From September 30th to October 2nd, 2026, the neuromuscular disease research community gathered aboard the SS Rotterdam for the iPSC Modeling in Neuromuscular Disorders Meeting (iMND meeting 2026), three days of sharing and discussing the latest advances in the field. Our Principal Scientist in Advanced In Vitro Systems, Afonso Malheiro, took part in the meeting and was one of the selected speakers.

Scientists from around the world presented innovative strategies to model neuromuscular disorders, with a particular focus on the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to study diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

On the first day, September 30th, Afonso spoke in the afternoon session “Therapeutics and Toxicology”, where he presented AccelBio’s latest advances in developing a human-based platform for modelling sporadic ALS, with the ultimate goal of enabling drug screening and accelerating the discovery of new therapeutic strategies.

The meeting was a great opportunity to exchange ideas, connect with fellow researchers, and contribute to the ongoing efforts to advance neuromuscular disease research. We are already looking forward to the next meeting, in Aachen in 2028.