UAMS To Host Virtual Parkinson’s Symposium April 24

By Linda Satter

Held virtually again this year, the Sunday afternoon forum is free to the public. It is aimed at Parkinson’s patients, their caregivers and family members, health care professionals and anyone else interested in learning about the disease, treatment options and research initiatives.

Registered participants can tune in from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., and will be able to ask questions through an online chat function.

To register or learn more about continuing education credits, please visit: https://medicine.uams.edu/neurosurgery/events/ps2022/registration/. The Zoom link will be emailed to registrants the week of the event.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Caroline Tanner, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. For more than 25 years, Tanner’s research and clinical practice have focused on understanding the causes of Parkinson’s disease and developing better treatments.

She will discuss research on the disease and a national at-home study called TOPAZ (Trial of Parkinson’s and Zoledronic Acid) that is aimed at lowering the risk of fall-related fractures.

Rohit Dhall, M.D., director of neurodegenerative disorders at UAMS, will describe resources available through an online Parkinson’s disease library. UAMS specialists — including neurologists, neurosurgeons, rehabilitation specialists and neuropsychologists – will discuss such topics as mood changes associated with Parkinson’s disease and staying active with Parkinson’s disease.

Developed with the help of occupational and physical therapists, the symposium is an outgrowth of UAMS’ multidisciplinary approach to movement disorders through a program that Erika Petersen, M.D., a neurosurgeon and professor in the UAMS College of Medicine, started a decade ago. Petersen will give the opening and closing remarks.

The UAMS Movement Disorders Clinic brings together neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, physical therapists, researches, speech-language pathologists and other experts under one roof.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

###