View Larger Image UAMS neurologist Robert "Lee" Archer, M.D. (right) visits with Lizzy East Couch, who shared her story of her life with MS at the 2025 MS Symposium.
UAMS neurologist Robert "Lee" Archer, M.D. (right) visits with Lizzy East Couch, who shared her story of her life with MS at the 2025 MS Symposium.

UAMS to Hold Free MS Symposium March 14

By Yavonda Chase

| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is holding a free 2026 Multiple Sclerosis Symposium on Saturday, March 14, to discuss treatment options and research initiatives and to hear from Arkansans living with the disease.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on the 12th floor of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute on UAMS’ Little Rock campus. For those unable to attend in person, it will also be available on Zoom.

The symposium is geared toward patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), their caregivers and family, neurologists, and anyone who would like to learn more about the disease.

Topics include MS and cognition, a look at MS across the lifespan, and an expert panel that features UAMS neurologists Robert “Lee” Archer, M.D., Rucha Bahekar, M.D., and Shitiz Sriwastava, M.D.; UAMS interventional pain specialist Aparna Jindal, M.D.; UAMS physical therapist Amanda Williams, DPT; and UAMS dietitian Patricia Champion, RD.

MS is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. During MS, the immune system gets confused and attacks the myelin sheath, which protects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. This damage, commonly referred to as lesions, interrupts the transmission of nerve signals, causing a variety of issues.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, about 2.8 million people worldwide live with MS, including nearly 1 million in the United States.

To register for the free symposium, please visit medicine.uams.edu/neurology/ms-symposium/.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,553 students and 1,015 medical residents and fellows. It is the state’s largest public employer with about 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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