The FightSMA Annual Conference: The Good Fight is off to a great start. Opening last night, attendees heard from Dr. Arthur Burghes of Ohio State University, Dr. Livio Pellizzoni of the Columbia University Center for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease, and Dr. Rashmi Kothary of Ottawa Health Research Institute.

The last speaker of the night was Dr. Clive Svendsen. Dr. Svendsen, his team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and FightSMA Science Director Dr. Chris Lorson drew attention last year when they published the journal article “Induced pluripotent stem cells from a spinal muscular atrophy patient.” Work with induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS cells) and the potential promise that they hold for numerous diseases was so striking that Science declared it the 2008 Breakthrough of the Year .