An International Take on Movement Disorders: Q&A with Dr. Hubert H. Fernandez

When Cleveland Clinic neurologist Hubert H. Fernandez, MD, recently accepted three appointments from the International Association of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders (IAPRD), he was doing more than just expanding his professional portfolio. The roles promise to give him a distinctly international take on developments and needs in the movement disorders field.

Not only has Dr. Fernandez started a three-year term as editor-in-chief of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, the IAPRD’s official scientific journal, but he was elected IAPRD secretary by the association’s membership and was asked to repeat his role as chair of the scientific program executive committee for the group’s World Congress for Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders. The 2018 congress will be held in August in Lyon, France.

Consult QD sat down with Dr. Fernandez, Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Neurological Restoration, for a Q&A on taking the reins of the IAPRD journal and his broader work with the association.

Q: Congratulations on becoming editor-in-chief of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders. What sets it apart from other journals in this space?

A: There’s been an explosion of new journals in the field of movement disorders in the last couple of decades, which reflects the exponential growth of research in this area. Journals have become increasingly specialized as a result, with individual ones now focused on Parkinson disease, Huntington disease, tremors and other movement disorders. Some are further refined to have either a research or clinical focus.

Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, which was launched 1995, continues to aim for a broad and deep readership. We publish articles about all aspects of all movement disorders. Our goal is to publish the best articles relevant to all stakeholders in the movement disorders community — scientists, clinicians and allied health professionals.

Q: What are your aims for the journal in the coming years?

A: Parkinsonism and Related Disorders is already the second-highest-ranked international journal in the field of movement disorders. Its impact factor of 4.4 puts it in the top 10 percent of all scientific journals in terms of citation frequency. Rather than narrowly focus on improving its ranking, I plan to concentrate on making each issue full of articles that are relevant to our readership and of the highest quality.

Q: How do you go about accomplishing that?

A: In this era of fierce competition for articles, journals must be very submission-friendly. We want to be the first journal that researchers, policymakers and reviewers think of when they plan to publish high-quality papers. Our submission process must be intuitive to navigate and a pleasant experience for authors. Having an abundance of papers to choose from means we can continue to maintain and even surpass our excellent standards.

I also want to spice up our offerings with a healthy mix of original papers, short reports, review articles, and grand rounds. In this diverse and fast-growing field, we’ll also be tackling important controversies.

Q: Can you give a preview of the upcoming IAPRD meeting in Lyon?

A: Yes. Our world congress used to occur every other year, but with so much going on in the field, we moved to an annual schedule. The meetings are still huge. Last year’s congress in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, drew close to 1,000 clinicians with 100 faculty presenters.

Last year’s meeting, for which I also chaired the scientific program executive committee, had a primarily scientific focus, whereas the upcoming meeting will emphasize education. We are also making a concerted effort to attract more women this year and celebrate their contributions to the field.

Q: What are some challenges of hosting a large international conference?

A: Last year we had feedback that there were so many parallel sessions that attendees felt that every choice they made meant missing out on other important topics. We garner such an abundance of riches that enabling everyone to catch everything would require a monthlong meeting! For the upcoming congress, we’re trying to achieve a better balance of plenary and breakout sessions.

Even more important challenges arise from being truly global, as the IAPRD rightly prides itself on being the glue of international movement disorders organizations. We have faculty and participants with perspectives that reflect the full range of healthcare resource availability — from Boston, with the world’s highest concentration of neurologists per capita, to Cameroon, with only two neurologists serving the entire nation.

The congress must be relevant to them all, whether or not they can provide the highest standards of healthcare or are fluent in English. We want each participant to have a voice and go home inspired and with new ideas to improve their practice or research.