Keynote and Plenary Speakers

Sudarshini Ramanathan heads the Translational Neuroimmunology Group at the University of Sydney and leads a basic science and clinical research program. She is Staff Specialist Neurologist at Concord Hospital where she diagnoses and treats patients with suspected autoimmune neurological disorders. Her research aims to improve understanding of disease pathogenesis with a focus towards ‘precision medicine’ with diagnosis and therapeutics. This has resulted in clinico-radiological characterisation of antibody-mediated disorders, translation of gold standard diagnostic research assays into routine clinical use, and diagnostic criteria and therapeutic guidelines to improve outcomes. A/Prof Ramanathan has been awarded over $11 million in research grants as Chief Investigator, including 14 years of NHMRC fellowships. Her research has been recognised by the ANZAN Leonard Cox Award and the NSW Premier’s Prize in Science and Engineering.

Diagnosed with MS in 2001 while completing her Doctorate of Psychology, Sally has developed a deep passion for helping people navigate chronic illness diagnoses and their mental health. She started her private practice in 2008, building a team of psychologists who combine clinical expertise with their own lived experiences.  Her doctoral research explored how people with MS cope in the first 12 months post-diagnosis. She is the creator of online courses such as ‘MS: Get Your Head Around It’ and ‘But You’ll Be OK’ which aim to equip people with a strategic psychological approach to living with a chronic health condition such as MS, and together with her colleague Seona Ilalio, Sally hosts the podcast But You Look So Good. 

Dr Zara Ioannides is a consultant neurologist at the Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital and a clinician-researcher at the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research. Dr Ioannides runs a dedicated multidisciplinary multiple sclerosis clinic and is passionate about providing thoughtful and compassionate care to individuals living with MS and their families, whilst utilizing the latest research and best practices to deliver holistic care.

“Go home and make yourself comfortable. Don’t expect to see your 40th Birthday”. These were the words told to Janine Watson when she was diagnosed at the age of 25 with Multiple Sclerosis.

Her idea of comfortable however, was to take up the sport of Taekwondo, a full contact martial art, where the aim is to knock the other person out by kicking them.

Despite numerous challenges and heartbreaking setbacks along the way, Janine’s resilience and indomitable spirit shone through and she was able to etch her name into the history books by winning not one, but four World Championships, and at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games became Australia’s first ever Paralympic medal in the sport of Taekwondo - ironically at the age of 40.

Jodi Haartsen is an experienced Neurosciences Nurse practitioner with over 25 years of expertise in brain health and neurological care. She began her career in Neurosurgery, working for a decade at Monash Medical Centre and St Vincent’s Public in Melbourne. She then transitioned into stroke research, contributing to community-based studies with the Alfred Chronic Disease team.

She joined Eastern Health in 2000, including Clinical Nurse Educator and MS Nurse Practitioner. In 2020, she became the Executive Manager of Client Engagement and Wellbeing at MS Plus, where she led initiatives to enhance patient care and support services.

Currently, Jodi is the Alfred Brain Improvement and Innovation Lead at Alfred Health, where she focuses on advancing brain health strategies and improving neurological care. She holds multiple postgraduate qualifications, including a Master of Nursing and a Master of Leadership, and has contributed to several national and international committees dedicated to brain health and multiple sclerosis research.

Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby BMedSci, MBBS, PhD, FAFPHM, FAFHMS is an epidemiologist and public health physician. Ponsonby is Head of Neuroepidemiology of the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. Ponsonby has extensive experience population-based studies, then public health translation. Her early work provided information on sudden infant death / prevention with a subsequent de line in SIDs mortality in Australia and internationally.

More recently, Ponsonby’s work has been on combining population epidemiologic approaches with system biology. Ponsonby is using this approach, to investigate mind and brain diseases. A particular focus is the potential impact of environment on multiple sclerosis and understanding the molecular pathways. Ponsonby has over 500 publications and several patents. As a public health physician, Ponsonby has a highly active and consistently ongoing role in research translation and preventative medicine.

Daniel Ontaneda, MD, PhD FAAN, is a professor of neurology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and a staff neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute’s Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis. He is the Director of Research at the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis. His research focuses on imaging outcome measures for MS and imaging based clinical trials.

