Jeremy Slayter

💬 Viewpoint: Reframing physician care as a shared professional responsibility could reduce latent-error environments and reinforce ethical standards, making clinician well-being part of routine governance and departmental objectives. ja.ma/4ct0yu3

We are excited to share that our new research paper - 'Strengthening clinical capacity in spinal muscular atrophy: Developing and implementing training on clinical outcome assessments' - was published today. It reflects an important step forward for Muscular Dystrophy Canada (MDC) and the neuromuscular community. Read the full paper here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/22… Why is this paper important, and why does it matter? For people living with spinal muscular atrophy, access to treatment is not only about whether therapies exist. It also depends on whether trained clinicians are available to carry out specialized motor function assessments. Governments require these assessments to approve, continue, and monitor treatment coverage. When clinics lack trained evaluators, people can face delays or even lose access to care, even when treatments are available. To address this barrier, MDC took a long-term, capacity-building approach. We designed and delivered hands-on clinical training workshops in Quebec, offered in both English and French. These sessions helped build and standardize clinical expertise, reduced bottlenecks in the system, and supported more equitable access to treatment, especially for people outside major urban centres. This work also sends a broader message. Access to treatment requires more than funding a drug. It requires investment in training, clinical tools, and ongoing support within the healthcare system. This publication highlights MDC’s role as more than an advocate or funder. It shows how we respond to immediate needs while also working toward lasting system-level change that benefits the entire neuromuscular community. To learn about all our research initiatives, visit - muscle.ca/research/

Building clinical capacity of neuromuscular care across Canada is important. This new study outlines the development process of Train(e)d, a national platform by @MD_Canada & @NMD4Canada to expand knowledge of SMA clinical assessments nationally. doi.org/10.1177/221436…

Happy to have another paper recently released in @MuscleAndNerve examining two bulbar performance measures for adults with SMA. MPT performed adequately but was not overly sensitive @ 12 months. S/Z did not show strong validity. doi.org/10.1002/mus.70…

We're happy to have finally released this exploratory single-site study examining core clinical measures in adults with SMA. Only two clusters of information are being tapped by the SMART, suggesting more research is needed. @JournalCJNS @DalMedSchool doi.org/10.1017/cjn.20…

Brian Haynes, PJ Devereux and I present the rationale behind the third key principle of #EBM: evidence alone never is sufficient for decisions, #patient values and preferences always crucial. Or as this #BMJ article put it, evidence doesn’t make decisions, people do. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12052789/

POTW 17: Throwback Thursday - "The Art of Doing Nothing" by Iona Heath presents an argument for slowing down, listening, thinking, and waiting to improve patient care and clinical decision-making in a world constantly speeding up. doi.org/10.3109/138147…

Pleased to share our latest research @AbilityLab @NorthwesternPMR @NMNeurology in collaboration with my colleague @ProfJohnARogers @NU_QSIB: Bioresorbable, wireless dual stimulator for peripheral nerve regeneration. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40404648/

Hot off the Press - An updated Canadian consensus toolkit of recommended outcome measures for adults with #SMA. This work fulfills the promise we first made in 2021 to review our original recommendations as new evidence becomes available. #NMD @journal_nd doi.org/10.1177/221436…

POTW17: Bendahan et al. released in @JAMANeuro. The authors completed a thorough independent analysis of a subset of cases of a potentially new syndrome in NB. They concluded that there was no evidence to support a new syndrome or disease. doi.org/10.1001/jamane…

@DocJourneay @ACOEM @HarvardChanSPH @DalResearch @research_dal Congratulations Dr. Journeay, well deserved!

Awarded my Fellowship in @ACOEM at #AOHC2025 in Austin,TX. Fellows are recognized for their leadership and contributions to the field of Occupational medicine & @ACOEM. Would like to recognize my formal #OEM training @HarvardChanSPH #occmed @DalResearch @research_dal

POTW 16: El-Kaim et al., published in @journal_nd outlines a model for predicting 6MWT in Pompe Disease. A great effort to improve measurement strategies among individuals with neuromuscular disease. doi.org/10.1177/221436…

POTW 15: Antisense RNA Therapies for inherited myopathies published in @journal_nd by @oligogirl and others. Great overview of the current state and their potential. doi.org/10.1177/221436…

POTW 14: Measuring HRQoL among patients with ALS. doi.org/10.1212%2FWNL.… McDool et al. from @sheffielduni published in @GreenJournal did a great job identifying and mapping PROMs to domains of HRQoL. Over 100 tools were used for 42 subdomains.

To make #ALS a liveable disease - focus efforts on advancing ALS research & improving patient outcomes | Goals are twofold: first, to accelerate therapeutic discoveries for ALS; and second, to individualise approaches to clinical care | #global @MND_ALS @magxite #MND

POTW 13: Assessing Disease Progression in SMA. This newly released paper by Muni-Lofra et al. in Neuromuscular Disorders summarizes the state of outcome measures for SMA. Lots of work already done, with lots more to go. doi.org/10.1016/j.nmd.…. #Neurology #SMA #MND

Congratulations to Professor @AmmarAlChalabi who has been re-appointed as an @NIHRresearch Senior Investigator. He leads the NIHR Maudsley BRC's theme in Motor Neuron Disease: maudsleybrc.nihr.ac.uk/research/motor… Read more: nihr.ac.uk/news/nihr-appo…

POTW 12: Exercise for persons with Myopathy. Mamarabadi et al., published in @MuscleAndNerve provide a review of the evidence for exercise in this group of patients where exercise was traditionally avoided. They found that exercise is uniformly beneficial. doi.org/10.1002/mus.28…

Having patients complete structured questionnaires about how they are feeling and functioning – that is, measuring patient-important outcomes (#PROMs), can sometime result in improved care and improved outcomes. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18175207/

POTW 11: Improving the Visibility of Rare Diseases @TheLancet Collectively, Rare Diseases affect 1 in 20 people, 400 million worldwide. This short commentary highlights a new commission seeking to improve our understanding and ability to study them. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-…