International Speakers
Prof Riadh Gouider (Tunisia)
Prof. Riadh GOUIDER is head of Neurology Department since 2002, Alzheimer Center since 2010 and Multiple Sclerosis Center since 2018 at Razi University Hospital, Tunis-Tunisia. He is honorary President of the Pan Arab Union of Neurological Societies since 2013 and a founding and honorary member of the African Academy of Neurology since 2015. Prof. Gouider is a founding member of MENACTRIMS since 2013 and he is the Vice President since 2014. He is Fellow of the EAN since 2018 and the AAN since 2019. Additionally, he is a corresponding foreign member of the French National Academy of Medicine since 2022. He serves as a WHO expert on dementia since 2020 and as a UNESCO Expert on the Ethics of Neurotechnology since 2024. He is member of the WFN-AAN Global Advocacy Leadership Program (GALP) Steering Committee since 2024 and a co-chair of the Education Committee of the World Federation of Neurology since 2022. Since January 2026, he has been appointed as First Vice-President of the WFN.
Prof Steven L Lewis (USA)
Steven Lewis, MD, is the current President of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) and has been a WFN Trustee since 2014. Dr. Lewis is a graduate of Yale University, where he received his BA, magna cum laude, in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. He received his MD at the Stanford University School of Medicine and performed his neurology residency at the University of Chicago. Dr. Lewis is Physician-in-Chief and Endowed Chair of Neurology at the Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute of Jefferson Health in Pennsylvania, USA; Adjunct Professor of Neurology at Thomas Jefferson University; and the Regional Chief for the Lehigh Valley for the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience of Jefferson Health. Dr. Lewis is Past-Director and Past Chair of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) and a past Chair of the US Neurology Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). He is the immediate past Editor-in-Chief of Continuum: Lifelong Learning in Neurology, the official CME journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). He is the Associate Editor for Global Neurology for the Journal of the Neurological Sciences, editor of World Neurology, and Editor-in-Chief of MedLink Neurology. In 2019, Dr. Lewis received the A.B. Baker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Neurologic Education from the AAN, and in 2023, he received the American Neurological Association (ANA) Award for Excellence in Education. He is the author or editor of multiple textbooks of neurology. His main clinical interests are global neurology, neurologic education, the neurology of systemic disease, and transient global amnesia.
Dr Karolina Poplawska-Domaszewicz (Poland)
Dr Karolina Poplawska-Domaszewicz (PhD, MD) graduated from the Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences in Poznań. Since 2010, she has been working in the Department of Neurology, including the Stroke Subunit, at the University Clinical Hospital in Poznań. In 2017, she defended her doctoral dissertation titled “Immune response against neural antigens and paraneoplastic neurological syndromes in endometrial cancer patients”. She has completed basic training in electromyographic and neurographic procedures, as well as a course in evoked potentials. Her clinical interests focus on the comprehensive and modern management of Parkinson's disease, including infusion therapies and deep brain stimulation (DBS). She is actively involved in evaluating patients with advanced Parkinson's disease for invasive therapies, monitoring patients during DBS procedures, and providing ongoing programming and follow-up care in the outpatient setting. In addition, she specialises in the treatment of focal dystonias using botulinum toxin. Dr Popławska-Domaszewicz is a member of the Polish Neurological Society and the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society, and serves on the Movement Disorder Society Parkinson's Disease Non-Motor Study Group. In June 2023, she was invited to join the King's College Hospital Parkinson's Foundation International Centre of Excellence as international faculty and visiting researcher under the direction of K Ray Chaudhuri. She currently serves as overseas faculty at the Centre of Excellence and is also a mentor for the European Academy of Neurology Fellowship Training Programme at King's College Hospital.
Prof K Ray-Chaudhuri (UK)
(DSc, FEAN, FRCP(Edin), FRCP (Lond), MD)
Professor K. Ray Chaudhuri is Director of Research and Clinical Trials at Kings College Hospital, London Dubai .Ex- Professor of Neurology/Movement Disorders at King’s College Hospital and King’s College London and Ex-Director of the Parkinson Foundation International Centre of Excellence at King’s College Hospital in London. He is founder of MDS Nonmotor PD Study group (NMSG), Ex Chairman and now steering group of the Industry Engagement Committee, and Co Chair Task force of the Parkinson Wellness committee of the Movement Disorders Society (MDS) was a member of the MDS Congress Scientific Programme Committee (2013-2017) and is Founder -Editor-in-Chief of the njp Parkinson’s Disease, and current Editor Front. Aging Neurosci. - Parkinson’s Disease and Aging-related Movement Disorders and a founder member of Kings Parkinson’s Charity. He is advisor to NHS England, General Medical Council as well as Parkinson’s UK and Parkinson’s Europe. Professor Chaudhuri is the author of over 650 articles (Scopus listed) , with H index > 100, co-editor of 7 books on Parkinson’s disease and restless legs syndrome, and winner of the British Medical Association Book Awards commendation in 2015 and 2017. He is also the recipient of 2018 Jay Van Andel Award Outstanding Achievement in Parkinson’s Disease Research (pioneering holistic assessments and non-motor subtypes), as well as National Institute for Health Research/Royal College of Physicians award for outstanding research leadership in 2017. He was elected honorary member of the Movement Disorders Society in 2021, Honorary Professor Brasov University and received the UK NHS Gold merit award in 2021 for excellence in research and clinical service. In 2023 he was featured as “role model” in British Medical Journal. He has been a guest lecturer worldwide, including in Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, India, Africa, the US, Russia, and Europe. In 2025 he is ranked within the top 2% of all scientists in the world (Stanford and Elsevier ranking ) and in 2024, an independent review in Frontiers journal by LI et al rated KRC as the one with most publications globally in nonmotor Parkinson’s since 2013 (Li et al , DOI 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1335550). He is a member of the Parkinson's UK project grants College of Experts member and reviewer of USA Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) ) and NIH and Middle East grant programmes such as Dubai Health Authority and Saudi Arabia Grants Committee (RDIA grants programme).
A/Prof Anneke van der Walt (Aus)
A/Prof van der Walt completed her undergraduate training in South Africa before relocating to Australia. She completed specialist training in neurology in Melbourne. She completed a PhD in Neuroscience in 2013 under the supervision of Professors Trevor Kilpatrick and Helmut Butzkueven at the University of Melbourne. She currently serves as the Director of the Multiple Sclerosis, Neuroimmunology Unit and Neuro-ophthalmology Service, Alfred Health, Melbourne. She leads the MS and Neuro-ophthalmology Research group in the Department of Neuroscience, School for Translational Medicine, Monash University. She is the Chief Operating Officer of the MSBase Foundation, which oversees the research and operational programs of the MSBase Registry. The MSBase registry is an international multiple sclerosis outcomes registry in more than 40 countries and contains more than 150,000 patient records. Prof Van der Walt has published over 220 papers since completing her PhD. Her main research focuses on implementing better monitoring of cognitive and cerebellar function in the MS clinic, using digital biomarkers and neuroimaging. In addition, she is passionate about advancing understanding of the long-term safety of MS treatments, especially for women. Her work is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and MS Australia. Her detailed profile can be accessed here: https://www.monash.edu/medicine/ccs/neuroscience/research/van-der-walt-group