SPEAKERS

Ros Quinlivan, Professor of Neuromuscular Diseases (NMD) at the Queen Square Centre for Neuromuscular Disease in London, originally trained in Paediatrics but after completing her research degree on the cardiomyopathy of Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy, developed an interest in both adult and paediatric NMD. She developed the Neuromuscular Complex Care Centre (NMCCC) which co-ordinates all aspects of neuromuscular care in one in-patient episode. She leads for transition and manages a large cohort of young adults with childhood onset NMD including DMD and she runs a national diagnostic and management service for McArdle disease and related disorders.

She leads the Adult North Star Network which developed UK standards of care for adults with DMD. She has been PI for clinical trials in DMD, SMA, myotubular myopathy, Becker MD and McArdle disease. Previously, she was co-ordinating editor for Cochrane Neuromuscular and chair of the British Myology Society. She is currently research director for the European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC).

Dr. Liewluck is a Professor of Neurology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. He is board certified in Neurology, Neuromuscular Medicine, and Clinical Neuromuscular Pathology. His clinical practice and research focus on muscle diseases, with particular expertise in (1) autoimmune myositis; (2) immune checkpoint inhibitor–associated myopathy; (3) monoclonal gammopathy–associated myopathies; (4) critical illness myopathy; (5) rhabdomyolysis; and (6) hereditary and acquired lipid storage myopathies.

Dr. Liewluck has authored over 145 peer-reviewed articles and nine book chapters and has co-edited one book. He is actively involved in professional organizations, including the World Muscle Society (WMS), American Academy of Neurology (AAN), American Neurological Association (ANA), American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM), International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS), International Myositis Society (IMyoS), and the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS). 

He served as Chair of the ANA Neuromuscular Disease Special Interest Group in 2023, Vice Chair of the AAN Neuromuscular Section from 2023 to 2025, and Vice Chair of the IMACS Scientific Committee from 2023 to 2025. He currently chairs the AANEM Abstract Review Committee, is an Associate Board Member of IMyoS, and serves on the UCNS Clinical Neuromuscular Pathology Examination Committee.

Professor Marina Kennerson is a neurogenetics researcher and scientific leader specialising in hereditary neuropathies. She leads the Translational Gene Discovery and Functional Genomics Hereditary Neuropathy Program at the ANZAC Research Institute, affiliated with Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney.

Her research focuses on identifying genetic causes of hereditary neuropathies, with particular emphasis on non-coding “dark genome” variation, structural variants, and repeat expansions, and on defining disease mechanisms using patient-derived iPSC models and in vivo systems. Professor Kennerson is internationally recognised for integrating advanced genomics with functional validation to accelerate diagnosis and therapeutic discovery. 

She plays an active leadership role in the global neuropathy community, serving as a Board member of the Peripheral Nerve Society, Secretary of the Charcot-Marie-Tooth and Related Neuropathies Consortium (CMTR), Chair of the Asian-Oceanic Inherited Neuropathy Consortium (AOINC), and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the CMT Research Foundation.

Crystal Jing Jing Yeo, M.B. BChir (Cambridge, Distinction) and PhD (Cambridge), is a Consultant Neurologist at the National Neuroscience Institute and a Principal Investigator at A*STAR, Singapore, where she directs the Translational Neuromuscular Medicine Laboratory.

She is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and is US board-certified in Neurology, Neuromuscular Medicine, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and Neuromuscular Ultrasound. Her clinical practice and research focus on neuromuscular disorders, with expertise in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, immune-mediated neuromuscular diseases, and neuromuscular biomarkers and advanced diagnostics, including AI-enabled precision medicine. Dr Yeo is the recipient of the 2025 American Neuromuscular Foundation and American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) Surinderjit Singh Young Lectureship Award. 

She serves on the Muscle and Nerve Editorial Board and has held leadership roles within the American Academy of Neurology and AANEM. She also holds international appointments as Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, Newnham Associate at the University of Cambridge, and Associate Staff at Boston Children’s Hospital, and serves as an international grant reviewer for major neuromuscular research funders in France, Netherlands and the UK. 

 Dr Michelle Lorentzos is the Medical Lead of the Kids Advanced Therapeutics Program at The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, where she leads the implementation and delivery of complex therapies and clinical trials, including gene and cell-based therapies and precision medicine pathways, across Australia’s largest paediatric health service. She is also Clinical Lead of the Neurogenetics and Neuromuscular Service at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sydney.

