The Movement Disorders Program of the Department of Neurology specializes in illnesses concerned with central nervous system disorders of gait, coordination and other aspects of movement. It provides clinical care, research and educational programs for the citizens of the Commonwealth. In its Movement Disorders Clinic, several hundred patients are followed with illnesses such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Parkinson-plus syndromes, torticollis and other dystonias, Huntington's disease, tremors, spinocerebellar syndromes, myoclonus, and all other neurodegenerative illnesses involving the basal ganglia and cerebellum. Also, patients are evaluated for blepharospasm, hemifacial spasm, and cerebellar ataxias. Specialized care, including Botulinum Toxin, is provided for all types of dystonia including torticollis, writer's cramp, musician's cramp and focal dystonia in the limbs. Patients are evaluated for certain specialized surgical procedures, including deep brain stimulation (DBS), pallidotomy and thalamotomy.
Research efforts include basic research in the laboratory and clinical studies, including trials of experimental medications. Clinical studies are supervised by the various members of the Movement Disorder faculty with the help of movement disorder nurse specialists of the staff of the Clinical Research Organization (CRO) of the UK College of Medicine. Below is a list of current clinical research studies. Individuals who may be interested in participating should call 859-323-0028.
Active Clinical Studies
A multi-center, observational safety registry of subjects with idiopathic Parkinson's disease previously 10/03/07 treated with intraputaminal infusion of Liatermin [closed to recruitment]
Study antidepressants in Parkinson's disease (SAD-PD) is a multi-centered NIH/NINDS-sponsored study directed by the national Parkinson's Disease Study Group that is studying the benefit of certain antidepressants in the treatment of coexistent Parkinson's disease and depression [actively recruiting]
Genetic linkage study in Parkinson's disease is a multi-centered NIH-sponsored study to evaluate families with more than one person afflicted with Parkinson's disease [actively recruiting]
Neuroprotection exploratory trials in PD (NET-PD) is a multi-centered NIH sponsored study that evaluates the effect of potential drug candidates to slow the natural progression of Parkinson's disease [actively recruiting beginning summer 2006] |
Faculty Physicians
John Slevin, MD
Franca Cambi, MD, PhD
William Maragos, MD, PhD
Anjana Pettigrew, MD
Charles Smith, MD
Research Nurses
Kathryn Holbrook, RN
Renee Wagner, RN
Physician Assistant
Julie Gurwell, PA, PhD
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