J. Andoni Urtizberea

Andoni URTIZBEREA, (MD, MSc), aged 62, is a French physician trained in Paris University (1983-1987) and certified both in paediatrics and PMR (physical medicine and rehabilitation). After graduating in parallel from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris in 1987, he served many years as Medical Director of the AFM-Telethon and then as General Delegate of the Institut de Myologie of Paris (1993-2000). As Scientific Director of the European Neuromuscular Center in the Netherlands (ENMC, 1999-2005), and with the AFM-Téléthon’s support, he contributed to the establishment of many global networks in myology. He served till December 2019 as part-time clinical myologist in Hendaye Hospital, France (APHP trust) and as deputy coordinator of the French Neuromuscular Network (FILNEMUS) in Marseilles. Over the past twenty years, he headed various worldwide educational events dedicated to myology (in Europe, Russia, Latin America and, more recently in the Middle-East). He is currently a faculty at the Institut de Myologie of Paris, France, running the AcadeMYO project. He is a regular visiting professor in various countries and a consultant for several pharma involved in the field. Ideally located 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. More recently (2016), and together with Prof. André Megarbané (Beirut, Lebanon), he co-founded ‘Maladies Orphelines Sans Frontières’ (MOSF), an NGO dedicated to humanitarian relief in the field of rare diseases.