September was a month of very busy travel. 

Here are some of the highlights:

On September 22^nd and 23^rd,  I attended the “6th Annual Shaping the Management of Parkinson’s Disease” event in Las Vegas, a jointly sponsored event by The Cleveland Clinic and Parkinson’s Study Group (PSG).  Co-Chairman Michael Schwarzschild, at the closing of the meeting, said that full funnel of treatments for Parkinson’s Disease is opening soon.  He bases this belief on the fact that PSG has had no trials completed that delivered a treatment for Parkinson’s. Much has been learned from these disappointments, that has led to changes in trial protocol, patient and target selections, and diagnostic tools (mobile). A classic case of applying what has been learned, via less than favorable outcomes/disappointments, to further improvements and innovations.

• There were four new medications (two that already have approval in Europe) anticipated in the next year.

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On September 26^th & 27^th, I attended the “Grand Challenges” symposium at the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  “Grand Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease brings together hundreds of scientists, clinicians and people with Parkinson’s to explore the latest Parkinson’s disease research. The theme for 2018 is Non-Motor Symptoms, which will highlight the roles of the gastrointestinal tract, the olfactory system and the immune system in the onset and progression of Parkinson’s.”

Establishing Patient Centric Measurement of Treatment Priority

There has been disappointment in the number of treatments that have been made available to People with Parkinson’s (PWP) over the past 60 years. 

• There is optimism that through new technological advances and application of “lessons learned” that there is the potential to improve dramatically on this record.
• An inhibitor to this advancement has been the limited inclusion of the Patient perspective within every phase of the treatment development. It is believed that if PWP are able to contribute in such areas as protocol development, risk threshold, and symptom priorities, that more treatments could be made available sooner.
• At the behest of the Cure Parkinson’s Trust UK, a patient centric committee will develop a measurement tool that can be used to create a scale that can be used to forecast the speed to which a treatment might be brought to market.                                                                       

I am very excited to be participating in these important events, and look forward to more positive outcomes going forward.