International Movement Disorders Society annual meeting is this weekend

This weekend I am attending my first scientific meeting in the world of Parkinson's disease. I feel the same excitement as when I was early in my career as a cardiologist. There will be thousands of motivated, smart people sharing scientific and clinical insights. A wide range of new ideas and data will be shared, along with the chance to listen to the experts share how they see everything fit together as they predict where knowledge and therapies are headed.

There is so much going on that there will often be 2 or 3 lectures that I want to hear happening at the same time, perhaps one room discussing new ways to design clinical trials, while in another new data will be presented on a controversial scientific mechanism. Given how much I'll be running between rooms spread across the convention center, I expect to log 10,000 steps early in the day!

I want to hear the experts in the field describe their view of the optimal way to treat early or late Parkinson's. I want to understand what is being done to optimize access to care for people with Parkinson's.

Probably the most important thing for me is to meet other experts in the field. Since 2018, I've been emailing, calling and zooming with Parkinson's scientists, clinicians and Foundation leaders. Great things can happen when we share the data supporting our novel approach to treating Parkinson's progress and the progress we are making - especially since closing on our first investment.

What do I hope to learn? (1) What are the ways to improve access for people with Parkinson's to clinicians who are expert in the disease? (2) Who are the experts who appear most open-minded to our dopamine-reduction strategy? (3) Are there lessons from cardiology can I share with the Parkinson's doctors designing and performing clinical trial to improve the efficiency of trial conduct?

I'll share lessons learned next week, and expect to post on LinkedIn in real-time over the weekend.