At the World Congress of Neurology, Prof. Charlotte Cordonnier Charts the Next Evolution in Stroke Care

14 OCTOBER 2025, Seoul/London — At the World Congress of Neurology (WCN), Prof. Charlotte Cordonnier, Professor of Neurology in the Lille University Hospital, France urged the global neurology community to carry forward the lessons of the ischemic stroke revolution and apply them to one of medicine’s most urgent frontiers: intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

“Over the past 30 years, our understanding of time, teamwork, and imaging transformed ischemic stroke from a fatal event to a treatable emergency,” she said. “Now it’s time to bring that same focus, innovation, and collaboration to hemorrhagic stroke — where mortality remains unacceptably high and progress has lagged behind.”

Prof. Cordonnier outlined a three-step strategy for the future of ICH care: prevent hematoma expansion, promote hematoma evacuation, and counter neuroinflammatory response. She emphasized that success will come not from isolated interventions, but from integrated, time-sensitive care models that combine imaging, neurointensive medicine, pharmacologic innovation, and personalized targets for blood pressure and organ function.

Her vision calls for a new generation of data-driven stroke units, where imaging and biomarkers work in tandem to guide individualized treatment decisions. “We must look beyond the vessel and focus on the blood content and its toxicity,” she explained. “Understanding how blood interacts with brain tissue — and how to reverse those effects — is the next great leap.”

Beyond acute care, Prof. Cordonnier highlighted the importance of prevention and long-term brain health, noting that small vessel disease burden strongly predicts both functional and cognitive decline among stroke survivors. “Prevention doesn’t end at the hospital,” she said. “It begins with promoting brain health across the lifespan and reducing small-vessel damage before the first event ever occurs.”

“We’re in an evolution that connects everything we’ve learned from ischemic stroke to a new era of care for hemorrhagic stroke. Together, through science, precision, and collaboration, we can change the story for these patients.”

Her remarks reflected a defining message of this year’s Congress: that neurology’s greatest breakthroughs arise not from isolated discoveries, but from collective evolution — translating decades of insight into new standards of care that extend and improve lives worldwide.

About the World Congress of Neurology

The World Federation of Neurology’s World Congress of Neurology brings together leading neuroscientists and public health experts to turn research into action and emphasize the importance of brain health across the globe. The 27th biennial conference was held in Seoul, South Korea from October 12 to 15, 2025, and was co-hosted by the Korean Neurological Association (KNA).

About the World Federation of Neurology

With support from its 126 Member Societies, the World Federation of Neurology fosters quality neurology and brain health worldwide by promoting neurological education and training, emphasizing under-resourced areas of the world. As a non-state actor in official relations, WFN supports the World Health Organization (WHO) efforts to give everyone an equal chance to live a healthy life. With Member Societies around the globe, WFN unites the world’s neurologists to ensure quality neurology and advocate for people to have better brain health. Learn more about the World Federation of Neurology at wfneurology.org.

For media inquiries, please contact ashley@yakketyyak.com

At the World Congress of Neurology, Professor Mary Reilly Highlights a Turning Point in Gene-Based Therapies for Inherited Neuropathies

14 OCTOBER 2025, Seoul/London — A rapidly evolving therapeutic landscape for inherited neuropathies — one in which gene silencing, gene editing, and biomarker-driven innovation are reshaping what is possible for patients once considered untreatable. Speaking at the World Congress of Neurology (WCN), Prof. Mary Reilly MBE, MD, FRCP, FRCPI, FMedSci, Professor of Clinical Neurology and Consultant Neurologist, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, shares that science has finally caught up with the vision.

“After decades of mapping the genetic causes of neuropathy, we are finally treating them at their source,” said Reilly. “What once felt theoretical is now entering the clinic.”

Prof. Reilly traced the path from early genetic discoveries in transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis — once a uniformly fatal condition — to today’s RNA- and CRISPR-based therapies that silence or edit disease-causing genes directly. These breakthroughs have transformed outcomes and set a precedent for applying gene-based treatments to broader classes of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and related disorders.

Biomarkers such as neurofilament light chain and MRI fat fraction are emerging as critical tools to measure treatment response and accelerate regulatory approval.

“For slowly progressive neurogenetic diseases, we need surrogate endpoints that predict clinical change,” said Prof. Reilly. “Without them, our trials will take too long, and progress will slow.”

As patients live longer, novel disease patterns, such as central nervous system involvement in TTR amyloidosis, are beginning to emerge, underscoring the need to study the natural history of treated diseases. This calls for collaboration across industry, regulators, and academia to ensure delivery challenges, safety standards, and long trial timelines do not stall innovation.