A paediatric neurologist with expertise in neuromuscular and rare diseases, Michelle is an experienced clinical triallist with specific interest in genetic therapies and antisense oligonucleotide therapies and innovative trial design. Her work is driven by a strong commitment to patient-centred decision-making, systems change, cross-sector collaboration and equitable access to emerging therapies.

 Sue Fletcher holds a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Biochemistry (University of Zimbabwe) and a PHD in Physiology and an Honorary Doctorate from The University of Western Australia (UWA). Her research at UWA and the Australian Neuromuscular Research Institute was as a molecular and cell biologist, studying muscle regeneration. She is a member of the team that pioneered the development of novel treatments for the fatal muscle-wasting disorder, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, through the design of antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics. 

She is a co-inventor of three drugs to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy and additional antisense drugs in clinical trials and pre-clinical development.  In 2021, Sue was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to medical research, to neurological science, and to the treatment and support of those with MD, and in 2022 became a fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2025, she was named West Australian of the year in the Professions category.

 Dr Clayton is a postdoctoral researcher in the team of Prof Gina Ravenscroft. His research focuses on the use of human stem cells to model and study congenital myopathies, with a particular focus on ACTA1 disease and RYR1-related myopathy. More recently, this includes use of patient-derived cells to create 3D engineered muscle tissues that provide functional and molecular readouts of disease pathobiology. 

Such systems will improve understanding of disease mechanisms for novel and existing disease genes and provide preclinical models for testing of treatments. Beyond this, he has also contributed to development and characterisation of animal models and discovery of novel disease genes and variants. His passion lies in establishing and optimising new laboratory systems and methodologies that improve standardisation and reproducibility of cell-based studies.

 Dr Withers is a paediatric respiratory and sleep physician with a special interest in neuromuscular disorders and long-term ventilation. As the respiratory clinical lead for the neuromuscular service at Perth Children’s Hospital, her focus is early detection and treatment of respiratory failure and sleep disordered breathing in children with neuromuscular disorders. She recently submitted her PhD thesis ‘Sleep Disordered Breathing in Children with Neuromuscular Disorders as a Marker for Respiratory Disease Progression – Definitions, Diagnosis and Cross-Sectional Associations’. This work identified novel pulmonary function tests and clinical factors which can be used as screening tools in clinical practice. 

 Professor Jong Hee Chae is a pediatric neurologist and clinical geneticist at Seoul National University Hospital, where she serves as Professor in the Department of Genomic Medicine and Director of the Rare Disease Center. She is also Professor of Pediatrics at Seoul National University College of Medicine. 

Professor Chae leads the largest pediatric neuromuscular disease clinic in Korea and is widely recognized for her expertise in neuromuscular disorders, neurogenetic diseases, mitochondrial disorders, and other rare pediatric neurological conditions. She received her M.D. and Ph.D. from Seoul National University and completed advanced clinical and research training in Japan and at Columbia University in New York. Board-certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Neurology, and Medical Genetics, she previously served as Principal Investigator of Korea’s national Undiagnosed Disease Program (K-UDP). 

Professor Chae has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles and is actively involved in international collaborations. She currently serves as President of the Korean Child Neurology Society.
 

 Professor Merrilee Needham (MBBS (Hons), FRACP, PhD) combines the challenging roles of Foundation Chair in Neurology jointly between Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch University and Notre Dame University Australia, Medical Director and Head of Neuromuscular and Myositis research at the Perron Institute (Western Australia), Consultant Neurologist at Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) and Fremantle Hospital and is the Clinical Lead Medical Specialities for the South Metropolitan Health Service. 

Professor Needham is passionate about making a difference for patients and their families living with neuromuscular diseases and neurological disorders. To provide the best care possible she partners with her patients in a research program to understand their diseases better, identify treatment targets and facilitate participation in clinical trials. She has established a translational and experimental research program, diagnosing and managing patients over time as well as biobanking patient samples. The laboratory program is performing immunological studies to better understand the role of the immune system in Inclusion-Body Myositis (IBM) and other forms of myositis, how inflammation links to the ultimate degeneration of muscle and identify new treatment targets. She also looks after a large cohort of Motor Neuron Disease (MND) patients and collaborates with local scientists to discover new risk genes, and national partnerships to include WA patients in national MND programs. 

Professor Needham has extensive experience in clinical trial leadership, and within the last 6 years has led over 8 clinical trials within Western Australia, supporting both industry-sponsored trials as well as leading investigator-initiated studies (E.g. including Bimagrumab in IBM, Abatacept in Myositis, Tecfidera in MND, Testosterone in IBM). 

Professor Needham's vision is to embed research into our day-to-day clinical practice and culture and enable us to provide the very best and evidenced-based care for patients.