Past Episodes

Pain and fatigue are two of the most common and challenging symptoms of MS. These are the symptoms that can stop you from fully engaging in your life at work, at home, with friends, or family. My guest is Dr. Heidi Maloni. Dr. Maloni is a nurse practitioner and the National Clinical Nursing Director for the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence East at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, DC. And Dr. Maloni is an expert on treating pain and fatigue in MS. Dr. Maloni will share ...

Conversations about MS almost always get around to the high cost of MS disease-modifying therapies. Joining me on the podcast is the CEO of Genentech, Alexander Hardy. Genentech is a biotech company that many of you know as the manufacturer of Ocrevus, the first approved disease-modifying therapy that treats both relapsing-remitting MS and primary progressive MS. During our wide-ranging conversation, Alexander and I get into the cost of MS prescription medications, the real costs of bringing a ...

The International Progressive MS Alliance is about to publish a paper that recommends advancing research on a specific biomarker to predict MS progression, and we're getting a pre-publication preview of what that paper is all about. My guests are Dr. Robert Fox, a neurologist and Vice-Chair for Research at the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute, and Caroline Sincock, who lives with progressive MS. Both Doctor Fox and Caroline are members of the International Progressive MS Alliance Scienti...

The guidance for using MS disease-modifying therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic has been updated. My guest is Dr. Aaron Miller, the Chair of the National MS Society's National Medical Advisory Committee, the Medical Director of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis, and a Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and we're talking about the new guidance for each and every MS disease-modifying therapy that's currently available. Last week, ...

Integrative medicine combines evidence-based alternative medicine with conventional medicine. My guest is Dr. Allen Bowling, an internationally renowned neurologist who specializes in integrative medicine for MS. When it comes to care and treatment for MS, Dr. Bowling has published over 100 articles in clinical and basic science journals. He's been involved in research related to nutrition, dietary supplements, and other non-pharmacologic therapies for the past 30 years. And our conversation co...

Over the past several weeks, the United States has been forced to re-visit, re-examine, and reconsider its own history of racial inequality. This difficult but necessary national conversation has been driven by instances of racial injustice that have their origins in much broader systemic or institutional racism. Our conversations on RealTalk MS typically focus on multiple sclerosis research and multiple sclerosis care. So how does the subject of racial inequality find its way onto today's episo...

MS changes as we age and it follows that managing MS should change, too. We're talking about managing MS through different stages of life with Dr. Jennifer Graves, an associate professor of neuroscience at UC San Diego Health, Director of the UC San Diego Neuroimmunology Research Program, and the Director of the Rady Children's Hospital Pediatric MS Clinic. There's also lots of news to share about MS disease-modifying therapies including the availability of a newly-approved DMT, an extended FDA...

Don't miss our recap of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers Annual Meeting with Internationally Certified MS Nurse, Cherie Binns. We're talking about aging with MS, managing mood and depression, the latest information on diet and exercise, and more. We have a lot to talk about! Are you ready for RealTalk MS??!

My guest this week is Dr. Amy Sullivan, a Clinical Health Psychologist and the Director of Behavioral Medicine at the Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research at the Cleveland Clinic. We're talking about fighting feelings of isolation, building resiliency, caregiver emotional wellness, and how we should be thinking about living in a "new normal" world. Massachusetts General Hospital and iConquer MS surveyed more than 1,000 people living with MS about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on th...

My guest is Dr. Ellen Mowry, a Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University, where she also serves as the Director of the MS Experimental Therapeutics Program. Dr. Mowry has devoted her entire career to MS research, and her past research has led to breakthroughs in our understanding of MS. Today, Dr. Mowry is the co-principal investigator of an important research study whose outcome could have an impact on the treatment strategy for everyone diagnosed with MS. We're also talking about Wor...