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The ACTRIMS Forum 2024 Kenneth P. Johnson Memorial Lecture, “Pioneering B-Cell Therapies,” will be given by Anne H. Cross, MD.
At each ACTRIMS Forum, ACTRIMS presents a lecture named in honor of the late Dr. Kenneth P. Johnson who spearheaded the foundation of ACTRIMS. The lecture, a highlight of the event, provides an opportunity to hear from a prestigious clinician or researcher selected for their knowledge, accomplishments, and contributions related to multiple sclerosis (MS).
The ACTRIMS Forum 2024 Kenneth P. Johnson Memorial Lecture, “Pioneering B-Cell Therapies,” will be given by Anne H. Cross, MD, Thursday, February 29, 9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m., at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, West Palm Beach, Florida.
Dr. Cross is a professor of neurology at Washington University, St. Louis, at which she holds the Manny & Rosalyn Rosenthal/Dr. John L. Trotter MS Center Chair in neuroimmunology and also heads the neuroimmunology/multiple sclerosis section.
After graduating cum laude from the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Dr. Cross completed her neurology residency at George Washington University, and spent years as a post-doctoral fellow in neuroimmunology at the National Institute of Health, and later at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She received the Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar career development award of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 1990.
In 1991, Dr. Cross joined the Washington University Department of Neurology at which she continues working today as a specialist and researcher focused on MS. In 2001, Dr. Cross began the first Phase 2 study of B cell depletion in MS patients as an add-on study in MS patients who were failing beta-interferons or glatiramer acetate. This study, funded by the National MS Society, determined that adding rituximab resulted in an 88% reduction in MRI activity.
Her honors include the President’s Achievement Award of Barnes-Jewish Hospital (2010), Faculty Achievement Award of Washington University (2014), the National MS Society Scientific Researcher Award (2019), and the 2019 John Jay Dystel Prize for MS research from the American Academy of Neurology and National MS Society.
Repeatedly named one of the “Best Doctors in America” since 2007, Dr. Cross enjoys mentoring and is proud of her more than 30 prior trainees.
ACTRIMS Forum 2024 takes place in West Palm Beach, Florida, Thursday, February 29 through Saturday, March 2, 2024. Visit the ACTRIMS Forum 2024 website for more event information, and return here often for conference highlights, abstracts and features.
