Evidence Based Medicine in Movement Disorders Committee

In Memoriam Regina Katzenschlager 1964–2026

It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Dr. Regina Katzenschlager on April 21st, 2026, in a car accident while on holiday in New Zealand. Regina was Head of the Department of Neurology at the Danube-City Hospital and of the Karl Landsteiner Institute for neuro-immunological and neurodegenerative disorders in Vienna, Austria. She served as President of both the Austrian PD and Movement Disorder Society and the Austrian Society of Neurology, playing a major role in shaping movement disorder training and research in her country and across the international community. After training in Neurology and Psychiatry in Vienna, she was a Research Fellow with Andrew Lees at University College London from 1999–2002, where she co-authored the landmark UK Parkinson Disease Research Group clinical trial on early dopamine agonist therapy. A decade later, she led the double-blind TOLEDO study confirming the benefit of apomorphine infusions on motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.

Regina was an integral and active member of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS), serving on the International Executive Committee (2021–2025), as Secretary of the MDS-European Section (2023–2025), and on the website editorial board, Movement Disorders journal editorial board, and membership committee. She joined the MDS Evidence-Based Medicine group at its inception in 2000 alongside Cristina Sampaio, whom she later succeeded as chair, leading the committee through its transition to the GRADE system from 2017–2021. Her first publication, the initial Cochrane review on anticholinergics for PD covering trials from 1927 to 2003, was a foundational moment for the evidence-based medicine movement within MDS. Regina contributed to every subsequent EBM update on motor and non-motor treatments for Parkinson's disease and most recently served on the MDS EBM advisory committee. She will be deeply missed by colleagues, collaborators, and the global movement disorders community.