Effects of Climate Change in Movement Disorders

Professor Peter Jenner is a specialist in preclinical aspects of neurodegenerative diseases, notably Parkinson’s disease. He has spent the major part of his career at King’s College London where he was Head of Pharmacology for 14 years before returning to his research roots and subsequently becoming Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology. Peter has expertise in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics but neuropharmacology based on functional models of neurodegenerative diseases has formed the major focus of his work. Peter holds a BPharm, PhD and DSc degree from the University of London. He has published well over 1000 articles with more than 700 peer reviewed papers. He is a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the British Pharmacological Society, the Royal Society of Medicine and of King’s College London. Peter was recently honoured with a Doctor Honoris Causa degree from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest and made an Honorary Fellow of The British Pharmacological Society for his contribution to research in to movement disorders.Peter has worked closely with the pharmaceutical industry for many years and acts as an adviser and consultant to both major pharma and biotech companies. He has a wide knowledge of the drug discovery and drug development process and has been involved from molecule synthesis through to drug registration for use in man. Peter was the Founder, Director and Chief Scientific Officer of Proximagen, a biotech focussed on the treatment and cure of neurodegenerative diseases that was listed on AIMs and subsequently purchased by a US based healthcare company. He is a regular speaker at international meetings and also takes time to speak at Parkinson’s disease patient-carer groups across the UK.

Professor Bhidayasiri graduated in medicine from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, in 1993, receiving membership of the Royal College of Physicians of London and Ireland in 1998 and certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 2005. He was awarded the fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 2008 and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 2010. Professor Bhidayasiri established the Chulalongkorn Centre of Excellence for Parkinson’s Disease, the tertiary care centre affiliated with Chulalongkorn University, providing multidisciplinary care for patients with PD, tremor, dystonia, and various forms of movement disorders in Thailand. His research interests are in data science and technology-based objective assessment, with several of the devices he has developed with his team adopted for clinical use, including a diagnostic tremor algorithm, a nocturnal device for monitoring nocturnal hypokinesia, a tremor suppression glove, a PD shoe, and a PD anti-choking mug. Importantly, adjustable laser-guided walking stick has been taken on nationwide by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of Thailand for patients with freezing of gait, with established cost-effectiveness. He is currently working with various stakeholders to implement national digital screening for PD, and nationwide lifestyle preventive strategies focusing on the mantra “Eat, Move, Sleep. Professor Bhidayasiri serves as the Specialty Chief Editor for the section Neurotechnology in Frontiers in Neurology and Associate Editor of Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. He published the first American Academy of Neurology practice parameters for tardive syndromes with Stan Fahn, and also three international textbooks, with his first “Neurological Differential Diagnosis, being one of the best-selling neurological textbooks on amazon.com in 2005. A Lancet review called it “a pearl of a book for any clinician who is asked to assess patients with symptoms and signs, suggestive of neurological disorders. The other two books are International Neurology (endorsed by the World Federation of Neurology), and Movement Disorders: A Video Atlas. In addition, he has authored over 230 peer-reviewed publications and has filed 17 patent and petty-patent applications on algorithms, wearable sensors, and assistive devices. Professor Bhidayasiri has received both a National Distinguished Researcher in Medical Sciences Award and the President’s Distinguished Service Award from the MDS in 2015, and a Leader in Innovation Fellowship Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) in 2016. He is also a member of the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Thailand, a past chair of the Asian-Oceanian section of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS-AOS) and currently an international executive committee member of the MDS.