Text that reads 2021 RNDS with text below reading The three-day virtual educational conference for those affected by rare neuroimmune disorders over an orange background

Join us for the 2021 RNDS on October 8-10!

We invite you to register for our 2021 Virtual Rare Neuroimmune Disorders Symposium! This three-day conference will take place October 8-10, 2021.

While we would love to see you in person, we have made the decision to meet virtually until it is completely safe to meet in person again. We are excited to still be able to offer this experience, as it is one of our most important and long-standing programs.

The RNDS is an educational conference dedicated to the exchange of information regarding diagnosis, research, and treatment strategies. It is also an opportunity to bring together the community of individuals diagnosed with rare neuroimmune disorders, families, caregivers, and the medical professionals who specialize in these disorders.

We may be in different time zones across the world, which makes it inevitable for some sessions to not always take place at convenient times for everyone. Recordings will be available directly within the platform following each presentation.

We are grateful for feedback from our members from past symposia. We listened! The first day of the RNDS will be offered as three concurrent tracks: one for those who have been recently diagnosed, one for those who were diagnosed more than two years ago, and one focused on pediatric care.

The conference will include speakers on a variety of topics, including presentations on each of the rare neuroimmune disorders, talks on symptom management, updates from recent research studies, two Q&A panels with our experts, several breakout sessions, and more.

Some of the talks this year include:

  • “Transitioning from pediatric to adult care: a conversation” with Cristina Sadowsky, MD of Kennedy Krieger Institute and Cody Unser, MPH of Cody Unser First Step Foundation (October 8)
  • “Disability benefits and vocational rehabilitation” with Janelle Hewelt, MEd, CRC, who is also a support group leader at SRNA (October 8)
  • “Adaptations: Mobility devices, driving, and home modifications” with Sandy Hanebrink, OTR/L, CLP, FAOTA of Touch the Future (October 8)
  • “Aging with a rare neuroimmune disorder” with Dan Becker, MD of Johns Hopkins Medicine (October 9)
  • “Vaccinations after a diagnosis of a rare neuroimmune disorder” with Carlos Pardo-Villamizar, MD of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Michael Levy, MD, PhD of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Benjamin Greenberg, MD, MHS of UT Southwestern Medical Center (October 9)
  • “SRNA research updates: Registry, vaccination study, and COVID-19 study” with GG deFiebre, MPH (October 10)

You can find all the necessary information about the online conference and how to register on our 2021RNDS page.

We are utilizing the platform Hopin to conduct this virtual event, which provides an accessible experience for our participants. This platform also has a tool for individuals to connect both privately and through a public chat function, which will allow for active feedback and discussion throughout the conference.

We are very excited to bring our community together for this educational experience, and we hope you will join us for this event!

Questions? Please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

We look forward to seeing you online and connecting with you next week!

2021RNDS is hosted by

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and supported in part through education grants by


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