2025 MDS Awardees

Dr. Stebbins' research area is measurement theory and application. His early work was in the use of functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging to measure behavior in movement disorders and other neurological conditions. This interest evolved into the construction and validation of clinical outcome assessments for use in movement disorders and resulted in the development of over 15 rating scales including such standard assessments as the Movement Disorder Society sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) and the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDysRS).  

He is an active member in the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society, serving on numerous committees, task forces, and study groups. He served as the Co-Chair of the MDS Clinical Outcome Assessment program for five years and oversaw the development and implementation of multiple assessment tools owned by the Society. Dr. Stebbins serves as advisor to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, CHDI Foundation, Critical Path for Parkinson's Consortium, Huntington's Disease Regulatory Science Consortium, Huntington Study Group and multiple industry partners.  He has served on the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke Parkinson's Disease Common Data Elements Task Force and the Huntington's Disease Common Data Elements Task Force. He has been awarded funding from the National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stoke, Office of Naval Research, Department of Defense, and multiple non-profit and for-profit entities.  He has also served on the study sections for the National Institutes of Health, Veterans Administration, Michael J. Fox Foundation, and Alzheimer's Association. Dr. Stebbins has lectured internationally and is the author or co-author of more that 300 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, books, book chapters, and edited volumes.   

Dr. Chandra has dedicated nearly a decade to advancing neurology in Nepal, with a special focus on movement disorders. He has been honored with the Presidential Award by the Government of Nepal, the nation’s highest recognition, for his outstanding contributions in the field. His initiatives include organizing free neurological and Parkinson’s screening camps, running dedicated free clinics for movement disorder patients, and leading nationwide awareness campaigns through lectures, media, and medical education.

As an international social ambassador of Movement Disorder Society, he is also actively engaged in international collaboration through the Movement Disorder Society, helping connect Nepali clinicians with the global community.

He has a specialist clinical and research interest in Movement Disorders and Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). He did his PhD with Professor John Rothwell and Professor Kailash Bhatia at the UCL Institute of Neurology, studying the pathophysiology of DYT1 dystonia. During this period he was involved with the development of a novel and now widely used technique for transcranial magnetic stimulation: theta burst stimulation. Following completion of neurology training he became a Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Neurologist at UCL and the National Hospital for Neurology. Here he developed a research program including an influential predictive coding account of functional neurological symptoms and a specialist diagnostic and treatment service for patients with FND. After moving to St George’s in 2015 he expanded this work to develop one of the first integrated diagnostic and treatment services for FND alongside continued research work into the pathophysiology of movement disorders and development and testing of novel treatments, including the first randomised multicentre trial of specialist physiotherapy for functional movement disorders. He led the development of a national UK pathway for Functional Neurological Disorder in 2022. He was appointed as Professor of Neurology and Interface Disorders at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London and Consultant Neurologist at the Maudsley and King’s College Hospital in September 2022.   

He has published over 450 peer reviewed publications and is author of the Oxford Specialist Handbook of Parkinson’s Disease and Other Movement Disorders. He is President of the Association of British Neurology Movement Disorders Group, Founding Member of the Functional Neurological Disorder Society, co-chair of the European Academy of Neurology Scientific Panel for FND, Deputy Editor of the European Journal of Neurology, and medical advisor for FNDHope, the UK Dystonia Society and the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine. He is the winner of the Jon Stolk Award for Movement Disorders research from the American Academy of Neurology, the David Marsden Award for Dystonia research, the Queen Square Prize and the Uschi Tschabitscher prize for research from the European Academy of Neurology. He has served on several MDS committees including the Education Committee and the International Executive Committee.  

He was previously Head of Neurology, Director of the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre, Co-Director of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health and held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Parkinson’s Disease. He has served on editorial boards including Lancet Neurology and Annals of Neurology, previously chaired the Scientific Advisory Boards of Parkinson’s Canada and the Parkinson’s Foundation and was President of the World Parkinson Coalition. Dr. Stoessl uses positron emission tomography to study the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s and its treatment and complications, as well as dopamine function in the brain. He has been cited more than 35,000 times in the scientific literature. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.