UB Neurologists Present 30 Sessions at AAN Annual Meeting

The meeting is the world’s largest gathering of neurologists, attracting more than 10,000 professionals in the field.

UB presenters featured their research through poster sessions and highlighted discussions. The meeting took place April 15-21 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The department, as it has for the past several years, played a substantial role in the Academy’s annual meeting, according to Gil I. Wolfe, MD, FAAN, Irvin and Rosemary Smith Professor and Chair of neurology.

“The breadth of presentations was considerable, including multiple papers presented in the areas of multiple sclerosis, juvenile multiple sclerosis, the latest neuroimaging techniques and neuromuscular disorders,” said Wolfe, a fellow in the academy since 1991.

“I am so pleased to see the large number of faculty, trainees and research staff from the department represented at the Vancouver meeting,” he said.

Wolfe also noted Edward J. Fine, MD, associate professor of neurology, continued his practice of presenting a paper on the history of neurology, discussing the evolution of a technique used in a variety of applications including lie detector tests.

Participating residents, fellows and alumni include:

Adult Neurology – Class of 2016

• Haris Kamal, MD (chief resident)
  
• Aurangzeb Memon, MBBS (chief resident)
  

• Pooja Sofat, MBBS, clinical neurophysiology fellow

• Marilou I. Ching, MD, MPH, adult neurology residency ’05
• Sarah G. Finnegan, MD, PhD, ’94, child neurology residency ’99, clinical neurophysiology fellowship ’05
  
• David W. Hojnacki, MD ’02; adult neurology residency ’06; multiple sclerosis/neuroimaging fellowships ’08
• Channa M. Kolb, MD ’06
• Nicholas J. Silvestri, MD ’04
• Karanbir Singh, MBBS, adult neurology residency ’15
  
• Kinga Szigeti, MD, PhD, adult neurology residency ’02

A complete list of presentations and participants follows:

