May 20, 2022

The Neurologist Prof. Dr. Mauro Manconi, Head of the Department of Sleep Medicine at the Neurocentre of Southern Switzerland of the Regional Hospital of Lugano, received the EFNA Award 2022 'Advocating for Gender Equity in Neurology' in the category "Outstanding Achievement by a Medical Professional" for his continuous and outstanding scientific work on the topic of RLS and pregnancy.

In addition to his thesis at the University of Ferrara (Italy), many of his scientific papers also deal with this topic. Time and again, he emphasised the need for an accurate diagnosis in order to recognise the syndrome and choose the optimal therapeutic strategy based on the patient's characteristics and individual needs.

As Mauro Manconi, among other things, has shown in his research the transient form of RLS in pregnancy is a significant risk factor for the development of a future chronic form of idiopathic RLS and for a new transient symptomatology in a future pregnancy. In addition, Manconi showed that women who had RLS onset before pregnancy and who had moderate or severe RLS symptoms were at increased risk for prenatal and postnatal depression. Depression, in turn, is associated with a significantly increased risk of suicide.

Manconi's achievements to benefit pregnant women and women affected by RLS included not only these insights, but also the development of appropriate guidelines for RLS, pregnancy and lactation, it has helped to ensure that concrete measures can be taken to provide rapid help and appropriate treatment to affected women and thus also to their newborns and families.

Prof. Mauro Manconi, who is also closely connected to the wider RLS patient community, has thus made an important contribution to the hitherto little-noticed problem area, has drawn attention to this highly underrecognized topic and raised awareness on the problems of pregnant women suffering from RLS thus making an important contribution to gender equality in the field of brain health.

Manconi was proposed by the European Alliance for Restless Legs Syndrome (EARLS), the federation of European RLS patient associations (www.earls.eu).

Manconi serves on the RLS Foundation’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board and is Director at the Sleep Center, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, an RLS Foundation certified Quality Care Center.