News from around the world

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

AIM

The 25th National Congress of the Italian Association of Myology (AIM) was held from May 28 to 31, 2025 in the scenic city of Taormina, marking a special occasion: the celebration of AIM’s 25th anniversary since its foundation in 2000, which also took place in Taormina. This symbolic return emphasized the importance of the city of Messina and its established Neuromuscular Disease Center in the development of the Italian myology community.

The event took place at the Palazzo dei Congressi, bringing together over 500 participants including physicians, researchers, healthcare professionals, industry representatives, and patient advocacy groups. With a record submission of over 200 abstracts, selected for oral and poster presentations, AIM 2025 confirmed its standing as the most prominent Italian event dedicated to neuromuscular diseases.

The Congress officially opened on May 28 with welcome remarks from the AIM President, Prof. Vincenzo Nigro of University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, followed by local authorities and AIM Past Presidents in a ceremony that celebrated 25 years of the Italian myological community.

Scientific sessions continued with plenary lectures, symposia, and workshops covering a broad spectrum of topics: myotonic dystrophies, myasthenia gravis, inflammatory myopathies, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and mitochondrial diseases featuring prestigious Italian and European speakers such as Professors Eric Voorn from Amsterdam, Mads Stemmerik from Copenhagen, Cristina Dominguez and Marcello Bellusci from Madrid, Amel Karaa from Paris, Michal Minzuck from Cambridge, Benedikt Schoser from Munich and Marco Bugiardini from London. 

A distinguishing feature of AIM 2025 was the dynamic contribution of the AIM Study Groups, which act as collaborative platforms for clinical research and best-practice dissemination. These multidisciplinary teams presented updates on ongoing research initiatives and fostered dialogue across specialties. A dedicated focus was placed on young professionals, encouraged to actively engage with the community through tailored sessions, dedicated awards, networking opportunities, and formative exchanges with senior experts. The Giovani AIM group played a pivotal role in supporting early-career researchers and strengthening the generational renewal of the Italian myology field.

On Saturday morning, May 31, the congress hosted its traditional roundtable with patient associations, promoting open dialogue on clinical priorities, challenges in care access, and the importance of partnership between clinicians, researchers, and patients. This session reiterated AIM’s commitment to person-centered care and the active involvement of patients in shaping healthcare strategies. The Congress closed with the awarding of prizes to young researchers who presented the best oral or poster communications in various aspects of neuromuscular diseases.

e-NMD

The 5^th eNMD conference in E-health & innovation to Overcome Barriers in Neuromuscular Diseases will be held in Palermo, Italy, on November 28-29, 2025. More information is available at the website: www.enmd-neuromuscular.eu and at segreteria_milano@fclassevents.com.

MSM

The 14^th Meeting of the Mediterranean Society of Myology (MSM) will likely take place in 2027. 

NIL Association

The Association of the Italian Network of Laminopathies (NIL) started its activity in 2009 with the aim of promoting biomedical and clinical research on Laminopathies. It was established as a legal entity in Bologna on July 14^th, 2023. The Association is open to all those who want to share its perspectives, statute and regulations. The XXX Meeting of the Network was in Bologna, on 11^th April 2025 at the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna Room Conference. The meeting, as usual, hosted contributions on the muscular, cardiac, endocrine and systemic aspects of Laminopathies. The next meeeting will take place on November 7^th, 2025 again in Bologna.

WMS 

The 30th International Annual Congress of the World Muscle Society will be in Vienna, Austria from 7^th to 11^th October, 2025. The main thematic topics of the congress will be:

Topic 1 - Neuromuscular diseases as multisystemic disorders

Topic 2 - Multidisciplinary management of neuromuscular diseases

Topic 3 - Advances in therapies and drug development

Each day of WMS 2025, a plenary session will be dedicated to exploring one of these topics. Speakers will summarise the state of the field on the selected topics and cover key aspects.

Further information is available at the WMS website: https://www.wms2025.com.