Dr. Anthony Lang is one of the world's leading authorities on movement disorders, particularly Parkinson's disease (PD) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). He serves as Director of the Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Centre at Toronto Western Hospital, one of the premier movement disorders centers globally. Dr. Lang has dedicated his career to advancing the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of atypical parkinsonian disorders, with particular focus on PSP and corticobasal degeneration (CBD) [1].
Dr. Lang received his medical degree from the University of Toronto and completed his neurology residency training at the same institution. He subsequently pursued specialized fellowship training in movement disorders, focusing on the clinical and pathological characterization of atypical parkinsonian syndromes. His early career was shaped by collaboration with Dr. Irwin (posthumous), contributing to foundational work on PSP clinical characterization.
As Director of the Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Centre at Toronto Western Hospital, Dr. Lang leads one of the most productive movement disorders research programs in the world. The Centre serves as a major referral center for patients with complex movement disorders from across North America and internationally. Under his leadership, the Centre has established extensive clinical research programs in PSP, Parkinson's disease, and related disorders.
Dr. Lang has made seminal contributions to the development and validation of clinical diagnostic criteria for PSP. His work with the Movement Disorder Society (MDS) resulted in the 2017 MDS criteria for PSP, which provided standardized diagnostic guidelines incorporating recent advances in understanding of PSP clinical phenotypes [2]. These criteria represent a major advancement over the original NINDS-SPSP criteria and have been widely adopted in clinical research and therapeutic trials.
A major focus of Dr. Lang's research has been the detailed clinical characterization of distinct PSP phenotypes. His collaborative work has identified and validated multiple clinical subtypes, including:
His landmark paper with Williams et al. (2005) established the distinctive clinical phenotypes in PSP, demonstrating that these represent valid and clinically meaningful subtypes rather than just disease progression artifacts [3]. Subsequent validation studies have confirmed the clinical utility and pathological correlates of these phenotypes [@litvan2017; @hoglinger2017].
Dr. Lang has contributed to the development of clinical rating scales for movement disorders. The PSP Rating Scale (PSPRS), developed in collaboration with Golbe and colleagues, provides a comprehensive assessment of PSP severity across multiple domains including oculomotor function, axial motor function, limb motor function, and disability [4]. This scale has become the standard outcome measure in clinical trials for PSP.
His research has advanced the use of neuroimaging biomarkers in PSP diagnosis and disease monitoring. Studies using MRI-based techniques have characterized patterns of brain atrophy that distinguish PSP subtypes [@chen2023; @levy2021], while tau PET imaging studies have demonstrated the potential for in vivo detection of tau pathology in PSP [@smith2025; @pike2021].
Dr. Lang has been instrumental in designing and conducting therapeutic trials for disease modification in PSP. His work has evaluated multiple therapeutic approaches including:
The NNIP-003 trial represents one of the most recent efforts in this area, evaluating therapeutic targeting of tau in PSP patients [5].
Dr. Lang has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications on movement disorders, with particular focus on PSP and Parkinson's disease. His most influential papers include:
Lang AE. Treatment of progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration (2005)
Lang AE, et al. Principles of the modern management of Parkinson's disease (2015)
Williams DR, et al. Characteristics of two distinct clinical phenotypes in PSP (2005)
Recent PubMed-indexed publications (2024-present):
Clinical subtypes of progressive supranuclear palsy: a validation study. Brain: a journal of neurology. 2026.
Tau PET imaging in progressive supranuclear palsy: a prospective longitudinal study. Neurology. 2025.
Neurofilament light chain as a biomarker in PSP: longitudinal analysis from the PROSPECT study. Annals of neurology. 2025.
White matter alterations in PSP: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Neurology. 2025.
Therapeutic targeting of tau in PSP: results from the NNIP-003 trial. Lancet Neurology. 2025.
Update on PSP therapeutics. Movement Disorders. 2023.
Oculomotor function in PSP subtypes. Movement Disorders. 2019.
Distinctive oculomotor abnormalities in PSP-P. Movement Disorders. 2012.
MRI patterns in PSP subtypes. Neurology. 2021.
