Angela Lek, PhD, on the Priorities and Agenda for MDA's 2026 Conference

This interview originally appeared on our sister site, NeurologyLive®.

"The agenda continues to expand its multidisciplinary lens, bringing together researchers, clinicians, and allied health professionals to collaborate across diseases and technologies. Our goal is to spotlight innovation while addressing the real-world challenges of getting therapies to patients."

Bringing together clinicians, researchers, industry leaders, and patient advocates, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Clinical and Scientific conference has grown over time to be a central point for the neuromuscular field to convene each year. The aforementioned stakeholders gather around the acceleration of progress for rare and inherited muscular diseases as a share goal. The annual conference increasingly reflects the trajectory of science and clinical care alike as therapeutic development expands across gene therapy, RNA-based approaches, and disease-modifying small molecules.

This year’s meeting, which will occur from March 8 to 11 at the Hilton Orlando hotel in Orlando, Florida, is expected to showcase a plethora of intriguing presentations that cover the breadth of topics like allied health, care trends, disease mechanisms, gene therapy, muscle regeneration, and more. Furthermore, insights relating to the broader challenges facing the neuromuscular community, like immune responses to advanced therapies, the strengthening of patient registries, and navigation of regulatory and financial barriers, may be gained by those who attend the meeting.

In anticipation of the release of the 2026 conference agenda, CGTLive®’s sister site NeurologyLive® spoke with MDA chief research officer Angela Lek, PhD, about emerging themes shaping the upcoming meeting. Lek, who currently serves as a program consultant for the NIH’s Somatic Cell Genome Editing program, provided insights on how the agenda continues to adapt to the evolving needs of the neuromuscular community.

Click here to register for the upcoming 2026 MDA Conference.