#056: Insights into the activities of the European Charcot Foundation with Prof. Giancarlo Comi

MS-Perspektive - The Multiple Sclerosis Podcast

Prof. Giancarlo Comi presents the extensive work of the European Charcot Foundation to help improve the lives of people with MS worldwide.

You can find the complete transcript of the interview on my blog: https://ms-perspektive.com/56-prof-comi

This time I welcome Prof. Giancarlo Comi, President of the European Charcot Foundation (ECF), for an interview. We talk about the important role of the Foundation and how it has grown into an international, influential organization to improve the lives of people with MS in a variety of areas.

The Charcot Foundation chairs the English MS Master's program, which trains MS specialists on a part-time basis with over 100 international lecturers over 2 years.

The multi-stakeholder initiative is about coordinating different projects, pooling resources and avoiding redundancies. The Charcot Foundation also offers various further training opportunities, invites people to the annual meeting in Baveno on Lake Maggiore and is closely networked with the ECTRIMS organization and the local CTRIMS organizations around the world.

We talk about this and other exciting topics in the interview.

Table of Contents

• Introduction – Who is Prof. Giancarlo Comi?
• European Charcot Foundation
• Charcot Multiple Sclerosis Master
• Further activities of the European Charcot Foundation
• Quickfire Q&A Session
• Farewell

Introduction – Who is Prof. Giancarlo Comi?

I’m Professor Giancarlo Comi, means Professor of Neurology. I am at present Honorary Professor of the Vita Salute University, President of the European Charcot Foundation and Chairman of the Scientific Committee of Human Brains Prada Foundation. At the same time, I’m still having a clinical responsibility, I’m the director of the MS Center, in Milan, at Casa di Cura Igea. So this is the way I utilize my time.

Finally, what message of hope or encouragement would you like to share with the listeners?

It is a bit linked to what I said before. I think that one of the most important initiatives in multiple sclerosis, in the last 10 years, has been the promotion of the Progressive MS Alliance, jointly promoted by patients’ association with the involvement of many important academic centers. Because it is only if we join our efforts that we may be in a condition to succeed, in order to solve the problem of progressive MS treatment. So my message to people with MS is first, for those of you, who have received the diagnosis just now or very recently, be very confident with the possibility to live your entire life without major problems from the disease. Because when we are able to start our treatment very early, today we have so efficient disease-modifying treatment that it is not every way, not every time I have to say, but in the vast majority of cases, we are able to keep the control of the disease.

And the second message is for those who are forcibly already have the disease since some time. Again, here also for you, because of these new treatments, the expectations are extremely good to have a very good future. And for those, who unfortunately already have some level of disability, I also hear and see a lot of the important evolutions. Here, please don’t forget that the rehabilitation, not just only physical rehabilitation, but a very, let’s say, modern and complex rehabilitation, is of great importance to facilitate your life. So, don’t lose the opportunity to utilize such an approach. And also, I’m very convinced that in a very reasonable time, also for you, there will be some pharmacological support to try to block the evolutionary deficits.

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See you soon and try to make the best out of your life, Nele

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