Portland Countdown podcasts

Monthly podcasts hosted by award-winning journalists will feature ‘world-renowned’ Parkinson’s scientists and community leaders

The first episode in a new series of chat show-style podcasts – the Portland Countdown – just went live.

Hosted by Dave Iverson and Jon Palfreman, Emmy award-winning journalists living with Parkinson’s disease, the aim of the series is to give listeners new perspectives on the latest advances in Parkinson’s research and treatment.

The shows, developed by the World Parkinson Coalition, are aired online on the first Tuesday of every month from June 2015 to September 2016 – when the 4th World Parkinson Congress takes place in Portland, Oregon, USA. The entire series of podcasts will also be downloadable for free.

Over the course of the 15-part series, some of the world’s leading neuroscientists, campaigners, and community figures discuss topics ranging from ways to improve the delivery of l-dopa to the potential for placebo effect as a tool in Parkinson’s treatment.

Elizabeth Pollard, executive director of the World Parkinson Coalition, said: “The power of the World Parkinson Congresses has always been that they are designed by community leaders, including researchers, clinicians, and people with Parkinson’s. What better way to look at Parkinson’s than through the eyes of two people living with the disease?”

Each 30-minute conversation will provide an authoritative, digestible dialogue about the disease, with a line-up of speakers that includes Dr Roger Barker who is currently involved in reviving foetal cell transplantation, Tom Isaacs of the Cure Parkinson’s Trust and Swedish campaigner Sara Riggare.

World-renowned neurologist Andrew Lees discusses the history of Parkinson’s in the first podcast, which is available below.


The full schedule of show topics and guest speaker profiles is available here