Research

In the Movement Disorders Fellowship, there are multiple opportunities to participate and learn clinical, translational and basic research, including:

• Clinical trials participation, industry-driven, investigator-initiated, as well as through the Parkinson's study group (PSG). Recent studies have looked at treatment and symptoms in PD treatment of progressive supranuclear palsy, devices for measurement of PD symptoms, and role of exercise in PD.
• Collaboration with the Case Neuromodulation Center, with internationally renowned translational research activity focusing on translation of neural engineering techniques into clinical practice. Our movement disorder group works closely with the investigators of the Case Neuromodulation Center. This work uses functional MRI, DTI (diffusion tension imaging) and other advanced imaging techniques to find imaging biomarkers of the pathophysiology underlying different movement disorders including Parkinson's disease and dystonia with translation to understanding the disease state, and/or application to translation to improving patient selection, or targets and mechanisms of deep brain stimulation for treating these disorders.
• Ocular motor and balance disorders laboratory (Daroff-DelOsso Ocular Motility Laboratory): This endowed laboratory of CASE School of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University is located in the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The laboratory has unique setup for precise eye and head movement measurements and motion delivery platform with six degrees of freedom.
• Functional Electrical Stimulation Center: A transdisciplinary alliance of active, passionate and committed professionals, in science and medicine, specializing in the fields of biomedical and neural research, engineering, medicine, rehabilitation, and motion analysis research.
• Advance Platform Technology Center: This center focuses on the practical medical needs of individuals disabled by sensorimotor dysfunction, cognitive deficits, or limb loss. The goal of the center is to create novel restorative technologies within a structured framework that facilitates regulatory compliance, dissemination within the rehabilitation community and commercialization by outside manufacturers.