Portland: Life Beyond the Pills Forum - (In-Person)

This forum has a nominal registration fee of $10 per participant.

Scholarships are available- please call PRO at 800-426-6806 to request a scholarship.

Event Agenda:

12:30 - Doors will open for check-in, light lunch served.

1:00 - Opening Remarks and "Improvisational Exercises for Parkinson's Disease Challenges"

Life is not scripted, and neither should be your approach to living with Parkinson’s. You may be surprised, but there is great value in using Improvisational Strategies to manage PD symptoms. Speech Language Pathologist Ruth Jenkins, and Patrick Short will get us started by leading a fun, energetic, and very practical exploration of ways to keep working on the connections between cognition, voicing, and movement. Through Ruth’s interactive presentation, you will gain an understanding of why improvisational techniques can be so helpful, and learn takeaway games you can use in groups and with family/friends to continue to address some of the ongoing challenges of PD.

2:00-2:30 - Break to socialize and visit with attending PRO Annual Sponsors and other invited vendors.

2:30-4:00 - Life Beyond the Pills Panel Discussion

We are very honored to have four experts in the field of Parkinson’s treatment and research join us from OHSU to share the latest information about non-pill treatment options.

• Shannon Anderson, M.P.A.S, PA-C will moderate this conversation starting with an introduction to the therapeutic interventions currently available that do not involve pills.
• Dr. Delaram Safarpour, M.D., M.S.C.E., FAAN will speak about the option of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) including who may be a good candidate, the procedure, and ongoing follow up. She will discuss the benefits of DBS and what challenges one may experience.
• Dr. Matthew Brodsky, M.D. will discuss alternative delivery options including injections, pump, infusion, and patches.
• Dr. Daniel Cleary, M.D., Ph.D. leads the High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) program at OHSU, a new non-pill intervention for treating Parkinson's. He will explain the treatment, who is a good candidate, and what symptoms are best addressed with HIFU.

4:00 - Closing Comments and Adjourn

Our Presenters

Ruth Jenkins, MS, CCC-SLP, President, Viewers Like You, LLC

Ruth has been a speech language pathologist for 30 years, a performer/teacher of improv for 35 years, and has melded these skills in her PD groups at ElderPlace and elsewhere.

Patrick Short, Education Director, CSz Portland (Producers of ComedySportz)

Dr. Delaram Safarpour, M.D., M.S.C.E., FAAN

Dr. Safarpour earned her medical degree in Tehran, Iran in 2007; she then completed a year of post-doctoral fellowship in movement disorders at Yale University, followed by residency in neurology at Temple University Hospital. Being interested in the clinical and epidemiological aspects of Movement Disorders, she then earned a master’s degree in neuroepidemiology and completed a fellowship in Movement Disorders at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Dr. Safarpour is the medical director of the Deep Brain Stimulation Program at OHSU. Her research focus is the effect of Deep brain stimulation in the treatment of movement disorders as well as gastrointestinal dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. She oversees several clinical trials and has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on gastrointestinal dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease as well as deep brain stimulation in the treatment of movement disorders.

Dr. Matthew Brodsky, M.D.

Dr. Brodsky joined the OHSU movement disorders faculty in 2002 and is currently an associate professor of neurology. He completed his medical degree, neurology residency and movement disorders fellowship at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Brodsky’s research interests focus on pre-clinical detection and neuroprotective interventions for Parkinson’s disease. He also directs annual courses on deep brain stimulation. Dr. Brodsky oversees clinical trials in dystonia as well as fellowship training in botulinum toxin injection and DBS programming at OHSU. Dr. Brodsky has lectured on Parkinson’s disease around the world and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in the field of movement disorders.

Dr. Daniel Cleary, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Cleary obtained his medical degree at Oregon Health Science University in 2014 and completed his residency in Neurosurgery at the University of California San Diego in 2022. Additionally, he completed a fellowship in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery back at Oregon Health & Science University in 2023. Dr. Cleary uses high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to treat essential tremor and tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease.

Shannon Anderson. M.P.A.S., PA-C

Shannon Anderson joined the OHSU Parkinson Center and Movement Disorders Program in 2010 as a Physician Associate. Shannon currently serves as the Associate Director of Clinic Operations and is an Associate Professor of Neurology. Shannon is also the Facilitator of the Newly Diagnosed Workshops where she connects persons with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners to resources as they adjust to receiving the diagnosis.

Additionally:

Registrations can be cancelled for a refund up to 7 days before the event, minus Eventbrite fees.

This event is presented in collaboration with Oregon Health & Science University

We thank the Parkinson Center and Movement Disorders Program for their assistance in arranging this talk.

Please note that while this event will be held on the Mittleman Jewish Community Center (MJCC) campus, the MJCC does not endorse our organization, this program, or its content.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 Southwest Capitol Highway, Portland, United States