After EVELAM-Asunción, Paraguay, in December 2019, the well-known Euro-Latino American Summer School of Myology (EVELAM, https://evelam.org/) had to recreate itself in a virtual format due to the COVID19 pandemic. EVELAM 2020 and 2021 were successfully broadcast from Santiago, Chile and Sao Paulo, Brazil reaching an audience of 700 and 400 delegates respectively. Quito, Ecuador 2022 was the first post-pandemic version of EVELAM, in hybrid format, resuming in-person presence with some uncertainty as to the attendance. Nevertheless, EVELAM Quito 2022, literally at the equator of the world, was once again a success with a total of 200 delegates present on-site and online, 20 in-person international guest speakers and another 12 through recorded conferences, and 16 countries represented from the American continent and from Europe. We unanimously agreed that face-to-face communication is not replaceable by the comfort of “attending” a conference from home.
This year, EVELAM 2023 (https://evelam2023.com/) took place, in hybrid format, between November 29 and December 2, 2023, in the beautiful city of Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay, on the banks of the River Plate, right across from the city of Buenos-Aires. The scientific program, endorsed by TREAT-NMD, touched upon various topics touched upon various topics, from basic myology to the most recent advances in the diagnosis and therapeutics of neuromuscular disorders. It also encompassed a very useful debate about the difficulties met in accessing high-cost disease-modifying therapies for spinal muscular atrophy across Latin America, as well as two workshops dedicated to clinical vignettes (for pediatric and adult patients, respectively).
The local organizing committee headed by Dr. Graciela Barros and Dr. Conrado Medici (Chair of Neuropediatrics, Pereira Rossell Hospital Center, Uruguay) did an incredible job; the renowned Uruguayan hospitality, the support from AFM-Téléthon France, and the invaluable contribution of the pharmaceutical industry from Scienza, Sanofi, Biogen, PTC and Roche were essential to guarantee the success of EVELAM 2023.
The next edition of EVELAM is scheduled for Cuzco, Perú from November 27th to 30th, 2024. See you in Machu Picchu! More information will be available soon at www.evelam.org
