2027 GLIA Scientific Meeting and Advocacy Workshop
Philadelphia, PA - The Global Leukodystrophy Initiative is excited to announce the 2027 GLIA Scientific Meeting and Advocacy Workshop, which will take place at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from October 17-19, 2027.
This three-day event seeks to bring together clinical, scientific, advocacy, and industry stakeholders from around the world to review recent clinical and research advances across the leukodystrophies, and identify opportunities to address challenges in the diagnosis, care, and treatment of affected individuals.
The conference will begin with a Patient Advocacy Workshop on Sunday, October 17. This workshop will be reserved primarily for patient advocacy leaders, though industry representatives may be invited to attend select portions of the workshop to foster engagement. With over a dozen new patient advocacy organizations having joined this space in recent years, we hope to provide an unbiased forum for constructive discussion between leaders. In the spirit of promoting a highly interactive format, the workshop will not be live-streamed or recorded.
The two-day scientific meeting will take place on Monday, October 18 and Tuesday, October 19. This meeting serves as an opportunity for leukodystrophy clinicians, researchers, advocacy leaders, regulatory officials, and industry partners from around the world to gather and learn from one another. It will feature disease-specific updates anchored by broader concept sessions highlighting key topics in newborn screening, therapeutic development, diversity and access, and advocacy engagement. All sessions will be live-streamed and recorded for those unable to attend the meeting in person.
A detailed agenda will be released in the coming months. In the meantime, please visit the FAQ section below for more information about what to expect at the 2027 GLIA Scientific Meeting and Advocacy Workshop. We hope to see you there!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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Yes and yes. The three-day conference will take place in person at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
For those unable to join us in person, a livestream of the scientific meeting will be broadcast in real time at https://theglia.org/2027gliaconference. The live stream will begin at 8:00 a.m. EDT on Monday, October 18 and again at 8:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, October 19.
Video recordings of individual presentations will be made available via the same link in the weeks following the conference.
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We have taken steps to make the meeting as affordable as possible by waiving registration fees and providing complimentary meals during the meeting days; however, we also recognize that accommodation and travel expenses can easily become prohibitive.
Partial travel reimbursement will be offered to all meeting organizers, workgroup leaders, and speakers.
Patient advocacy leaders who wish to attend and may not have the means to do so will be invited to apply for financial assistance to offset travel and/or accommodation expenses. These applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis and awarded based on need, as long as funding permits us to do so.
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Absolutely!
The overarching goal of this event is to foster collaboration between the many different stakeholders (inc. clinicians, researchers, advocacy leaders, industry representatives, etc.) involved in the leukodystrophy space.
In addition to presentations and workshops, the conference will feature ample informal networking opportunities.