Webinar: The experiences of young people with MS at work
Young people with MS face unique challenges at work, yet their experiences are often overlooked. This webinar shares new research and insights on how to create more inclusive workplaces.
Speakers
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Amy Thompson
Amy Thompson is the Founder and CEO of MS Together, a UK charity dedicated to supporting young adults aged 18–35 who are living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Amy was diagnosed with MS just after her 21st birthday. She quickly realised that the support available didn’t reflect her needs or experiences as a young adult. Despite being newly diagnosed, she struggled to find age-appropriate advice, relatable voices, or a sense of community. She began sharing her journey publicly through her blog But you don’t look ill, and soon connected with others who felt similarly isolated and overlooked. As more young people reached out to thank her for speaking openly, Amy recognised a real need for a dedicated space - and in 2019, she launched MS Together as a community organisation, and in 2022, it became a registered charity. -
Blanca De Dios Perez
Senior Research Fellow ｜Centre for Rehabilitation and Ageing Research & NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre｜ University of Nottingham｜ Dr Blanca De Dios Pérez is a Senior Research Fellow in Rehabilitation Research at the Centre for Rehabilitation and Ageing Research within the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham. Dr De Dios is also affiliated with the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. Dr De Dios obtained a bachelor’s degree in Psychology (specialisation in Neuropsychology) at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) before moving to the United Kingdom to further her education and a career in academia. Her research at the University of Manchester involved collaborations on various projects aiming to understand cognition and language deficits in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and stroke survivors. Dr De Dios has extensive expertise in vocational rehabilitation, intervention development, complex interventions, and implementation research, among other methodologies. In 2024, she was awarded the Early Career Fellowship from the UK MS Society to develop her work on job retention and vocational rehabilitation interventions for people with MS. This work focuses on the support needs of people with MS and their employers to optimise employment outcomes and prevent a premature workforce exit for people with MS. -
Ruth Stross
Head of nursing, Neurology Academy｜RCN neuroscience forum committee member and MS Together Trustee｜Ruth trained at the Royal Free Hospital, London, working in Neurology in her first year as a student nurse in 1988 and has never looked back! Ruth is passionate about improving the care of people with a long-term neurological condition and has worked as a specialist nurse since 1998 in Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone disease, Parkinson‘s and Movement Disorders (MD). Ruth has seen the emphasis of managing patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) change from very basic reactive symptom management to pro-active disease modifying therapies and disease modifying lifestyle, giving patients hope. During her career Ruth has helped set up a multi-disciplinary clinic for patients with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in Australia; she set up the Neurology specialist nurse services at Kingston hospital as the lead neurology nurse; she also set up the MS nursing service in Richmond and Movement Disorder(MD) nursing service at Charing Cross Hospital. Ruth has more recently worked within 2 community neuro rehabilitation services as an MS specialist nurse liasing with many specialist centres to enable patients to be cared for closer to home in line with the NHS Transformation plan. -
Sambhav Kumar
Sambhav Kumar is a psychologist and graphologist currently working as a Special Educational Needs (SEN) Teaching Assistant at Ashmole Trust. A postgraduate in Health and Clinical Psychology from the University of Nottingham, he has gained diverse clinical experience through internships across leading institutions, including Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Inspiron Psychological Well-being Centre, and the Institute of Psychometric Assessment and Counselling. His training spans CBT, REBT, Gestalt therapy, NLP, and various psychometric assessments.