Welcome to your March newsletter from the World Muscle Society

Firstly, the most exciting news, registration for WMS 2026 in Hiroshima, Japan is now live. As I mentioned last month, we opened registration for members two weeks before general registration, which opened on 17 March. If you haven't already registered, you still have until 5 June to take advantage of early bird prices.

Last month, I was proud to host members of the Executive Board in my home city of Oxford. We spent two days together discussing a number of issues and reaching agreements. The good news is that we were not completely flooded, but it was borderline!

Perhaps the most significant disucssion was about our current committee structure. The WMS Committees at the moment have all been initiated by successive Executive Boards to progress the ambitions of the Society. We agreed to streamline the number of committees, that each committee should have an early to mid-career co-chair and a Board representative and that the committee leadership should be empowered to drive the work of the committee. We also started trying to shape what WMS networks might look like, with the aim of enabling members to create networks that support their priorities. Look out for further updates in the coming months (just the time I need to review minutes and draft processes). 

All our committees always welcome new members, but our Environmental Sustainability Committee is actively recruiting for new members right now. If you would like to help shape the future of our sustainability efforts, please see the story below for more information about how to get involved. 

We are also looking for WMS members who can help review abstracts for WMS 2026. You don't need any previous experience. We'll host a briefing to guide you through the process. The review period is 17-29 April. Two spoiler alerts: it takes a little bit of time, but you learn A LOT. If you would like to know more, have a look at the story below.

I am also very excited to announce that we are ready to receive bids from people who would like to host a future WMS Congress (it takes a little bit more time than abstract reviews). Our Request for Proposals (RFP) process for WMS 2030 is now live and the deadline for letters of intent to bid is 2 June 2026. You can register to receive access to the information site here.

By the end of this month, we are also hoping to be ready to invite bids for our joint Congress with the Peripheral Nerve Society in 2029. Because of recent WMS and PNS locations, we have agreed that we will be looking for a European city to host the joint Congress in 2029.

And finally, we held the first of our Myology Café masterclasses on 19 March. This first session focused on writing a strong abstract and future sessions will include preparing a poster, and preparing your presentation. If you missed it, there's a link below to a recording of the session.

Kindest regards,