Date & Time: 15 December 2022, 4 pm CET

Featuring Dr Carolina Medina-Gomez & Dr Leanne Ward,

Chaired by Dr Maria-Bernadette Madel

Format:

• 5 min welcome & introductions
• 20 min presentation by Dr Medina-Gomez
• 20 min presentation by Dr Leanne Ward
• 15 min Q&A
• 15 min Coffee Shop for interactive discussions

Learning Goals:

1. To highlight recent developments in the genetics of primary bone fragility, and in the monitoring of children at risk for secondary osteoporosis.
2. To underscore the potential polygenic contribution to pediatric fracture risk and the role of genome-wide association studies to identify this burden.
3. To summarize results of recent clinical trials in the treatment of primary and secondary osteoporosis.
4. To discuss unmet needs that drive future directions in clinical care, research and advocacy for children with osteoporosis.

Accreditation:

This webinar has been accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®) with 1 European CME credit (ECMEC®s).  Each medical specialist should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity.

Costs: Live webinar is free for ECTS members and non-members, but a registration is required. Recordings are accessible to ECTS members only.

Faculty

Dr Carolina Medina-Gomez

Dr Carolina Medina Gomez is a senior researcher at the Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands and an active member of the ECTS academy. She obtained her PhD in 2016, entitled “Disentangling the Heterogeneity of Bone Accrual”, in which the genetics of pediatric bone was the leading topic. Her findings have, for example, contributed to underscore the importance of molecules such as WNT16 in bone biology. Her work is at the forefront of cutting-edge methods in genomics (including not only genetic data but also transcriptomics), leading projects within the GEFOS/GENOMOS consortium. Since 2016, she he extended her research to microbiome research having a lead role in the MiBioGen consortium trying to bring together genetic, genomic and gut microbiome data.

Dr Leanne Ward

Dr. Leanne Ward is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa where she holds a Tier 1 Research Chair in Pediatric Bone Disorders. Dr. Ward is also cross-appointed to the Department of Surgery given strong clinical and research ties to the Division of Orthopedics. She is the Scientific Director of The Ottawa Pediatric Bone Health Research Group, The Medical Director of the Pediatric Genetic and Metabolic Bone Disease Clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and a pediatric endocrinologist in the CHEO Division of Endocrinology. In 2014, she founded The Canadian Consortium for Children’s Bone Health, a national, multi-disciplinary network of clinicians and scientists that foster health professional education and research in childhood-onset bone disorders (bonescanada.org). She is also a Steering Committee Member of the International Conference on Children’s Bone Health (ICCBH).

Dr. Ward’s research program is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of childhood-onset bone disorders including genetic forms of rickets, hypophosphatasia, osteoporosis due to chronic illnesses, and skeletal dysplasias (such as osteogenesis imperfecta and achondroplasia). The Ward lab has a particular focus on therapeutic trials in childhood-onset bone disorders, with emphasis on orthopedic outcomes quantified through central skeletal imaging, and the study of novel drugs to mitigate the functional consequences of rare bone diseases. The Ward lab’s signature is local-to-global collaborative engagement with clinicians, researchers, and the patient community in key areas that span orthopedics, endocrinology, dentistry, audiology, radiology, genetics, allied health, biomedical statistics and clinical trial operations.

Dr. Ward has held sustained funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as PI or co-PI since 2003, has published over 300 book chapters, abstracts and manuscripts, and has delivered over 120 international invited speaking engagements. She works closely with patient advocacy groups to promote patient education and access to rare disease care, including the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders, The Canadian Osteogenesis Imperfecta Society, The Canadian XLH Network, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, and Defeat Duchenne Canada. In 2019, Dr. Ward was named a Fellow of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, an award in recognition of significant contributions to bone and mineral science.