when they identified two new, and quite different, subtypes of MS.    Joining me to walk us through this discovery and to explain how it may impact MS clinical care is the study's principal investigator, Dr. Arman...