The 11th Congress of Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society was held in Rome from May 14th to 16th.
This Society was founded with a specific attention to Parkinson’s disease; over the years its interests have widened to dementia and movement disorders, stepping into a role of support and reference for patients and caregivers.
The Congress program proposed many presentations about various aspects of the mentioned diseases, focusing on new therapies and biomarkers; practical advanced clinical courses and training courses for physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses and occupational therapists.
Dr. Anna Castagna with some ARD representatives
There were around 800 participants.
Also this year A.R.D. awarded 2 young doctors presenting the best works about dystonia. Since 2012 we have been giving young doctors under 35 an award in order to stimulate research and interest in this disease. For some years these awards were given on the occasion of the annual congress of the Italian Society of Neurology, but few works were presented, as in the vast field of neurological diseases (from Alzheimer to sclerosis, from headaches to epilepsy) dystonia is minor and marginal. Therefore in 2018 we decided to give the prizes during the Congress of Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society, where dystonia has a more relevant role, and more works were presented . For the 8th year , 2 young doctors received our awards of €2 000 each. They were Sara Terranova with her work “ Vibro-tactile stimulation of the neck induces head/neck correction in people with cervical dystonia” and Francesco Emanuele Bellomi with his work “Connectomics in DYT1 mouse models”.
Sara Terranova has a degree in Neurosciences at the University of Bologna and has been Visiting Researcher at the TMS Lab of Queen Square Institute of Neurology – University College London (UCL). She is currently working in the Experimental Medicine Dept of the University of Genoa. Her work shows that vibrotactile stimulation may improve the abnormal head posture of patients with cervical dystonia. Francesco Emanuele Bellomi is very young (he was born in Rome in 2003) and is currently a student in the University Campus Bio Medico in Rome, attending its neurosciences laboratory. He spent some months in the Queen Square Institute of Neurology – University College London, where he was introduced to clinical and scientific study of dystonias. His work based on a brain analysis of the DYT1 mouse model shows that cerebellum communicates without control with basal nuclei, this probably contributes to the development of dystonia symptoms.
We think that research and young doctors are very important for our future. Supporting young doctors and encouraging their research about dystonia are steps for moving forward and making a difference.
Maria Carla Tarocchi, A.R.D. Associazione per la Ricerca sulla Distonia is the Italian Dystonia Society.
