IAPRD 2026 Award Winners

Award Lecture
Tissue PD biomarkers and the implication
Wednesday, 11 November 2026 during the opening ceremony

Professor Beomseok Jeon is Professor Emeritus at Seoul National University College of Medicine and Director of the BJ Center for Comprehensive Parkinson Care and Rare Movement Disorders at Hyundae Hospital, Korea. He completed his neurology residency at Seoul National University Hospital and the University of Minnesota, followed by a movement disorders fellowship under Professor Stanley Fahn at Columbia University. He later received basic neuroscience training under Professor Robert Burke as an H. Houston Merritt Fellow.

Professor Jeon’s principal research interests include deep brain stimulation, the genetics of parkinsonism in Korean patients, and tissue biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease in the gastrointestinal tract. His broader academic work has encompassed the medical and surgical management of advanced Parkinson’s disease and rare movement disorders. He has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications, and is an Associate Editor of PRD.

Internationally, Professor Jeon has served as President of the Asian and Oceanian Association of Neurology, Chair of the Asian and Oceanian Section of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society, and Congress President of the World Congress of Neurology 2025. He currently serves as Treasurer of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society and Chair of the MDS 2026 Local Organizing Committee. For his contributions, he has received Stanley Fahn Lectureship and Phillip Thompson Lectureship awards.

Melvin Yahr Award

Award Lecture
Speech Title
Wednesday, 11 November 2026 during the opening ceremony

Professor José A. Obeso got his MD (1976) and doctoral degree (1979) at the University of Navarra and specialized in Neurology in San Sebastian. Subsequently, spent 2 years in the Institute of Psychiatry (London), under the direction of Prof. David Marsden. A period that marked a turning point in his career. He developed a large part of his professional life in the department of Neurology at the University of Navarra becoming Full Professor in 2010. His work and main contributions in movement disorders encompass the pathophysiology of myoclonus, tics and dystonia; the development of the concept of continuous dopaminergic stimulation for Parkinson´s disease and pathophysiology of the basal ganglia leading to revitalization of functional neurosurgery. Since 2014 is Director of the Neuroscience Center Abarca-Campal (HM-CINAC) in the south of Madrid and principal investigator of CIBERNED (Spanish Neurodegeneration Network). Nowadays, mainly engaged in clinical care and defining the mechanisms of substantia nigra vulnerability and the development and newer applications of focus ultrasound in Parkinson´s disease.

He served as Editor in Chief of the Movement Disorders journal (2010-2020) leading it to a Top 10 publication in Clinical Neurology. In 2017, he was appointed to the Neurology Chair of the Royal National Academy of Medicine of Spain. His current Google Scholar H-index is 128, ~73.000 citations and counts 43 citation classic (> 300 citations) including 9 articles over 1000 cites. He has contributed to teaching and academia with over 100 book chapters, including the Harrison’s Textbook of Medicine. Top 25 Best Investigators in the field of Parkinson Disease (PD) worldwide and listed as Highly Cited Researcher every year.

His honors include Germania Rossetto International Award (1988), University of Pavia, Italia; Annemarie Opprecht Foundation (Award. 2002) Swiss Parkinson´s Disease Association; Marsden Lecture, Movement Disorders Society San Diego (2015). Astra Zeneca Prize, an honorary award in recognition of excellence in scientific career; ABC SALUD PRIZE, Spanish Doctor of the Year; Honorary Member Award. Parkinson`s Disease and Movement Disorders Society (2019); C. David Marsden lecture, European Academy of Neurology (2020); SEN Prize 2020: Scientific award in recognition of the contribution to the knowledgement and scientific development in neurology (2021); Humboldt´s Foundation (Germany) awardee (2023).