His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Race to Erase Foundation, Department of Defense, and Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Dr. Ontaneda serves on the board of ACTRIMS and LACTRIMS. He currently serves on the NAIMS executive committee. Dr. Ontaneda is an Editor for JAMA Neurology and Multiple Sclerosis Journal.

Professor Jeannette Lechner-Scott is a senior staff specialist in the Department of Neurology, Newcastle, and a conjoint Professor at the University of Newcastle.

She is the head of the Neuroimmunology clinic at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle and the deputy director of the Immune Health Program in the Hunter Medical Research Program.

Professor Lechner-Scott is on the Board of Directors of MS Plus and MS Australia. She is a member of MSIF and the chief editor of MSARD.

She is the recipient of the 2023 Ian McDonald Award for Outstanding Research in Multiple Sclerosis. She received the award for Research Excellence in 2024 and was nominated for the National MS Research Award by MS Australia in February 2025.

Her research stretches over various fields (genetics/epigenetics, new MRI technologies, pregnancy, cognition in MS, etc), but always has the person with MS in its centre.

Prof. Rajiv Khanna obtained his doctorate degree from India and undertook his post-doctoral training at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), Brisbane Australia. He is the Co-Director of Queensland Immunology Research Centre and currently appointed as Distinguished Scientist at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. Prof. Khanna is also appointed as Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Cyteph Pty Ltd, Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland and Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Prof. Khanna is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and was awarded Order of Australia in 2017. He has extensive expertise in immunotherapy clinical trials, herpesvirus immunology and vaccine development. Over the last two decades, his group has successfully translated his research towards the development of novel T cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of transplant recipients and autoimmune diseases. Prof. Khanna is currently appointed as a consultant to Atara Biotherapeutics, Dynavax Technologies and Cellevolve Bio for the development of novel immunotherapeutics, diagnostic technologies and vaccines. He is also appointed on Scientific Advisory Board of Atara Biotherapeutics. Prof. Khanna has been invited by various national and International organizations for expert advice on developing clinical guidelines and scientific review.

Pr. Romain Marignier is a neurologist (MD), professor in the Neurological Hospital of Lyon, France. His field of expertise are the neuro-inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system with a specific interest on rare disorders, namely neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and MOG-Ab associated diseases (MOGAD). Pr Marignier is the coordinator of the French nationwide NMOSD and MOGAD cohorts and biobanks, NOMADMUS, set up in 2010 that includes all the French clinical experts in neuro-inflammatory disorders. Since 2017, Pr Marignier is the head of the French referral center for rare inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system, providing expertise on diagnosis and management for both patients and clinicians.

He performs his basic research on the pathophysiology of auto antibody-mediated disorders with in vitro, ex vivo and animal models, and the development of new strategies to optimise detection of auto-antibodies (anti-AQP4, anti-MOG, anti-GFAP) for diagnostic and prognostic purposes

Rachel Kerr is a dedicated MS advocate and community leader from Rockhampton, Queensland. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 17, she has transformed her personal journey into a mission to support others living with MS. In 2012, Rachel co-founded the Central Queensland MS Swimathon, which has since raised over $270,000 for services supporting Queenslanders living with MS, with Rachel playing a key role in its ongoing success. She also established the Young People with MS Rockhampton Support Group and created an online community to connect individuals navigating MS and the NDIS. Collaborating with CQUniversity, she helped launch the 'Living Well with MS' program, now offered statewide. In recognition of her unwavering commitment, Rachel received the 2023 John Study Award from MS Australia. As an MS Queensland ambassador, she continues to inspire through advocacy, fundraising, and peer support.

Tim O'Maley has been working in Neurosciences for over 34 years in hospital, community and not for profit sectors. He developed a special interest in MS in the mid 90’s, developing an Immunotherapy support service at PA Hospital Brisbane. Tim spent 13 years with MS Qld as Manager Specialist Education & Nurse Practitioner.

Tim was one of the first MS Specialist Nurses and the first MS Nurse endorsed as a Nurse Practitioner in Australia. As a Life Member of MS Nurses Australasia, Tim has been a constant source of support and education for other MS and general nurses. He continues his work as a Nurse Practitioner currently at the Princess Alexandra Hospital with his MS nurse-led and patient-focused clinics.