VOLUME 29, ISSUE 3 • SEPTEMBER 2025.
The MDS Peer Review Mentorship Program: History and growth
The Peer Review Program was originally submitted as a proposal by Dr. Daniel Di Luca in 2020 as part of the MDS Young Members Innovation’s Lab program to encourage new ideas and initiatives.
“As a young member trying to learn about the peer review, I often struggled to find available resources tailored to the needs of those with little or no experience in reviewing manuscripts,” he said. “I was eager to present this idea to the Society.”
The innovative program captured the attention of Dr. Christopher Goetz during the MDS Officers’ meeting in Paris.
“Our journal editors have always been concerned about identifying good reviewers, but there was no centralized training program to build that pipeline,” he said.
Dr. Goetz reached out to Dr. Di Luca and they worked together to refine the program to include a strong mentorship component. To represent the viewpoint of young basic and translational scientists, they invited Dr. Alana Kirby, then a movement disorders fellow at Rush University, to serve as a co-chair. In this form, the program was approved and Drs. DiLuca, Kirby, and Goetz assembled the peer review curriculum, metrics for educational outcomes, and a mentorship team recruited from among prior editors of the Movement Disorders journal.
The inaugural Peer Review class of 2020 pilot comprised 10 mentees representing all MDS Regional Sections. Each was paired with a senior editor, then had the opportunity to review manuscripts and get feedback on their work. Completion of the program produced a significant increase in the confidence of the mentees in their knowledge of and ability to perform peer review. These outcomes were published in the Movement Disorders journal, highlighting the success of the program. Additionally, several members of the inaugural class went on to win multiple reviewer awards, and become independent journal editors. Among them was Dr. Shweta Prasad, a rising reviewer who had won the Movement Disorders Clinical Practice reviewer award. She subsequently became a co-chair and played a key role in refining and expanding the structure of the program.
With Dr. Prasad on the team, the peer review program shifted mentorship strategies. In the second year of the program, each of the 10 mentees was paired with a peer educator, who had demonstrated competence at peer review through completion of the Peer Review Program. These were typically program alumni or highly enthusiastic and well-trained movement disorders reviewers.
“Creating this position was a game changer,” Dr. Di Luca said. “Mentees now had a more accessible touchpoint within the program, which would not only increase their reviewer knowledge, but also increase their professional network.”
The three co-chairs also developed a 10-episode podcast series focused on peer reviewing articles in movement disorders, and this content was presented in a well-received Peer Review Boot Camp at the 2023 International Congress.
In year three, as the number of eligible peer educators grew, so did the program’s capacity to admit mentees, expanding to 18 of each. In response to participant feedback, the team created a lecture series featuring respected MDS faculty on topics such as ethics in peer review, statistics, and how to format your peer review. Now in year four, the number has expanded to 25 peer educators and 25 mentees. A Lecture Development Team has been incorporated, powered by the expertise of peer educators. They are working to provide guidance in how to review specialized but frequently encountered topics such as artificial intelligence, genetics, biomarkers, and more.
“These new lectures respond to a common request for training in our mentees as well as to requests from the Editors of the MDS journals to fast-track the growth and engagement of reviewers who are able to tackle papers using these powerful but rapidly changing techniques,” Dr. Kirby said.
Now, the program has reached a mature form and will be incorporated as an official MDS committee under the leadership of Dr. Shweta Prasad. As the program ends the academic year during the MDS meeting in Honolulu, leadership is expected to transition. In line with the MDS’s philosophy of innovation and rotation, Dr. Di Luca and Dr. Kirby will step down from their roles. Dr. Prasad will rise to the position of Chair, and a new Co-Chair will be appointed soon. This planned rotation reflects the group’s commitment to diverse perspectives, fresh ideas, and leadership renewal.
The MDS Peer Review and Mentoring Program group is excited about its next steps and continual improvement. As the program continues to grow, its leadership remains committed to the Society’s mission to disseminate knowledge about movement disorders and science by collaboration. The program is hopeful that the program will continue to inspire young movement disorders neurologists, create a collaborative network and ultimately improve scientific contributions to the field.
“What began as a small pilot program has now matured into a full-fledged MDS Peer Program Review Committee — an incredible testament to the dedication of everyone involved,” said Dr. Prasad. “It’s a privilege to lead this next phase. We are committed to expanding our reach, strengthening mentorship, and shaping a more inclusive, skilled generation of scientific reviewers in movement disorders.”
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