Past Episodes

MS Warriors are those special individuals whose efforts on behalf of people affected by MS go above and beyond the norm to raise awareness, raise funds, and raise our spirits My guest this week is Marc Boyer. Marc biked more than 4,000 miles, from one end of Canada to the other, raising over $160,000 for the MS Society of Canada. Marc not only raised money that will fund important MS research, his coast-to-coast ride also raised MS awareness throughout Canada. We're also taking a look back at t...

In this episode of RealTalk MS, we're re-visiting my conversation from ECTRIMS 2019 with Dr. Bruce Bebo, the Executive Vice-President of Research at the National MS Society. This is one of my favorite conversations of the entire year, and you've made it this year's most downloaded and listened to RealTalk MS episode. We're also talking about a new report issued by RAND Europe, entitled Exploring the Societal Burden of Multiple Sclerosis: A Study Into the Non-Clinical Impact of the Disease, Incl...

Is MS preventable? Is progressive MS modifiable? We'll tackle these questions and more with my guest, Professor Gavin Giovannoni. Professor Giovannoni is not only a leading academic neurologist based at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University London, he's also a prolific blogger, tweeter, speaker, author, and opinion leader. It's a conversation you don't want to miss! We're also taking a look back at the major MS news stories of 2019. We're talking about new...

This episode is sponsored by Celgene and the MS MindShift Initiative, which aims to educate about the important role the brain plays in MS. My guest is Cathy Chester, who is a paid spokesperson for the MS MindShift. Cathy has lived with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis since 1986 and knows that although she has MS, MS does not have her. Today, Cathy hopes to empower, educate and inspire others to live a rich, full life despite living with a disability. We'll be talking to Cathy about how...

What can you do when the MS medication you need can cost $80,000, $90,000 or even $100,000 a year, and you don't have health insurance? Or you have health insurance, but your insurance company won't approve the specific disease-modifying therapy that your neurologist thinks will be best for you? My guest is Lisa Aquillano, a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Multiple Sclerosis at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. And we're talking about specific steps that you can take to overcome th...

This episode is sponsored by Celgene and the MS MindShift Initiative, which aims to educate about the important role the brain plays in MS. My guest is Jodi Johnson, who is a paid spokesperson for the MS MindShift. Jodi has been living with MS for almost 12 years after having been diagnosed in January of 2008. Since her diagnosis, Jodi has shifted her perspective on the disease to focus on what she can do, instead of what she cannot. We'll be talking to Jodi about coping with MS through person...

My guest is Stubhy Pandav, the lead singer of Lucky Boys Confusion and The Hoodie Life. Last year, Stubhy was diagnosed with MS. Then, Stubhy's insurance company told him that he couldn't start the disease-modifying therapy that his neurologist had prescribed. We'll talk with Stubhy about how he's managed to navigate this first year since his MS diagnosis, and we'll also talk with him about MS Sucks: Singing for a Cure, a benefit concert that's raising funds for the Accelerated Cure Project for...

November is National Family Caregiver Month, and while I was at the 4th Annual National Caregiving Conference in Chicago, I met this week's guest, Caregiver Strategist Penny Patnaude. Penny and I talked about some of the things that caregivers want to be thinking about in planning their own strategy for providing great care to their loved one without losing themselves in the process. I'll also introduce you to Dr. Lindsey Knowles, a young MS rehabilitation researcher who will give us an insider...

This episode is sponsored by Celgene and the MS MindShift Initiative, which aims to educate about the important role the brain plays in MS. My guest is Caroline Craven, who is a paid spokesperson for the MS MindShift. Caroline could not walk or see without assistance when she was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001. Today she is thriving and shares her personal experiences, life hacks, and the holistic lifestyle choices that she has made to help manage her MS symptoms, via her blog....

Last week, the National MS Society and RealTalk MS announced a new partnership. And we're definitely talking about it! My guest is Dr. Soha Saleh, a research scientist at Kessler Foundation's Center for Mobility and Rehabilitation Engineering Research, and we're talking about her innovative research in understanding how MS impacts dual-tasking -- something that all of us do, all day long. We'll tell you about the newly announced Weill Neurohub, and why that's such promising news for people aff...