VOLUME 29, ISSUE 4 • DECEMBER 2025.
When the proposal for the MDS Podcast was drafted back in early 2018, it was nothing more than an idea shaped by two young movement disorders enthusiasts driven by curiosity, passion, and the desire to learn from and educate colleagues around the globe. The first draft went through several iterations, the proposed logo never made it past early discussions, and our first contacts with MDS leadership were as timid as a resident on their first night on call. There was excitement, yes, but also the very real possibility that such important people might never reply to our emails.
But they did. As our Past-President Victor Fung said in the presidential episode recorded in Honolulu during the 2025 International Congress, “The MDS is a can-do organization. Thought translates into action.”
From the early days, when Prof. Francisco Cardoso, then Chair of the Publication Oversight Committee, championed our project and Erin Weileder served as our first Society liaison, to today, working with an expanded team, this podcast has been shaped by many hands. We are grateful to all of them, and we hope our listeners, now more numerous than the MDS membership itself, continue to enjoy content that evolves with an evolving world, enriched by an expanding group of contributors.
Over the years we have grown in several ways (age is only one of them): In Editorial Board members, listeners, releases, and content variety. Yet our core mission remains unchanged: To keep the movement disorders community at large up to date with relevant news in an enjoyable, accessible way while maintaining a strong focus on education.
The progressive expansion of the Editorial Board has enabled thoughtful, organic growth. As we welcomed colleagues from diverse backgrounds, we broadened our coverage across clinically oriented topics, from genetics to neuropathology, from neuroimaging to rare diseases and neurophysiology, and, thanks to the invaluable collaboration of Tiago Outeiro, strengthened our bridge to basic science, a world too often distant from clinical practice.
In 2025, we began a new chapter by welcoming three new Editorial Board members: Divyani Garg, Nicole Duff, and Mitra Afshari, whose contributions will further expand our reach. Their expertise will ensure more episodes on essential topics including functional neurosurgery, functional neurological disorders, infectious movement disorders, ataxia, and the integral role of allied health professionals in patient care.
What began in 2019 with simple monthly interviews with journal article authors has transformed into a weekly release schedule featuring a wide variety of formats: Special phenomenology series led by guest editors, explorations of the history of movement disorders, discussions on hot topics not tied to a specific article, and more exciting series planned for the months ahead — all aimed at nourishing the curiosity of the clinical and scientific minds that make up our community of listeners.
We look back on what we have achieved with gratitude. But even more, we look forward with energy and excitement to everything that is still to come.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all our listeners and to the contributions of the entire Editorial Board, past and present: Shelby Shuster, Mitra Afshari, Sarah Camargos, Eduardo De Pablo Fernandez, Nicole Duff, Divyani Garg, Sarah Lidstone, Hugo Morales Briceño, and Tiago Outeiro.
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