2010 Rare Neuroimmunologic Disorders Symposium to take place in Dallas September 24-26
In exactly one month from today, the Rare Neuroimmunologic Disorders Symposium will take place at the Galleria Westin Hotel in Dallas, Texas. The event is sponsored by UT Southwestern's Department of Neurology and the Office of Continuing Medical Education. I heard about it myself through an email from the President of the Transverse Myelitis Association (TMA). The symposium's purpose is to educate doctors, researchers, students, patients, and their caretakers on rare neuroimmunologic disorders such as Transverse Myelitis (TM), Devic's or NMO, and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM).
These symposiums are usually held on the East and West coasts, and this year will be the first time it's held in Texas. Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, the Director of UT Southwestern's TM and NMO Center, will host the event where clinicians and researchers will enlighten us on our disorders and the most effective treatments available.
John and I thought it would be a good idea to attend especially because Dallas is not too far away. Mostly, John said ignorance breeds fear, so we should be as informed about Devic's as possible. But then we looked into registering and discovered that fees for patients and their family members are a whopping $225 per person!
The more I think about it, though, the more I think it's still a good idea to go despite the price. I plan to contact UT Southwestern and see if I can get the graduate student price of $150. I mean, I am a grad student. Just a different field, that's all.
- Learn more about the Rare Neuroimmunologic Disorders Symposium
- Find information about the symposium on the TMA website
UPDATE: Right after I typed the above post and was about to call UT Southwestern to ask for a discount, I got an email from the TMA stating that registration fees for attending patients and their family members have been reduced to $225 for up to a family of three. So now John and I can attend for the price of one. (I love "buy 1, get 1 free" deals.) Sadly, their reason for the reduced fees is because the symposium is in danger of cancellation due to a lack of registrants. I was about to call and ask for a deeper discount but then saw in the email that the TMA is already subsidizing between $20,000 and $40,000 (big discrepancy, no?) of the event and now will have to raise more funds to make up for the fee reduction. So I decided to suck it up and just be happy about the "2-for-1 deal. Now all we need is the "okay" from John's boss that he can take vacation, and then, Dallas, here we come.