endMS Summer School A huge thank you to co-hosts Drs. Jason Plemel and Jennifer McCombe and their local team for t very successful 2025 endMS Summer School “The Life Cycle of Innovations for Multiple Sclerosis: Drugs, Vaccines, and Biomarkers” held in Edmonton from June 16-19. Thank you to MS Canada for funding the program, via a directed grant. Please go to page 2 for a special message from Dr. Plemel.
endMS Bits and Pieces Newsletter
endMS SPRINT Congratulations to the graduating 2024-2025 endMS SPRINTers! Kevin Champagne-Jorgensen, University of Toronto, Aysika Das, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Reda Fazazi,CHU de Québec - Université Laval, Tamanna Islam,University of Ottawa, Tatiana MacKeigan, University of British Columbia, Jake Neufeld,University of Saskatchewan, Bozena Szulc, University of Alberta, Lies Van Horebeek, University of British Columbia, Paul Yoo,The Hospital for Sick Children) and thank you to their SPRINT mentors: Drs. Julie Petrin (MS Canada) Marc Horwitz (University of British Columbia) and Raphael Schneider (University of Toronto)! Such a pleasure to see and hear about the excellent work they accomplished (and continue to do) through their SPRINT team projects!
Sharing opportunities to learn about multiple sclerosis (MS) research, to network, to attract and retain trainees in the field of MS related research.
July 2025 Issue #32
Welcome to the incoming 2025-2026 endMS SPRINTers! Hannah Bernstein,McGill University, Gabriela Blaszczyk, University of Toronto, Molly Pitkethly, University of British Columbia, Mahir Rahman, University of Calgary, Landon Scholly, University of Calgary, Lauren Strasser,The Hospital for Sick Children, Doriana Taccardi,Queen's University, Thomas Worthington,University of British Columbia, Jennifer Zagrodnik, Memorial University of Newfoundland and to their SPRINT mentors: Drs. Deepak Kaushik (Memorial University of Newfoundland), Ruth Ann Marrie (Dalhousie University) and Robert Simpson (University of Toronto)
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Special message from Dr. Jason Plemel, 2025 endMS Summer School co-host: This June, with my co-host Dr. Jennifer McCombe and our colleagues at the University of Alberta and the UAlberta Multiple Sclerosis Centre, we were honored to host the 2025 endMS Summer School in Edmonton. The event brought together trainees, mentors, clinicians, and researchers from across Canada for a dynamic week of learning, collaboration, and networking. The program featured lectures on MS pathology, EBV, remyelination, pain, and big-data approaches, alongside hands-on workshops, SPRINT presentations, career development panels, and lived experience sessions. Engaging icebreakers, group dinners, and social activities further strengthened connections, while expert-led discussions highlighted Edmonton’s research excellence. The week truly fostered collaboration, showcased cutting-edge advances in MS, and inspired participants to drive future discoveries and improvements in patient care. On behalf of our entire organizing team, we want to thank everyone involved for making this such a fabulous week. As you can imagine, organizing an event of this scale takes a village, and there are many people we wish to recognize. We are deeply grateful to all the MS research trainees who traveled from across Canada to join us, to our outstanding speakers and workshop leaders who generously shared their expertise, and to the moderators who kept us organized and on time. Our fantastic volunteers also played a crucial role in the success of this week. A special thank you goes to the endMS Summer School Planning Committee, who not only supported the event throughout the week but spent the past year building this excellent program. We are also thankful for the leadership of Dr. Christina Wolfson, Director, and Drs. Marcia Finlayson and Nathalie Arbour, Co-Directors of the endMS National Training Program, and to the members of the endMS review committees who ensured we had such a talented and well-prepared group of trainees. We are especially grateful to Dr. Christina Wolfson and Ms. Anik Schoenfeldt for their dedication over many years in building the endMS Training Program and for their unwavering support this past year. The members of the endMS Education and Training Committee also generously shared their experience from past summer schools, which was invaluable. We would like to particularly thank the 2025 endMS Summer School Planning committee members Katie Souter, our trainee representative, and Ryan Devine, our community member, for their important contributions. Most importantly, we want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to Christina Breault and Anik Schoenfeldt, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure every logistical detail ran smoothly—this event truly could not have happened without them. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the support of our sponsors. Our Edmonton team is proud and thankful for the opportunity to host this impactful program. It has been a privilege to welcome all of you, and we look forward to seeing how your work continues to shape the future of MS research and care.
Dr. Raphael Schneider's SPRINT team, Aysika Das, Jake Neufeld and Lies Van Horebeek met from March 10-14th in Toronto, ON. They made major progress on their SPRINT project on "The Impact and Consequences of Redefining the Multiple Sclerosis Spectrum", they toured the BARLO MS Centre, observing the care settings for individuals living with MS and learning more about the complex MS care logistics.
endMS SPRINT Team Meetings
iWiMS Webinar Series: July 29, 2025 5 pm ET: Charting Your Early Career in Multiple Sclerosis For more information and registration: https://www.iwims.world/iwims-webinar-series Canada Postdoctoral Research Award Program for post graduate and post doctoral researchers: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/index_eng.asp Neuroscience Positions: https://can-acn.org/neuro-jobs/ Women in STEM Job Board: https://canadianwomeninstem.org/job-board/
Please share this newsletter with trainees interested in MS related research. To be added/ removed from the endMS Training Program's distribution list, email anik.schoenfeldt@affiliate.mcgill.ca More info: endmstrainingprogram.ca
Karine Thai,1,2 Rose-Marie Rebillard,1,2 Wendy Klement,2 Othmane Ayoub,2 Olivier Tastet,2 Skander Ben Ahmed,2 Bettina Zierfuss,1,2 Camille Grasmuck,1,2 Fiona Tea,1,2 Lyne Bourbonniere,2 Clara Margarido,2 Chlo´e Juliette Hoornaert,1,2 Francis Carrier,2 Elizabeth Gowing, et al. "Peripheral HLA-DRhiCD141+ Classical Monocytes Predict Relapse Risk and Worsening in Multiple Sclerosis" Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm 2025;12:e200426. doi:10.1212/NXI.0000000000200426 Blaszczyk, G.J., Piscopo, V.E.C., Goldsmith, T.M.et al.Single cell RNAseq to identify subpopulations of glial progenitors in iPSC-derived oligodendroglial lineage cultures.npj Syst Biol Appl11, 35 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41540-025-00515-z
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Congratulations to the Recipients of the Raifta Shwedyk Bursary Fund: Jake Neufeld (University of Saskatchewan) Mira Safa (University of Manitoba) Shivangi Sharma (University of Manitoba) Shirley Yu (University of Saskatchewan) This fund was created in honor of the late Raifta Shwedyk. It supports a student(s) annually from a post-secondary institution from Manitoba and/or Saskatchewan to attend the endMS Summer School.
Awards
Dr. Marc Horwitz' SPRINT team, Reda Fazazi, Tamanna Islam and Kevin Champagne-Jorgensen met February 27 - March 1st . The team met in West Palm Beach, Florida, in conjunction with the ACTRIMS conference and made significant progress on their SPRINT project on the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and MS
Upcoming Events, Funding and Career Opportunities:
Publications (alumnae are in bold)