Parkinson's Conference
Our Parkinson's and Partnerships Conference was held on April 14, 2012 and included the following speakers:
Dr. Eric Ahlskog is Professor of Neurology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN and Chair of the Mayo-Rochester Section of Movement Disorders. He is a full-time practising physician, devoting much of his practice to patients with parkinsonism. He has written extensively on Parkinson's, including the recently published book for patients and families, "The Parkinson's Disease Treatment Book: Partnering with Your Doctor to Get the Most from Your Medications" (Oxford University Press, 2005, 532 pp.). His professional training included a Ph.D. from Princeton University and M.D. from Dartmouth Medical School, plus internship and medical residency at the University of Chicago and neurology residency at the Mayo Clinic. He has been on staff at Mayo since 1981.
Allison Reeves is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) in private practice here in Victoria, counselling men and women grappling with a wide range of issues. Her areas of expertise include: chronic pain, chronic physical illness, family caregiving, and PTSD. She is also a trained Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing clinician since 1988. Allison enjoys giving psycho-educational seminars for the public. Many are sponsored by non-profit agencies and include: Victoria Epilepsy and Parkinson's Centre, Arthritis Society, British Columbia Schizophrenia Society, Crohn's and Colitis Society, Dystonia Support Group, Family Caregivers' Network Society, Fibromyalgia Support , and many others.
Matthew Farrer holds a PhD in Human Genetics from Imperial College London and a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from King’s College London in the UK. An expert in the field of molecular genetics, Dr. Farrer has made several influential discoveries in neurogenetics and is critically acclaimed for his work on PD genetics. On Aug. 30, 2011, UBC announced the appointment of Dr. Farrer as the new Dr. Donald Rix B.C. Leadership Chair in Genetic Medicine. In May 2010, he was appointed as the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Neurogenetics and Translational Neuroscience at UBC. Prior to 2011, he was a Professor of Molecular Neuroscience and Director of the Neurogenetics Division at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2008, Dr. Farrer was named Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator, the prestigious institution’s highest award for research excellence.
Silke Cresswell earned a Dr. Med. from the University of Heidelberg in 2000, then trained as a neurologist at the University of Heidelberg, and held a movement disorder fellowship at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, in London, UK. During this time, she worked on impulse control disorders and dementia in Parkinson’s patients. She relocated to Vancouver and embarked on a clinical research fellowship in movement disorders at the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre from 2008 to 2010. During this time she focused on non-motor/neuropsychiatric and cognitive symptoms in Parkinson’s. She was then successful in the international competition for the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Institute Professorship in Parkinson’s Research and started the position in July 2010.
