Parkinson's disease and the quest for preclinical diagnosis: an interview with Professor Werner Poewe

Abstract

Werner Poewe speaks to Laura Dormer, Editorial Director: Professor Werner Poewe is Professor of Neurology and Director of the Department of Neurology at Innsbruck Medical University in Innsbruck, Austria. He held a Residency in Clinical Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, from 1977 to 1984. From 1984 to 1985 he teamed up with Gerald Stern and Andrew Lees as a British Council Research Fellow at University College and Middlesex Hospital's Medical School in London to perform clinical studies into levodopa-induced dystonia and pharmacokinetics of levodopa in naive versus L-Dopa treated Parkinson's disease. Following his return to Austria, he held a position as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Neurology at the University of Innsbruck (1986–1989) after which he took over as Professor of Neurology and Acting Director of the Department of Neurology at Virchow Hospital of the Free University of Berlin (1990–1994). Professor Poewe's main research interests in the field of movement disorders are focused on differential and early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, its natural history and pharmacological treatment. He has been involved in the steering committees of numerous drug trials in different stages of Parkinson's disease for the past 20 years and has authored and coauthored more than 500 original articles and reviews in the field of movement disorders. Professor Poewe served as President of the Austrian Society of Neurology from 2002 to 2004 as well as President of the Austrian Parkinson's Disease Society from 1996 to 2009. He has been awarded honorary membership of the German Society of Neurology as well as the Japanese Society of Neurology. His awards include the Walther-Birkmayer-Prize of the Austrian PD Society, the Dingebauer-Prize of the German Neurological Society as well as the Research Excellence Award of Innsbruck Medical University. Professor Poewe served as President of the International Movement Disorder Society (MDS) from 2000 to 2002, during which period he initiated the creation of important MDS task forces related to the critique and development of rating scales and of evidence-based treatment reviews. In his presidency, fell the negotiations between the European Section of MDS and the European Federation of Neurological Societies that resulted in formal agreements about joint European congresses. This model served as an important underpinning of the success of the MDS European Section in the past 15 years. Professor Poewe took over as chair of the MDS European Section from 2011 to 2013 and has recently been made an honorary member of the MDS. He is currently active as member of the Managing Board of the Movement Disorder Scientific Panel of the European Academy of Neurology.