Parkinson’s News Today Offers Daily Coverage of 10th World Congress on Controversies in Neurology

March 15, 2016

Grace Frank

The 10th World Congress on Controversies in Neurology (CONy), a leading venue for researchers, clinicians, and industry leaders to discuss everything from the latest advances to unresolved issues in the field, will meet this week, March 17-20, at the Sana Lisboa Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal.

Korczyn

Ongoing and recent published research into Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, dementia, epilepsy, strokes, and neuroimmunology will be among the topics considered. The goal of this Congress, co-chaired by Prof. Amos Korczyn of Israel and Prof. Victor Oliveira of Portugal, is to help close the gap between newly discovered knowledge and its effective dissemination and use.

Previous meetings in Budapest, Berlin, Istanbul, and Vienna saw participants debate issues ranging from scientific research to trends in clinical care, and to consider neurology’s many “unresolved” concerns. Such exchanges are increasingly relevant, the co-chairs said, given the enormous expansion in clinical and basic data witnessed in recent years.

Oliveira

Parkinson’s News Today will offer continuous on-site coverage of CONy 2016, anchored by Dr. Ana de Barros, Ph.D., managing editor of Parkinson’s News Today, and Dr. Patrícia Silva, Ph.D., a managing editor with the BioNews Services Group. Also attending will be BioNews Services’ social media director, Isaura Santos, and social media manager Marta Ribeiro.

The team’s reporting will include news and feature articles, interviews, and continuous social media coverage on Facebook, Twitter (hashtag #CONy16), and Pinterest.

CONy 2016 will open Thursday with plenary lectures, such as “Redefining neurological diseases through epigenetics,” by Tiago Fleming Outeiro of Germany. Each day offers a mix of poster presentations, scientific programs, workshops, satellite symposiums, and industry-supported expert sessions and symposiums, allowing participants to meet and engage with recognized leaders in their field.

The industry-supported sessions are sponsored by Sanofi Genzyme, AbbVie, and Cynapsus. At the “Meet the Experts” session on Friday and Saturday, Veronica Popescu of Belgium will discuss “Clinical Application of Brain Atrophy in Multiple Sclerosis,” and Mark Freedman of Canada will talk about “Starting, Sequencing and Switching Treatments in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.” Symposiums, also taking place Friday and Saturday, range from “Targeting T and B Cells to Optimize MS Treatment Strategies” (Livia Sousa of Portugal) to “Clinical Symptoms Versus Patient-Related Outcomes: What Should Be the Basis of Decision-Making in Advanced Parkinson’s Disease?” (Alfonso Fasano of Canada and Ovidiu Bajenaru of Romania, moderated by Heinz Reichmann of Germany).

Friday also offers a full day of scientific programs, poster presentations, and debates focused on issues in multiple sclerosis (MS), and spanning the use of imaging, disease course modification, therapeutic approaches, and “the unknowns.” Programs and presentations on Parkinson’s disease (PD) begin on Friday as well, including a look at dementia associated with Lewy bodies and PD, in a discussion led by Lefkos Middleton of the United Kingdom.

Saturday brings another full day of programs and presentations, this time with a focus on Parkinson’s disease. Topics include the clinical relevance of MAO-B-inhibitors compared to L-Dopa and dopamine agonists, therapies targeting alpha-synuclein, the existence of a prion-like mechanism in Parkinson’s pathology, three alternatives for advanced Parkinson’s disease treatment (duodopa vs. apomorphine pumps vs. DBS), COMT inhibitors, and ultrasound brain lesioning. The day concludes with a lecture by José Obeso of Spain titled “Challenges and unmet needs in PD.”

Tomé

CONy will close Sunday with the awarding of the Excellence in Neurology prize, an honor recognizing Portuguese neurologist Fernando Tomé, and presented by Sergiu Blumen of Israel and Bernard Brais of Canada. Tomé, a professor with the Department of Neurology at Hospital Santa Maria/Faculty of Medicine in Lisboa, is the author of more than 150 scientific articles and books.

As with previous CONy meetings, participants for the upcoming 10th anniversary Congress are eligible for continuing medical education (CME) external credits, to a maximum of 16 hours, in Europe and, through partnership agreements, in the U.S. and Canada.

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