“We’re learning how to deliver therapies not just to the liver or muscle, but to the peripheral nerve itself,” she said. “Each barrier we overcome expands what’s possible for the next disease.”

The precision tools of modern genetics, once confined to theory, are now rewriting the future of neurology and neurodegenerative care.

“We are at the cusp of a transformative moment,” Prof. Reilly concluded. “Inherited neuropathies are moving from gene discovery to gene therapy. The next challenge — and opportunity — is to make these treatments safe, scalable, and accessible to every patient who needs them.”

About the World Congress of Neurology

The World Federation of Neurology’s World Congress of Neurology brings together leading neuroscientists and public health experts to turn research into action and emphasize the importance of brain health across the globe. The 27th biennial conference was held in Seoul, South Korea from October 12 to 15, 2025, and was co-hosted by the Korean Neurological Association (KNA).

About the World Federation of Neurology

With support from its 126 Member Societies, the World Federation of Neurology fosters quality neurology and brain health worldwide by promoting neurological education and training, emphasizing under-resourced areas of the world. As a non-state actor in official relations, WFN supports the World Health Organization (WHO) efforts to give everyone an equal chance to live a healthy life. With Member Societies around the globe, WFN unites the world’s neurologists to ensure quality neurology and advocate for people to have better brain health. Learn more about the World Federation of Neurology at wfneurology.org.

For media inquiries, please contact ashley@yakketyyak.com

At the World Congress of Neurology, WHO Outlines a Global Roadmap to Make Brain Health a Universal Reality

15 OCTOBER 2025, SEOUL/LONDON — Neurological conditions now affect more than 40% of the population—over 3 billion people, according to WHO’s Global Status Report on Neurology, released at the World Congress of Neurology (WCN) in Seoul.

The report reveals that neurological conditions affect one in three people, with over 80% of the burden in low- and middle-income countries. Despite its prevalence, too few countries have a standalone or integrated policy on neurology, only a minority include neurological services in UHC benefit packages, and workforce shortages remain profound—necessitating task-sharing and primary-care strengthening to close treatment gaps.

“The science is clear and the path is practical,” said Dr. Tarun Dua of the World Health Organization. “If countries embed brain health in universal coverage, strengthen primary care, ensure access to essential medicines, reduce stigma, and invest in data systems, we can measurably improve lives—especially in settings where the need is greatest.”

Addressing delegates live at the WCN, Dr. Dua called for an accelerated, whole-of-society push to make brain health a policy priority in every country. Framing brain health as an essential pillar of public health, Dr Dua urged neurologists, policymakers, and partners to align on integrated strategies that move care from fragmented to coordinated, from urban specialty settings to strong, community-based primary care.

The report, strategically and symbolically announced at the Congress, outlines the urgency and opportunity for advancement in brain health on a global scale—and the key role WFN and its membership organizations play in brain health research and advocacy worldwide.

“The significance of the WHO announcement coming from the World Congress of Neurology underscores the importance of neurologists playing an active role in brain health advocacy worldwide,” says Prof. Wolfgang Grisold, WFN president. “With the rising prevalence of neurological conditions, we are committed to working with WHO on real solutions, including supporting neurologists in advocacy work, in addition to training programs to help combat the severe lack of qualified health professionals, particularly in low-income countries.”

The WHO’s Intersectoral Global Action Plan on Epilepsy and Other Neurological Disorders (IGAP) and brain health framework are the scaffolding for rapid progress. Implementation pathways, including WHO’s IGAP toolkit (developed with partners including WFN), are already enabling progress. Case examples span policy and coordination in Moldova, medicine access gains in Tanzania, and lived-experience-led road mapping in South Africa, illustrating how national societies, ministries of health, and patient groups can translate a global plan into local results.

With progress on the horizon, this serves as a global call to action to make neurology and brain health a policy priority.

“This is not a siloed agenda; it’s an integrated public-health imperative,” said Dua.

About the World Congress of Neurology

The World Federation of Neurology’s World Congress of Neurology brings together leading neuroscientists and public health experts to turn research into action and emphasize the importance of brain health across the globe. The 27th biennial conference was held in Seoul, South Korea from October 12 to 15, 2025, and was co-hosted by the Korean Neurological Association (KNA).

About the World Federation of Neurology

With support from its 126 Member Societies, the World Federation of Neurology fosters quality neurology and brain health worldwide by promoting neurological education and training, emphasizing under-resourced areas of the world. As a non-state actor in official relations, WFN supports the World Health Organization (WHO) efforts to give everyone an equal chance to live a healthy life. With Member Societies around the globe, WFN unites the world’s neurologists to ensure quality neurology and advocate for people to have better brain health. Learn more about the World Federation of Neurology at wfneurology.org.

For media inquiries, please contact ashley@yakketyyak.com