Movement Disorder Society of Japan

MDSJ (Movement Disorder Society of Japan) and 7th Congress of MDSJ

The Movement Disorder Society of Japan (MDSJ) was established in May, 2001. The main aim of the society is to promote clinical and basic studies of movement disorders, including Parkinson's disease. MDSJ is organized similarly to the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS), with a President, Secretary, Treasurer, President-elect, Secretary-elect, Treasurer-elect and Past President as officers and an Executive Committee (EC) with several members. At present, MDSJ has about 770 members in total.

With the recent increase in the number of members, the society has recently established four committees, as follows. The Bylaw Revision Committee aims to revise the bylaws to meet the aims of the new administrative plan, as well as to consider the future shape of MDSJ. The Treasury Committee carries out property management, including cash management and accounts management, under the supervision of a tax accountant. The Education Committee actively supports local educational events related to movement disorders. Finally, the Publications Committee works on public relations activities for MDSJ operations, as well as managing the MDSJ website and publishing our news magazine, MDSJ Letters.

In keeping with the globalization of medical organizations and society in general, we believe it is essential for MDSJ to develop close relationships with related organizations around the world, including MDS.

The mainstay of our activities has been an annual congress and educational workshops. The congress started in the form of a satellite symposium of the Japanese Neurological Society in 2002 and MDSJ began meeting independently from 2007. The 7th Congress will be held from Oct 10 to 12, 2013 at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo.

The Congress program includes seminars, educational lectures, symposiums, a video session, controversies and poster presentations. The main topics this year will be genetic studies, biomarkers, recent advances in drug therapies, and regenerative medicine, including clinical application of iPS cells in Parkinson’s disease. The video session will be a case presentation during dinner, and this has attracted the attention of many participants in previous years. This year, there will be 17 presentations. We are expecting a high level of participation in this year’s congress.

Fumihito Yoshii, MD
MDSJ President