• Increased Body Mass Index is Causally Associated with Pediatric MS Onset: A Mendelian Randomization Study (poster session). Milena Gianfrancesco, Xiaorong Shao, Brooke Rhead, Jennifer Graves, Amy Waldman, Timothy Lotze, Teri Schreiner, Anita Belman, Benjamin Greenberg, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Gregory Aaen, Jan-Mendelt Tillema, Janace Hart, Jayne Ness, Yolanda Harris, Jennifer Rubin, Meghan Candee, Lauren Krupp, Mark Gorman, Leslie Benson, Moses Rodriguez, Tanuja Chitnis, Soe Mar, Ilana Kahn, John Rose, Shelly Roalstad, Charlie Casper, Ling Shen, Hong Quach, Catherine Metayer, Cathy Schaefer, Emmanuelle Waubant, Lisa Barcellos.
• Predictors of Tic Severity in Post-Childhood Tourette Syndrome: Age-Gender Interaction and Comorbidities (integrated neuroscience session). David G. Lichter, MBChB, Sarah G. Finnegan, MD, PhD.
• Allergies in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: A Case-Control Study (poster). Theresa Neiderer, Michael Waltz, Charlie Casper, Katelyn Kavak, Gregory Aaen, Anita Belman, Leslie Benson, Meghan Candee, Tanuja Chitnis, Jennifer Graves, Benjamin Greenberg, Mark Gorman, Yolanda Harris, Janace Hart, Ilana Kahn, Lauren Krupp, Timothy Lotze, Soe Mar, Jayne Ness, Cody Olsen, Shelly Roalstad, Moses Rodriguez, John Rose, Jennifer Rubin, Teri Schreiner, Timothy Simmons, Jan-Mendelt Tillema, Adeline Vanderver, Amy Waldman, Emmanuelle Waubant, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD.
• Maternal Illness in Pregnancy and Perinatal Exposure to Pesticides Are Associated with Risk for Pediatric Onset MS (integrated neuroscience). Jennifer Graves, Tanuja Chitnis, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Jennifer Rubin, Aaron Zelikovitch, Bardia Nourbakhsh, Timothy Simmons, Charlie Casper, Emmanuelle Waubant, U.S. Network of Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Centers.
• Establishing a Normative Data Set for the MS-COG (poster). Michelle Mellion, John DeLuca, Ralph H. Benedict, PhD, Tanya Kaushik, Bruno Brochet, Ugo Nocentini, Frederick Foley, Jeffrey Wilken, Glenn Phillips, Yiwei Zhang, Lei Xu, Diego Cadavid.
• Obtaining Patient and Family Views in Pediatric MS Research Needs, Outcomes and Methods: Study Design (poster). Tanuja Chitnis, David Rintell, Ellen O’Donnell, Timothy Lotze, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Emmanuelle Waubant, Anita Belman, Gregory Aaen, Leslie Benson, Mark Gorman, Jennifer Graves, Soe Mar, Manikum Moodley, Jayne Ness, Mary Rensel, Moses Rodriguez, Teri Schreiner, Jan-Mendelt Tillema, John Rose, Charlie Casper.
• Prolonged Timed Up and Go Is Associated with Falls and Patient Self-Reported Mobility Limitations (poster). Channa Kolb, MD, Shaik Ahmed Sanai, Katelyn Kavak, Sirin Gandhi, Barbara Teter, Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD.
• Characterization of Olfactory Identification Deficit in Aging Vs. Alzheimer’s Disease (poster). Matthew Woodward, Muhammad Ubaid Hafeez, Umar Hayyat, Awais Ahmed, Jesper Hagemeier, Li Yan, Qianya Qi, Ralph H. Benedict, PhD, Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, Kinga Szigeti, MD, PhD.
• Does the Presence of Pretreatment Hyperdense Middle Cerebral Artery Sign Predict the Outcomes of Intraarterial Thrombectomy Plus Intravenous TPA for Acute Stroke? (poster). Ashkan Mowla, MD, Haris Kamal, Navdeep Lail, Babar Cheema, Bijal Mehta, Aurangzeb Memon, Peyman Shirani, Christopher J. Deline, MD, Aaron McMurtray, Marilou I. Ching, MD, MPH, Robert N. Sawyer, Jr., MD.
• Lies and Sweats: History of Use of the Psychogalvanic Response (poster). Edward J. Fine, MD, Pooja Sofat.
• Absence of HDL Decrease After Interferon Beta-1a Initiation Is Associated with Greater Brain Volume Loss and Lesion Burden in Multiple Sclerosis Patients over 4 Years (poster). Tomas Uher, Dana Horakova, Kelly Fellows, Manuela Vaneckova, Lukas Sobisek, Zdenek Seidl, Michaela Tyblova, Jan Krasensky, Eva Havrdova, Murali Ramanathan.
• Effect of Teriflunomide (Aubagio) on Gray Matter Pathology in Multiple Sclerosis (poster). Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, Channa M. Kolb, MD, Noopur Modi, Jillian Carl, Jesper Hagemeier, Niels Bergsland, Deepa Ramasamy, Jackie Durfee, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD.
• Improved Cognitive Outcomes in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis with Daclizumab HYP Over 96 Weeks in the Phase 3 DECIDE Study (poster). Ralph H. Benedict, PhD, Stanley Cohan, Sharon Lynch, Steven Greenberg, Ping Wang, Jacob Elkins, Guido Sabatella.
• INSIGHTS: Analysis of IVIG Responsiveness in Patients with Myasthenia Gravis (poster). Todd Levine, Leslie Vaughn, Gary Badger, Gil I. Wolfe, MD, FAAN, Lara Katzin, David Saperstein, Tahseen Mozaffar, Richard Barohn, Jonathan Katz, Mazen Dimachkie, Michelle Greer, Elissa Ritt.
• Thymectomy in Non-thymomatous Myasthenia Gravis: Results from MGTX, a Randomized, Controlled Trial (scientific session). Gary Cutter, Henry Kaminski, Gil I. Wolfe, MD, FAAN, Immaculada Aban. On behalf of the MGTX Trial Research Group.
• First Genome-Wide Analysis in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Confirms a Role for Adult MS Risk Variants and Reveals New Candidates (scientific). Lisa Barcellos, Xiaorong Shao, Brooke Rhead, Milena Gianfrancesco, Jennifer Graves, Amy Waldman, Timothy Lotze, Teri Schreiner, Anita Belman, Benjamin Greenberg, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Gregory Aaen, Jan-Mendelt Tillema, Janace Hart, Jayne Ness, Yolanda Harris, Jennifer Rubin, Meghan Candee, Lauren Krupp, Mark Gorman, Leslie Benson, Moses Rodriguez, Tanuja Chitnis, Soe Mar, Adeline Vanderver, Ilana Kahn, John Rose, Shelly Roalstad, Charlie Casper, Ling Shen, Hong Quach, Catherine Metayer, Cathy Schaefer, Emmanuelle Waubant.
