VOLUME 29, ISSUE 3 • SEPTEMBER 2025.
"Do not miss" lectures and events at the upcoming MDS International Congress
Aloha! We are delighted to welcome you to beautiful Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, for the 2025 International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders.
The theme of 2025 Congress, "Toward Disease Modification in Movement Disorders," reflects the growing momentum in our field to move beyond symptom management and toward treatments that can truly alter the course of our patients’ journeys.
Our five-day program opens with the therapeutic plenary session, Comprehensive Care: Setting the Scene, which will highlight the vital role of clinicians as guides and partners in patient empowerment. The program continues with daily plenary lectures, interactive parallel sessions, expert panel discussions, and innovative teaching formats designed to engage the entire movement disorders community — including basic scientists, clinicians, allied health professionals, and trainees.
New this year are expert panels embedded within parallel sessions, designed to foster dynamic, real-time discussion. Key therapeutic sessions will explore pharmacological, surgical, and device-aided interventions, as well as topics such as wellness, disability, sleep, palliative care, and autonomic dysfunction — underscoring the multidisciplinary collaboration of care in movement disorders. Our practical teaching sessions will focus on real-world clinical challenges, such as fall prevention, how to assess cognition, how to manage dysphagia, and now a classic for MDS, Eye movements: Windows into the brain. The ever-popular Controversies session returns, this year tackling hot topics such as biological definition of Parkinson’s disease and the return of the results of genetic testing.
The Presidential Lecture series remains a cornerstone of the Congress, highlighting our scientific progress in both historical and global perspectives. This year’s distinguished honorees need no introduction to the MDS community:
- The Stanley Fahn Award Lecture – Dr. Mark Edwards (UK)
- The C. David Marsden Lecture – Dr. A. Jon Stoessl (Canada)
At the heart of the Congress is the sharing of groundbreaking science. Following the plenary Update on the Etiology of Parkinson’s Disease, our new sessions will spotlight topics such as advances in genetics, inflammation, biomarkers, alpha-synuclein, protein aggregation, and clearance mechanisms — broadening our understanding of neurodegeneration and driving therapeutic discovery.
Scientific highlights will culminate in the Keynote Lecture by Dr. Sergiu Pasca (Stanford), a pioneer in brain organoids and assembloids, whose work is advancing the frontier of neuroscience. This will be followed by a featured session, Disease-Modifying Trials for Parkinson’s Disease: Past, Present, and Future — a centerpiece aligned with the Congress theme. The structure of the program, bridging basic science with therapeutic translation, continues across sessions on non-motor symptoms, normal pressure hydrocephalus, and hyperkinetic disorders.
Technological advance remains central to our progress. Building on last year’s congress theme “Movement Disorders in the digital age, harnessing artificial intelligence,” this year’s Congress will include follow up sessions on artificial intelligence, advances in DBS programming and adaptive stimulation, and the latest in focused ultrasound therapies.
The Pediatric Special Interest Group has been especially active, and we’re excited to introduce new teaching sessions that strengthen collaboration between pediatric and adult care — such as Transition of Care from Childhood to Adulthood and Update on Pediatric Hyperkinetic Disorders: What Adult Neurologists Should Know.
As a truly international organization, MDS continues to foster global connections and collaborations. Networking events hosted by Special Interest Groups and globally focused sessions will reflect this spirit. Highlights include Movement Disorders Across Borders: Shaping the Future, featuring Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, Grand Rounds with live participation from local patients, Cases from Around the World, and the ever-popular Video Challenge.
With 1,878 abstract submissions — one of the highest in Congress history — this year’s posters will be showcased in a vibrant virtual poster hall, alongside oral presentations and exhibit hall, located centrally in our breathtaking convention venue, creating an immersive experience for all attendees to explore the latest research.
In Hawaiʻi, aloha is more than just a greeting — it means compassion, connection, and shared breath. It reflects the very heart of what we do in medicine and science.
Get ready for an inspiring, energizing week in Honolulu. We can’t wait to see you there!
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