Department Overview

Section of Movement Disorders

Faculty:

Christopher G. Goetz, MD: Section Head	Cynthia L. Comella, MD, FAAN	Jennifer G. Goldman, MD
Aikaterini Kompoliti, MD	Bryan Bernard, Ph.D	Leo Verhagen Metman, MD, PhD
Kathleen M. Shannon, MD	Brandon Barton, MD	Deborah Hall, MD

With a staff of seven full-time and one part-time attending physicians, one fellow, two full-time nurse clinicians and a team of neuropsychologists, neurophysiologists and neuroimaging researchers, the Section of Movement Disorders provides clinical care, education and research for more than 2,000 patients. Its clinical program parallels research efforts in the basic science laboratory directed by Jeffrey Kordower, PhD. The section offers care for patients with a wide range of disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and other parkinsonisms; Huntington’s disease and other choreas, tremor; dystonia, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders, myoclonus, ataxia and other movement disorders. Each attending physician has a special area of expertise and also sees patients with general movement disorders.

Current research programs include clinical trials of new treatments for movement disorders, including gene therapy in Parkinson’s disease, new deep brain stimulation techniques, and new medications. Other areas of research include studies on the development of relevant measures of disease disability, clinico-pathologic correlations and experimental therapeutics. Studies of cognitive function, dementia, sleep abnormalities and hallucinations are additional research foci among the research team.

Residents participate in clinical activities by rotating through the outpatient clinics and observing procedures such as botulinum toxin injections and functional neurosurgical procedures. Educational activities include weekly video rounds where all new patients are evaluated and discussed, courses and lectures, and mentoring in the outpatient and inpatient services. Candidates desiring additional training may apply for a 2 year fellowship in Movement Disorders.

A number of residents have published research projects in collaboration with clinicians and basic scientists in the section. Recent resident research projects have included an analysis of the risk of hallucinations during antidepressant therapy with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in Parkinson’s disease patients, an analysis of seasonal variations in hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease, a report on patterns of falls in Huntington’s disease, a review of psychogenic movement disorders and a study of sleep and quality of life in Huntington’s disease.

Christopher G. Goetz, MD, is professor of neurological sciences and professor of pharmacology, and directs the Rush Parkinson's disease and movement disorders program. He is actively involved with the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association and the Movement Disorder Society. He is the co-editor in chief of the journal, Movement Disorders and the editor of Textbook of Clinical Neurology. Residents interact with him when they rotate on movement disorders and have the option of working with him on their Resident Research project. Dr. Goetz's primary research interests are behavioral disorders related to Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, scale development and testing, and neurological history of the nineteenth century.

Brandon Barton, MD, is assistant professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center. He was awarded his MD degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee WI and his internship and neurology residency, followed by a 2-year fellowship in movement disorders at Rush University Medical Center. He splits his time between the Movement Disorders section at Rush University Medical Center and the Veterans Administration. Dr. Barton’s research interests are in clinical trials in movement disorders, and in behavioral changes in Parkinson’s disease, particularly impulse control disorders.

Cynthia L. Comella, MD, FAAN, is a professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Smith College, and her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati Medical College. She completed residency in neurology and fellowships in movement and sleep disorders at Rush University. She is board certified in Neurology and Psychiatry and is a Diplomat of the American Board of Sleep Medicine. Her clinical research focuses on dystonia, Parkinson's disease, and sleep-related movement disorders. She is the chairman of the Dystonia Study Group. She serves on leadership committees in the Movement Disorders Society, American Academy of Neurology and Parkinson Study Group and is on the editorial board of Sleep Medicine, Continuum, and Clinical Neuropharmacology.

Jennifer G. Goldman, MD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurological Sciences, Section of Movement Disorders at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Goldman graduated from Princeton University, magna cum laude, with degrees in psychology and music performance. Dr. Goldman obtained her MD from Northwestern University Medical School and completed her neurology residency training at Washington University in St. Louis. She came to Rush in 2002 for her Movement Disorders fellowship and subsequently joined the faculty in 2004. Dr. Goldman obtained her Master of Science degree in clinical research from Rush in 2009. As a movement disorder specialist, Dr. Goldman treats patients with Parkinson's disease, other parkinsonian syndromes, dementia with Lewy bodies, tremor, dystonia, and ataxia. Her research focuses on cognitive and neuropsychiatric features of Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. She has received a NIH K23 career development award to investigate cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease using neuroimaging techniques and clinical measures.

Deborah A. Hall, MD, is an assistant professor in Department of Neurological Sciences, Section of Movement Disorders at Rush University Medical Center. She was awarded her MD at Indiana University and completed her internship, neurology residency and movement disorders fellowship at University of Colorado. She is the recipient of an NIH K23 career development award to investigate the prevalence of FMR1 repeat expansions in various movement disorders. Her research interests are in Fragile X tremor ataxia syndrome and in clinical aspects of movement disorders.

Aikaterini Kompoliti, MD, is associate professor, Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Kompoliti earned her medical degree from the University of Patras, School of Health Sciences, Greece, and completed a residency in neurology at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. She held a fellowship in movement disorders at Rush University Medical Center.

The author and coauthor of numerous publications, her clinical interests as a principal investigator have focused on several therapeutic areas of on-going research including studies to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new compounds to treat Parkinson's disease (PD) and Tourette syndrome. Her special interests include the gender differences in Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. Dr. Kompoliti is a member of the National Medical Advisory Board of the Tourette Syndrome Association and has given numerous lectures and Grand rounds around the country to increase public awareness in Tourette Syndrome. She has a special interest in studies to define the effect of neuroleptics on weight, risk for diabetes and dyslipidemia in patients with Tourette, investigate new treatments for Tourette syndrome and define the current status of use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in patients with Tourette. Finally, Dr. Kompoliti has been conducting studies to assess therapeutic interventions for patients with functional movement disorders.

Kathleen M. Shannon, MD, is an associate professor of neurology at Rush University Medical Center. She received her MD from Rush Medical College and completed her medicine internship, neurology residency and movement disorders fellowship at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center (Rush University Medical Center). Dr. Shannon's clinical practice focuses on Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, dystonia and other movement disorders. Her research interest is experimental therapeutics in movement disorders. She is the director of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence at Rush University Medical Center.

Leo Verhagen Metman, MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurologist, an associate professor at Rush Medical College, a member of the Movement Disorders Section in the Department of Neurological Sciences at Rush University Medical Center and Medical Director of the Rush Movement Disorder Surgery Program in Chicago, Illinois. He specializes in the medical and surgical management of patients with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders such as essential tremor and dystonia.

Dr. Verhagen earned his medical degrees from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in 1983. After coming to the United States in 1985 to work in the Division of Artificial Organs at the University of Utah, he decided to pursue his interest in the neurosciences and accepted a fellowship in the Division of Restorative Neurology and Human Neurobiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. Subsequently, he did a Neurology residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Upon completion in 1992, he accepted a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, in the Experimental Therapeutics Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. After completion of this fellowship in 1994, he stayed at the NIH for another 5 years, first as visiting associate, later as visiting scientist. The Branch's main focus was on pharmacological studies of motor response complications in Parkinson's disease. In 1999, he joined the Movement Disorder Section of the Department of Neurological Sciences at Rush University Medical center, one of the largest movements disorders centers in the USA, to work with his colleagues on better treatment for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders through clinical research. In 2002 Dr. Verhagen earned his doctorate degree for the University of Leiden based on his studies of motor response complications in Parkinson's disease.