J. Andoni URTIZBEREA
J. Andoni URTIZBEREA, (MD, MSc), aged 60, is certified both in paediatrics and PMR (physical medicine and rehabilitation) from Paris University, France. In parallel, to his Medical Degree, he graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris in 1987. In the 90s, as Scientific Director of the European Neuromuscular Center (ENMC) and Medical Director of the AFM-Telethon (the French Muscular Dystrophy Association), he contributed to the establishment of many worldwide networks in myology, an emerging discipline focused on muscle diseases. JAU is currently a part-time clinical neuromyologist in Hendaye, south of France (Hôpital Marin, APHP) and deputy coordinator of the French Neuromuscular Network (FILNEMUS) in Marseilles. Over the past twenty years, JAU headed various worldwide educational events dedicated to myology in France (the renowned Summer School of Myology of Paris) but also in Latin America, Russia and, more recently in the Middle-East. As a regular visiting professor for the Ministry of Health of Kuwait, he knows particularly well the Middle-East and the Indian subcontinent. Ideally placed at the intersection of industry, patient advocacy groups and academia, his main objective is to raise more awareness about these rare conditions notably in emerging countries, more specifically in the context of novel cutting-edge therapies. His main fields of interest are SMA (spinal muscular atrophies), Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophies and Pompe disease.