Professor; Co-Director of Movement Disorder Center
Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Movement Disorders; Neurology; Parkinson's
I am a movement disorder neurologist, and I care for patients with involuntary movements such as Parkinson‘s disease, tremor disorders and dystonia at our UBMD neurology clinic on Main Street in Williamsville. I manage the care of patients with medication and counseling, and I also perform botulinum toxin (Botox) injections to treat dystonia, blepharospasm, hemifacial spasm, spasticity and certain types of tremors and headaches. I collaborate with UBMD neurosurgeons specializing in movement disorders in order to give patients the best possible and coordinated care. For instance, I refer patients to my neurosurgery collaborators for deep brain stimulation (DBS) when I know this surgical therapy treatment will help my patients. I am also a member of the Parkinson Study Group, an international organization of clinical research centers, and the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. My involvement with these groups allows me to identify opportunities for my patients to enroll in cutting-edge research studies and clinical trials that could benefit them.
My research has focused primarily on conducting clinical trials with the goal of finding new treatments for a variety of conditions. These conditions have included hot flashes, chemotherapy-induced nausea, hyperemesis gravidarum and Parkinson‘s disease. Thus far, my research has shown the drug gabapentin to be an effective treatment for hot flashes in postmenopausal women and to possibly be an effective treatment for nausea and vomiting conditions that do not respond to more conventional therapies.
More recently, I have become interested in the use of lithium carbonate for treating certain symptoms that Parkinson‘s disease patients frequently experience. In addition, I am collaborating with the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, the University of California at San Francisco and the University of Pennsylvania to assess MRI imaging modalities called diffusion tensor imaging and quantitative susceptibility mapping to determine if these can more objectively measure brain changes over time in patients with Parkinson‘s disease. Validation of such measures will be essential for identifying ways to slow the progression of symptoms in Parkinson‘s disease.
I also teach medical students and residents about movement disorders in classroom settings as well as at the bedside in my outpatient clinic and on inpatient rounds at Buffalo General Medical Center.