LITTLE ROCK -- The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will host its seventh annual Parkinson's Symposium on April 24.
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, a news release said.
Registered participants can view the forum from 1-2:30 p.m., and will be able to ask questions through an online chat function.
To register or learn more about continuing education credits, 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 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," the release said.
She will discuss research on the disease and a national at-home study called TOPAZ, or Trial of Parkinson's and Zoledronic Acid, that is aimed at lowering the risk of fall-related fractures.
Dr. Rohit Dhall, 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 release said 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," it said.