{"podcast":{"title":"RealTalk MS","slug":"realtalk-ms-779631","podcast_index_feed_id":779631,"rss_url":"https://realtalkms.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://www.realtalkms.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/c/f/6/f/cf6fc1e12c2339c0/Apple_artwork.jpg","author":"Jon Strum","episode_count":517,"summary":"Jon Strum cuts through all the jargon and breaks down the latest multiple sclerosis news. You'll meet the scientists who are creating tomorrow's MS treatments today. You'll hear from the experts discussing how the latest tweaks and changes to our healthcare laws will impact your MS treatment. And we'll be talking to the courageous MS warriors who are out there advocating on behalf of the MS community every day, as well as the men and women who are committed to living their best lives with MS and living their best lives as MS caregivers. If you're dealing with multiple sclerosis in your life -- as a patient, caregiver, family member, or friend -- join us each week for RealTalk MS.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-14T10:18:55.825945+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/realtalk-ms-779631"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 441: The 2026 ACTRIMS Forum with Dr. Manuel Friese, Dr. Amit Bar-Or, and Dr. Haritha Desu","slug":"episode-441-the-2026-actrims-forum-with-dr-manuel-friese-dr-amit-bar-or-and-dr-haritha-desu","published_at":"2026-02-09T23:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/realtalk-ms-779631/episode-441-the-2026-actrims-forum-with-dr-manuel-friese-dr-amit-bar-or-and-dr-haritha-desu","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/realtalk-ms-779631","url":"https://realtalkms.com/441","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/realtalkms/Episode_441_The_2026_ACTRIMS_Forum_with_Dr._Manuel_Friese_Dr._Amit_Bar-Or_and_Dr._Haritha_Desu.mp3?dest-id=570470","summary":"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…","meta_description":"Last week, over 1,400 scientists and clinicians gathered in San Diego, California, at the 2026 Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple S…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2009,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/realtalk-ms-779631/episodes/episode-441-the-2026-actrims-forum-with-dr-manuel-friese-dr-amit-bar-or-and-dr-haritha-desu/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/realtalk-ms-779631/episode-441-the-2026-actrims-forum-with-dr-manuel-friese-dr-amit-bar-or-and-dr-haritha-desu.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}