Parkinson's Disease And Movement Disorders News

The Duke Neurology Department continued to grow and advance its missions of patient care, research, and training the next generation of neurology providers in 2022. Highlights from the first half of our calendar year include national and Duke-wide awards recognizing our faculty’s contributions to the field of diversity, inclusion, and neurology as a whole. The same period also saw the growth of the new Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and three of our neurologists don helmets and get in their racing care.

Michelle Moshkowitz’s history with Duke Neurology stretches back to 2008, when she started working as a registered medical assistant at our Morreene Road Clinic. After a stint in one of Duke’s Integrative Medicine Clinics, she has returned to Morreene Road, where she’s helping to schedule, organize, and maintain our clinical research for Huntington’s disease.

For as long as she can remember, Skylar Groves has been interested in the brain and in the nature of consciousness. Groves is currently putting those interests to use in the lab of Noreen Bukhari-Parlakturk, MD, PhD, where she is helping to examine how deep brain stimulation can help people with focal hand dystonia. In our latest Spotlight interview, Groves talks about her hopes of becoming a future neuroscientist and how her backgrounds in both chemistry and dance influence her current work.

Members of the Duke Neurology Department advanced the fields of clinical and translational neuroscience this November, contributing to 16 new peer-reviewed studies.

This October, members of the Duke Neurology Department advanced the fields of clinical and translational neuroscience, contributing to 14 new peer-reviewed studies and one book chapter. Highlights from our recent research include validation of new automated measures that evaluate handwriting for dystonia symptoms, a discussion of the effects of blood pressure on head and facial pain, and a discussion of presentations of a neuroimmune disorder known as MOGAD.

Nicole Calakos, MD, PhD, a professor of neurology and Lincoln Financial Group Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM).  

Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. 

This September, the Tyler’s Hope for a Dystonia Cure Foundation will officially recognize Duke Health as the country’s second Center of Excellence for Dystonia. This distinction reflects Duke’s growth as a national leader in dystonia patient care, education, and research as well as a continuing partnership with Tyler’s Hope to help everyone affected by this disease.

U.S. News & World Report ranked Duke University Hospital as the top hospital in North Carolina and the 23rd best across the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in its 2022-2023 hospital rankings. The annual rankings, which assessed more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide, analyze and integrate dozens of medical and surgical services.

As a new physician assistant in 2007, Erika Jacumin, PA-C, saw firsthand the enormous impact deep brain stimulation (DBS) could have on the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease. Now, she’s helping to manage patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders in our Morreene Road Clinic. For this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Jacumin talks to us about her previous work helping patients with movement disorders.

May is Stroke Awareness Month, and members of the Duke Neurology Department were off to an early start. They contributed to six new peer-reviewed journals investigating stroke this April, bringing our total stroke-related articles published this year to more than 20. In addition to this research, our faculty, trainees, and advanced practice providers authored or co-authored 10 other studies and contributed to books advancing our understanding of Alzheimer’s and dementia, brain tumors, epilepsy, and other conditions.