# Episode 446: MS Advocacy and the National MS Society's Public Policy Conference with Steffany Stern

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/realtalk-ms-779631/episode-446-ms-advocacy-and-the-national-ms-society-s-public-policy-conference-with-steffany-stern.md
Podcast: [RealTalk MS](https://stenobird.com/podcast/realtalk-ms-779631)
Published: 2026-03-16T22:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://realtalkms.com/446
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/realtalkms/Episode_446_MS_Advocacy_and_the_National_MS_Societys_Public_Policy_Conference_with_Steffany_Stern.mp3?dest-id=570470
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Duration seconds: 2063

## Resource

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 advocacy efforts and give us a sneak peek at the specific legislative issues we'll be taking to Capitol Hill is the National MS Society's Vice President of Advocacy, Steffany Stern. We'll also share updated results from an important study that show the risk of developing MS if a close relative is living with the disease is significantly higher than researchers originally thought. And we'll give you all the details of a Phase 1 clinical trial that's focused on a novel approach to CAR-T cell therapy for MS. We have a lot to talk about! Are you ready for RealTalk MS??! This Week: Preparing for the MS Society's Public Policy Conference :22 I'm asking for your support: 1:37 An update to a 2015 study shows close relatives of people living with MS are 100 times more likely than the general population to develop MS 2:15 A novel approach to CAR-T cell therapy for MS is recruiting for a Phase 1 clinical trial 4:26 Steffany Stern, the Vice President of Research at the National MS Society, shares a major advocacy win and previews next week's Public Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. 7:27 Share this episode 33:04 Next week 33:25 SHARE THIS EPISODE OF REALTALK MS Just copy this link & paste it into your text or email: https://realtalkms.com/446 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 conver…

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