February 27, 2025
Save the Date: 20th Annual Symposium!
Matthew Rodreick
I’ve been looking forward to our 20th Annual Science and Advocacy Symposium for a long time. It is a moment to mark the birth of Unite 2 Fight Paralysis as an organization, and the beginning of a new wave of involvement and advocacy for curative therapies led by the SCI community.
If you haven’t, you should read our origin story detailing the six women who founded and led this transformative organization. In the spring of 2005, these visionary individuals organized the first Rally in Washington on behalf of the spinal cord injury community.
Commemorating this milestone is important. It is a chance to celebrate how far we’ve come and how far we’ve yet to go. This important gathering will allow us to chart a smart, strategic path for the future. We’ll be coming back to Washington D.C, where it all started 20 years ago, and we won’t be wasting any time.
The return to our nation’s Capital (specifically, Crystal City, Virginia - just 15 minutes from US Congressional offices) will be the catalyst to launch our Cure Advocacy Network’s national legislative campaign!
That’s right, we plan to add a third day to our gathering so attendees can join us in visiting key lawmakers on Capitol Hill. This day of advocacy will launch U2FP’s campaign to prioritize a national strategy for SCI research. We'll be providing more details, resources and training for those who choose to participate ahead of our conference. (If you haven’t already, take our short advocate survey here).
You’ve probably noticed that our symposium is not scheduled for the fall, as usual; nor is it slated for 2025. In collaboration with our Title Sponsor, The Kennedy Krieger Institute, we decided that holding our symposium in February 2026 made better strategic sense. Here were some of the key reasons that led to this decision:
- February is a better month to book meetings with important lawmakers than September or October due to congressional calendar availability.
- Fewer scientific conferences happen in February, making it easier to schedule important research, clinical, biotech and regulatory presenters
- The few extra months allow for a more realistic timeline to adequately plan for a pivot to a national legislative campaign (though we’ve been working on it for a while now).
- Winter is tough for everyone, especially the SCI community; gathering to learn what’s new in curative treatments and then immediately putting it into action will be invigorating and inspiring for us all!
We’ll be sharing more information in the coming months as plans unfold. For now, please mark your calendar for February 15 - 17, 2026 and watch this space for new developments and announcements about the 20th Annual Science & Advocacy Symposium.
Join us!
