Cure SMA is thrilled to continue to provide the Summit of Strength Program to local communities throughout the United States. The 2018 Summit of Strength Program was a great success, and the 2019 Summit of Strength Program has officially begun!
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a disease that robs people of strength by affecting the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord, taking away the ability to walk, eat, or breathe. Cure SMA understands the need for local support especially when dealing with a rare disease like SMA.
The Summit of Strength is a single-day educational event hosted by Cure SMA. Summits are crafted to provide information for people of all ages and types of SMA, and their loved ones and caregivers. These one-day mini conferences give families, adults, and caregivers an opportunity to network and learn from national and local experts about the latest advances in treatment, care, advocacy and support.
Each summit offers a unique agenda of topics ranging from standard of care, research and clinical trials, navigating the special education process, stress management techniques, and much more! Each presenter is an expert in their field, with years of experience specific to spinal muscular atrophy. At these events, attendees have the opportunity to have their questions answered by these specialists in an intimate setting.
Along with the informative presentations, attendees can also meet their Cure SMA Chapter Leaders and connect with the rest of the local SMA community. This local engagement further strengthens the bonds that make our communities so vibrant!
The highly-rated 2018 Summit of Strength Program included 16 one-day mini conferences. Presenters covered over 25 topics, and the average attendance was 79 attendees. These summits were held across 15 states between July 2018 and February 2019:
Cincinnati, OH
Boston, MA
Little Rock, AR
Phoenix, AZ
Philadelphia, PA
New York, NY
Orlando, FL
Milwaukee, WI
Birmingham, AL
Anaheim, CA
Baltimore, MA
Chicago, IL
Austin, TX
St. Louis, MO
Raleigh, NC
Santa Clara, CA
“We are so excited this day was presented, and we were able to be a part of the summit. The speakers were all so knowledgeable within their fields along with SMA. It was such a wonderful and unexpected surprise to hear the experts in the area speak. We enjoyed and learned something from every speaker.”
– 2018 Cure SMA Attendee
Thank you to AveXis for sponsoring the 2018 Summit of Strength Program and thank you to the fantastic speakers and enthusiastic attendees.
The Summit of Strength Program has continued in 2019, with 20 new events added from March through November. This will bring the total number of summits to 36, held over just 16 months!
“I loved this opportunity to hear and learn from the doctors and researchers in the SMA community. Especially because it can be hard to choose which session to attend at the annual conference, while also getting caught up in conversation with old/new friends (the best part!!). This summit gave us a time and place to get this vital information in a small setting – easier to focus!”
– 2018 Cure SMA Attendee
The dates and cities for the 2019 Summit of Strength Program are:
March 2 – Dallas, TX
March 9 – Fort Lauderdale, FL
March 30 – Seattle, WA
May 4 – Grand Rapids, MI
May 11 – Milwaukee, WI
June 1 – Kansas City, MO
July 20 – Denver, CO
July 27 – Salt Lake City, UT
August 3 – Long Island, NY
August 10 – Chicago, IL
August 24 – Cincinnati, OH
August 31 – Anaheim, CA
September 7 – Philadelphia, PA
September 14 – Rochester, NY
September 21 – Minneapolis, MN
September 28 – Newark, NJ
October 5 – San Ramon, CA
October 12 – Boston, MA
October 19 – Charleston, SC
November 9 – Orlando, FL
Registration is open – visit the links above or the Cure SMA Event Calendar to register for your local Summit of Strength today!
This is a free program which includes breakfast, lunch and parking for all attendees. For more info or questions please email [email protected].
Thank you to the 2019 Summit of Strength Program’s National Presenting Sponsors: AveXis, Biogen and Genentech/Roche. We would also like to recognize Platinum Sponsor, Scholar Rock for their support.