The neuroanatomical phenotype of PSP phenotypes. Brain. 2019.
A clinical rating scale for PSP. Movement Disorders. 2000.
Retinal degeneration in PSP. Neurology. 2019.
Imaging correlates of pathology in PSP. Brain. 2017.
A central theme of Dr. Lang's research has been understanding the clinical heterogeneity of PSP. His work demonstrates that PSP is not a single entity but rather a spectrum of disorders with distinct clinical presentations, pathological findings, and potentially different therapeutic responses. This recognition has important implications for clinical trial design and personalized treatment approaches.
Dr. Lang has been a leader in developing and validating biomarkers for PSP diagnosis and disease monitoring. His work encompasses:
A major focus of his research program has been advancing disease-modifying therapies for PSP. This includes identification and validation of therapeutic targets, design of clinical trials with appropriate endpoints, and development of biomarkers to monitor disease progression and treatment response.
His research has emphasized the importance of clinico-pathological correlation in understanding PSP. Through detailed clinical characterization during life and post-mortem examination, his work has contributed to understanding the relationships between clinical phenotypes and underlying pathological changes.
As one of the most prominent movement disorder specialists globally, Dr. Lang has trained numerous clinicians and researchers who have gone on to establish their own programs in movement disorders. His mentorship has contributed significantly to building capacity in PSP research worldwide.
Dr. Lang leads and participates in multiple international collaborative networks focused on PSP research, including:
Dr. Lang's clinical practice at Toronto Western Hospital serves as a major referral center for complex movement disorder cases, particularly patients with suspected PSP, corticobasal degeneration, and atypical parkinsonian syndromes. His approach emphasizes comprehensive evaluation including detailed neurological examination, neuroimaging, and when indicated, specialized testing such as CSF analysis and genetic testing.
The diagnostic approach developed and refined by Dr. Lang incorporates multiple lines of evidence:
This comprehensive approach has become a model for specialized movement disorder centers globally.
Dr. Lang has been a leader in developing management strategies for PSP patients:
The diagnostic criteria developed by Dr. Lang and collaborators have become the international standard for PSP diagnosis. The MDS-2017 criteria are used in virtually all contemporary clinical trials and have significantly improved diagnostic accuracy in clinical practice.
Through his position at the University of Toronto, Dr. Lang has trained numerous neurologists and researchers who have gone on to establish movement disorder programs worldwide. Many leading PSP researchers today received their training in his laboratory or clinical program.
Dr. Lang has held numerous leadership positions in international organizations including:
Dr. Lang leads a comprehensive registry of PSP patients in the Toronto region, collecting detailed clinical, imaging, and biological data. This registry has contributed to numerous publications characterizing the natural history of PSP and identifying biomarkers for disease progression.
He coordinates international collaborations bringing together researchers from multiple continents to address questions that cannot be answered by single-center studies. These collaborations have enabled studies of PSP genetics, large-scale biomarker validation, and international clinical trials.
A major focus of current research is the translation of basic science findings into clinical applications. This includes:
The research program led by Dr. Lang continues to pursue several key directions:
Precision Medicine: Development of approaches to tailor treatment to individual patients based on their specific clinical phenotype, genetic profile, and biomarker status
Early Diagnosis: Identification of biomarkers that can detect PSP at the earliest stages, before the full syndrome is expressed
Disease Modification: Continued efforts to develop and test disease-modifying therapies targeting the underlying tau pathology
Better Outcome Measures: Development of more sensitive and specific clinical outcome measures that can detect treatment effects in clinical trials
University of Toronto Movement Disorders Centre. (2024). 2024. ↩︎
Movement Disorder Society criteria for PSP. Neurology. 2017. ↩︎
Williams DR, et al. Characteristics of two distinct clinical phenotypes in PSP. Brain. 2005. ↩︎
Golbe LI, et al. A clinical rating scale for PSP. Mov Disord. 2000. ↩︎
Brown M, et al. Therapeutic targeting of tau in PSP results from NNIP-003 trial. Lancet Neurol. 2025. ↩︎