FOURTH INTERNATIONAL DYSTONIA SYMPOSIUM

Columbia University Health Sciences, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The major goal is to organize and execute a 3-day symposium on torsion dystonia, covering current status, new research advances, and prospective new ideas for investigation. The symposium will bring together investigators from around the world to discuss this topic. It has been 5 years since the last International Dystonia Symposium; it was published as Dystonia 3 in Advances of Neurology. The wealth of research, particularly in genetics, PET scans, and surgery in the dystonias that have occurred in the past five years make this an opportune time to review the entire field. The 3-day symposium is divided into the six "hottest" topics in dystonia, two topics per day, one in the morning session and one in the afternoon session. These six topics are: 1) Pathophysiology, 2) Oppenheim's (DYT1), 3) Other Genetic Dystonias (Dopa-responsive Dystonia, Myoclonus-Dystonia, Mennonite Dystonia, and X-linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism), 4) PET and Biochemistry, 4) Musician's Cramps and Other Focal Dsytonias, and 6) Therapeutics. Invited experts will deliver the plenary talks, reviewing the current state of knowledge in their field of expertise and present their research in those areas. Following the plenary talks in each half-day session will be shorter platform presentations by active investigators willing to present new data. These presentations will be selected by the organizing committee from submitted abstracts. Other accepted abstract presentations, unable to be accommodated by platform talks, will be assigned to the poster sessions, which will be verbally discussed during lunch. The symposium is open to all those who wish to attend. Announcements of the symposium will be widely circulated. Another aim is to publish a monograph of the proceedings. Each plenary speaker will write a review chapter, and each scientific presenter a scientific paper. This monograph will serve as an up-to-date single-source volume on dystonia. The abstracts will be distributed to the participants at the time of the symposium, we plan to publish the abstracts from this symposium in the journal Movement Disorders.