The 7th World Parkinson's Congress is coming up in May 2026 in Phoenix, AZ. I had the great fortune of tracking Eli down to share some of the history of WPC and what we're looking forward to later this year. From Eli's LinkedIn page: "Working in the Parkinson's community since 2004, I am dedicated to bringing the community together and finding ways to engage and empower those living with Parkinson's as well as showing the researchers and clinicians that by listening to people living with Parkinson's they can actually do their job better! This case study, written by BestCities Global Alliance Showcases the uniqueness of the World parkinson Congresses: https://www.bestcities.net/case-study-world-parkinson-coalition/ At the first World Parkinson Congress in 2006, a leading researcher said to me, "I brought my junior staff with me from my lab and I was shocked to find that none of them had ever met a person living with Parkinson's." I realized at that moment there was a huge divide between the people living with Parkinson's in community and those who were researching the disease and there was a need to shrink what seemed back then like a gigantic gap. If researchers don't personally know people living with PD or understand the realities of living day to day with Parkinson's, how exactly are they prioritizing their research? People with Parkinson's should be part of their team from the day they start training. PwP are experts in living with Parkinson's 24/7 and can contribute a great deal to decisions around what researchers should focus on and how clinicians should be treating patients. Each World Parkinson Congress is a unique event and experience where that message is shared and heard."

Christine is a passionate health advocate, who has been living with Parkinson’s for over 10 years. Her story has impressed doctors and physiotherapists around the world. Christine got back her movement through intense exercise. Her video Handstand for Parkinson’s was shortlisted in World Parkinson’s Congress video competition in 2019. Inspired by her experience at the World Parkinson’s Congress, she didn’t stop there and pushed herself further physically and made a before and after video. Far from stopping her, Parkinson’s has given her a passion for health promotion and addressing preventable health issues early. She is driven her to raise awareness of the lack of services or knowledge about the benefits of exercise. She lived in Peru for the first 8 years of her diagnosis and started a local association and then launched an International Alliance of Parkinson’s for Spanish Speakers to work together. She is an Alumni (2023) Ambassador for the World Parkinson’s Congress, a PD Avenger, an amateur film maker and now she is a co-principal investigator for an project concerning Parkinson’s epidemiology in Latin America. She is soon to be a published author as a result of this research. That’s the short version but the beauty and inspiring nature of this story is in the details. Please sign up for the newsletter/blog or to simply keep in touch. She invites you into her world though videos. More at https://handstandforparkinsons.com/ She loves public speaking and inspiring others so is open to speaking engagements. Research and patient engagement are her passions professionally too. She now works in public Health Patient Education, and a gymnast, mother, wife and advoate the rest of the time. *Christine Jeya is short for Jeyachandran which I use as my youtube channel- the name she gained through marriage to her wonderful husband David.

Hint: Dr. Sara Whittingham is all those people in the title and more. You con find out more about her here: https://www.neomed.edu/parkinsons/ at her book's website, "Oh Crap! It's Parkinson's": https://ohcrapmedia.com/. For more on Twitchy, the mascot of her book, visit: https://flythepig.org

In an homage to the film on which the award-winning Boys of Summer documentary series was built, Actor, Writer and Person with PD, Matthew Moore, MFA delivers a stirring speech on the realities of Parkinson's, storytelling, family and baseball. For more information, including how you can see the premiere of the fourth film in the series, please visit www.bosmovie.com.

For more information or to get your own copy of the Yes, And...eXercise! calendar, please visit www.yesandexercise.org.