Speaker Bio
Dr. Mishal Abu Al-Melh
MD, FRCPC, FAAN
Summit Chairperson
Consultant Neurologist
Adan Hospital - Kuwait
Consultant Neurologist
Adan Hospital - Kuwait
Dr. Alfonso Fasano holds the Chair in Neuromodulation at the University of Toronto and University Health Network. He is a Professor in the Department of Medicine (Division of Neurology) at the University of Toronto.
He is staff neurologist and co-director of the Surgical Program for Movement Disorders at Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. He is also staff neurologist at the Hospital of Sick Children in Toronto.
Dr. Fasano is a Clinician Investigator at the Krembil Research Institute and KITE – Toronto Rehabilitation Hospital. Dr. Fasano leads the Core E (closed-loop capabilities) of the Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA) and sits in the scientific advisory board of the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation and International Essential Tremor Foundation.
He’s the chair of the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus study group and of the Tremor study group of the International Parkinson Movement Disorders Society; within the same Society he is Vice Chair of the Industry Education and Services Committee. Dr Fasano is the co-chair of the Functional Neurosurgical Working Group of the Parkinson Study Group; he’s also member of the Tremor Research Group. Finally, he is part of the board of the Canadian Neuromodulation Society.
Dr. Fasano received his medical degree from the Catholic University of Rome, Italy, in 2002 and became a neurologist in 2007. After a 2-year fellowship at the University of Kiel, Germany, he completed a PhD in neuroscience at the Catholic University of Rome. His main areas of interest are the treatment of movement disorders with advanced technology (infusion pumps and neuromodulation), pathophysiology, and treatment of tremor and gait disorders. He authored more than 450 scientific papers and book chapters.
Dr. Fasano is the co-editor of the section “Gaps and Controversies” of Movement Disorders Journal and editorial board member of Annals of Neurology, Movement Disorders Journal, Movement Disorders Clinical Practice and Parkinsonism and Related Disorders. He is also the principal investigator of several clinical trials.
Alfonso Fasano, MD, PhD, FAAN
Edmond J. Safra Program in Parkinson’s Disease, Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital, UHN, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Division of Neurology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA)
Jaime Kulisevsky, MD, PhD, FEAN
Neurologist and Director of the Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Unit of the Neurology Department of the Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona.
He is Principal Investigator of the Parkinson's Disease (PD) Area of the Biomedical Research Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED-Institut de Salut Carlos III).
He is Professor of Neurology, and Vice Dean (from 2018...) of the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Director of the Master's Degree in Neuropsychological Diagnosis and Rehabilitation (UAB) and member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Biomedical Research at Sant Pau Hospital (IIB Sant Pau).
He is an active member of the International Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Society (MDS), in which he has held various positions, most recently as a member of the Executive and Management Committee of the European Section of the MDS (ES-MDS). He is also currently a member of the Executive Committee of the European Huntington's Disease Network (EHDN), Coordinator of the Cognitive Phenotype Working Group of the EHDN, and Spanish Coordinator of the International Cooperative Registry ENROLL study for Huntington's disease, promoted by CHDI (Cure for Huntington's Disease International).
He regularly acts as a Reviewer in various scientific journals of his specialty and is Editor of the Movement Disorders Section of Frontiers in Neurology. He regularly exercises as a reviewer of scientific projects for International Public and Private Research Agencies and Foundations.
The main focus of clinical interest and research is on the diseases that occur with Movement Disorders, mainly on the cognitive and behavioral consequences of basal ganglia dysfunction and the pharmacological management of Parkinson’s disease and other Movement Disorders.
He has been a beneficiary of numerous research projects by Public and Private Agencies and has participated as the Principal Investigator and Coordinator of numerous clinical trials on Movement Disorders promoted by the Farmaceutical Industry and PI Independently Initiated Research Projects.
He has published more than 400 articles in indexed international journals, which have received more than 24,000 citations and his h-index (according to Web of Science) is 67.
Dr. Zakiyah Aldaajani
Consultant Neurologist and Movement Disorders Specialist who serves as the director of the Neuroscience Department and assistant medical director at King Fahad Medical Military Complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
She earned her medical degree from King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia and completed the Saudi Board in Internal Medicine in 2003. Following this, she underwent clinical neurology training in South Australia, where she worked under renowned experts in the field of Movement Disorders and developed a strong interest in the specialty. Zakiyah furthered her expertise by pursuing subspecialty training in movement disorders and Parkinson’s disease in Sydney, Australia.
She is actively involved in the Saudi Movement Disorders chapter as a steering committee member and has contributed as faculty in various national conferences. Zakiyah has a background in teaching Neurology residents and previously served as the Neurology Residency Program Director at King Fahad Medical Military Complex.
She has been a dedicated member of the Movement Disorders Society (MDS) Middle East Task Force and later the Middle East Working Group (MEWG), where she held the position of chair until 2023. Additionally, she has been appointed as an executive committee member of the MDS-AOS (Asian and Oceanian Section). Dr. Aldaajani is engaged in various study groups and committees within the International Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders Society, including the Education committee, Industry education committee, Women in movement disorders group, Telemedicine study group, and Movement disorders in Asia study group.
She has directed MDS courses and schools and has been a faculty member at international conferences. Dr. Aldaajani is actively involved in translation projects such as the MDS-UPDRS, UDysRS, and MDS-NMS in PD, and has also contributed as an author for multiple papers on Parkinson's disease and movement disorders.
D.M (Neuro-UK)., MRCP (UK)., MRCP (Neuro-UK).
MRCPS (GLAS)., FRCP ( UK)
Dr Vinod Metta, consultant interventional Neurologist & movement disorders specialist, trained at Kings College Hospital London and conducted his higher specialist training (CCT’) in neurology and movement disorders at Imperial College, University College London, and Queen Square Hospitals, London.
He is a member of the Association of British Neurologists (ABN), the European Federation of Neurologists (EFN) and a fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists (ANZAN).
He was awarded his Doctorate for research exploring the pathophysiology of, and treatment options for, disabling non-motor symptoms of fatigue and sleep in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD), in collaboration with Kings and Imperial College London. He was a recipient of the prestigious 2016 ABN Australasian Fellowship.
Dr Metta has authored and co-authored several papers published in high impact factor journals such as Brain, several book chapters including in the Oxford Textbook for Clinical Medicine, 5th and 6th editions, He is a postgraduate tutor, and runs several Parkinson’s, Dystonia, Botulinum toxin hands on training and MRCP (UK) courses nationally and internationally.
He has a particular interest in exploring and pioneering biomarkers to investigate pathophysiology and treatment models of neurodegenerative disorders.
Dr Metta instrumental in setting up comprehensive Movement disorders, Parkinson’s, Dystonia center of Excellence King’s College Hospital London in Dubai, started with 1 patients now centre under leadership/lead of Dr Metta now became tertiary referral centre attracting referrals across UAE/GCC/Gulf/MENA/Africa/Europe, Australia with now over 1000 PD patients set a benchmark centre of excellence for Parkinson’s care just in 3 years, Its only centre in UAE be able to receive two research grants from Govt of Dubai , Parkinson’s patients association UAE and Indonesian research grants