NF International and National meetings in Manchester

On the 10th and 11th October, the 20th European Neurofibromatosis (NF) Meeting took place in Manchester. 

This prestigious event was organised, and hosted, by Manchester University Hospitals' two nationally commissioned highly specialised services for Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Neurofibromatosis Type 2. The services, which are based in Genomic Medicine, at St Mary’s Hospital, in Manchester are led by Dr Grace Vassallo, Paediatric Neurologist, RMCH and Professor Gareth Evans, Professor Medical Genetics, SMH, respectively.

The two day "face to face" conference was organised in conjunction with Convenzis Group Limited, events organisers, who specialise in helping UK public sector organisations collaborate and improve public-facing services. The initial feedback from some of the most influential NF clinicians and scientists, who attended the meeting, have hailed it the most successful European conference to date.

The conference attracted some 230 delegates from as far afield as the USA, Australia, Japan, Portugal and Israel, and keynote lectures were given by many of the world's leading clinicians in the field of NF. As this was the first in person NF conference for three years, it allowed for the coming together of the worldwide NF community, to be updated on the most advanced research in NF, and to foster new research and clinical collaborations, within this group of rare diseases.

Nerve Tumours UK (NTUK), being one of the official sponsors of the conference, were given the opportunity to highlight our work, and to network with clinicians, universities, researchers, pharmaceutical companies and other European Lay Organisations, who were in attendance.

We were also delighted to witness Professor Rosalie Ferner, NTUK Trustee and National Lead for NF1, and Professor Gareth Evans, Chair of the NTUK Medical Advisory Board and National Lead for NF2 being presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards, for their contribution and expertise in the field of Neurofibromatosis. The award was given by NF Patients United, the umbrella organisation for patient and lay organisations in Europe.