The Clinical Center for Movement Disorders was established to provide state-of–the-art treatment for Parkinson’s disease and other involuntary movement disorders, to educate students, residents and community physicians in this field, and to develop an active clinical research program.  Dr. Dewey trained in neurology and movement disorders at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and established the clinical center upon joining the neurology faculty in 1994.  Dr. O’Suilleabhain joined the effort in 1998 upon completion of his residency and movement disorders fellowship which were also conducted at the Mayo Clinic.  Dr. Chitnis joined the movement disorders team in the Spring of 2007 coming from her previous faculty appointment at LSU in New Orleans.

An active clinical practice has been developed at the Clinical Center for Movement Disorders through seeing patients with Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, tic disorders, tremor disorders, dystonia and a host of other unusual movement disorders.  The clinical center’s physicians work closely with neurosurgeon Dr. Tony Whitworth treating patients with Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor who undergo deep brain stimulator implantation for medication-refractory symptoms.  Since the program’s inception, over 5,000 patients have been evaluated and treated at the clinical center.

A major advantage to treatment here is the availability of clinical research programs which allow the possibility of exposure to investigational drugs before they are commercially available. One important study currently underway at the clinical center is the NIH-funded NET-PD trial in which patients with Parkinson’s disease are followed for up to 7 years under treatment with either oral creatine or a matching placebo. This study should enable us to determine if this inexpensive food supplement may slow down the rate of progression of this neurologic disorder.