• Effect of Obesity and Puberty on Risk and Age at Onset of Pediatric MS (scientific). Tanuja Chitnis, Jennifer Graves, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Anita Belman, Cody Olsen, Madhusmita Misra, Gregory Aaen, Leslie Benson, Meghan Candee, Mark Gorman, Benjamin Greenberg, Timothy Lotze, Jayne Ness, Moses Rodriguez, John Rose, Jennifer Rubin, Teri Schreiner, Jan-Mendelt Tillema, Charlie Casper, Emmanuelle Waubant.
• Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of 490 Children and Adolescents with Multiple Sclerosis (MS): US Network of Pediatric MS Centers’ Experience (scientific). Anita Belman, Lauren Krupp, Cody Olsen, John Rose, Gregory Aaen, Leslie Benson, Tanuja Chitnis, Mark Gorman, Jennifer Graves, Yolanda Harris, Timothy Lotze, Jayne Ness, Shelly Roalstad, Moses Rodriguez, Jan-Mendelt Tillema, Emmanuelle Waubant, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Charlie Casper.
• Maternal Illness in Pregnancy and Perinatal Exposure to Pesticides Are Associated with Risk for Pediatric Onset MS (scientific). Jennifer Graves, Tanuja Chitnis, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Jennifer Rubin, Aaron Zelikovitch, Bardia Nourbakhsh, Timothy Simmons, Charlie Casper, Emmanuelle Waubant.
• Dietary Factors and Risk of Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis (scientific). Julia Pakpoor, Brandon Seminatore, Jennifer Graves, Teri Schreiner, Amy Waldman, Timothy Lotze, Anita Belman, Benjamin Greenberg, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Gregory Aaen, Jan-Mendelt Tillema, Janace Hart, Jayne Ness, Yvonne Harris, Jennifer Rubin, Meghan Candee, Lauren Krupp, Mark Gorman, Leslie Benson, Moses Rodriguez, Tanuja Chitnis, Soe Mar, Ilana Kahn, John Rose, Shelly Roalstad, Michael Waltz, Charlie Casper, Emmanuelle Waubant.
• The Causal Effect of Serum Vitamin D Levels on Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: A Mendelian Randomization Study (scientific). Brooke Rhead, Milena Gianfrancesco, Xiaorong Shao, Jennifer Graves, Amy Waldman, Timothy Lotze, Teri Schreiner, Anita Belman, Benjamin Greenberg, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Gregory Aaen, Jan-Mendelt Tillema, Janace Hart, Jayne Ness, Yolanda Harris, Jennifer Rubin, Meghan Candee, Lauren Krupp, Mark Gorman, Leslie Benson, Moses Rodriguez, Tanuja Chitnis, Soe Mar, Ilana Kahn, John Rose, Shelly Roalstad, Charlie Casper, Ling Shen, Hong Quach, Catherine Metayer, Cathy Schaefer, Lisa Barcellos, Emmanuelle Waubant.
• Optical Coherence Tomography Is Associated with Development of Brain Atrophy in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A Longitudinal 5-Year Follow-Up Study (poster). Sirin Gandhi, Jesper Hagemeier, Avinash Chandra, Shaik Ahmed Sanai, Dejan Jakimovski, Rahil Ahmed, Deepa Ramasamy, Niels Bergsland, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD.
• Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping Study of Deep Gray Matter Iron at 3T in Large Cohort of Multiple Sclerosis Patients (poster). Jesper Hagemeier, Ferdinand Schweser, PhD, Michael G. Dwyer III, PhD, Paul Polak, Niels Bergsland, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD.
• Evolution of Brain Iron Levels in Multiple Sclerosis: A 2-Year Longitudinal Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping Study at 3T (poster). Jesper Hagemeier, Ferdinand Schweser, PhD, Michael G. Dwyer III, PhD, Paul Polak, Niels Bergsland, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD.
• Response to IVIG in Patients with CIDP: The INSIGHTS Quality Improvement Registry (poster). Todd Levine, Jonathan Katz, Richard Barohn, David Saperstein, Gil I. Wolfe, MD, FAAN, Lara Katzin, Tahseen Mozaffar, Mazen Dimachkie, Gary Badger, Leslie Vaughn, Elissa Ritt, Michelle Greer.
• Effect of Teriflunomide (Aubagio) on Cortico-Basal Ganglionic-Thalamo-Cortical Gray Matter Connectivity in Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis (poster). Claire Modica, Ferdinand Schweser, PhD, Nicola Bertolino, Trina Rudra, Michelle Sudyn, Michael G. Dwyer III, PhD, Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD.
• Leptomeningeal Contrast Enhancement is Associated with Development of Gray Matter Atrophy Over 5 Years in Multiple Sclerosis (scientific). Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, Deepa Ramasamy, Sirin Gandhi, Avinash Chandra, Jesper Hagemeier, Niels Bergsland, David W. Hojnacki, MD, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD.
• Neurological Software Tool for Reliable Atrophy Measurement (NeuroSTREAM) in Multiple Sclerosis (scientific). Michael G. Dwyer III, PhD, Diego Silva, Niels Bergsland, Dana Horakova, Deepa Ramasamy, Jackie Durfee, Manuela Vaneckova, Eva Havrdova, Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD.
• Strokes Occurring in the Hospital; Quality of Care and Outcome in a Tertiary Academic Medical Center (poster). Haris Kamal, Ashkan Mowla, MD, Peyman Shirani, Navdeep Lail, Babar Cheema, Aurangzeb Memon, Christopher J. Deline, MD, Annemarie Crumlish, Karanbir Singh, Marilou I. Ching, MD, MPH, Robert N. Sawyer, Jr., MD.
• Case Studies in the ICU (education session). Nicholas J. Silvestri, MD.