The Movement Disorders Center is committed to serving its community. Our faculty have many roles outside of their clinical care. They are also working on training the next generation of movement disorders specialists, conducting exciting research, and educating the community with the most up-to-date information.
Training New Movement Disorders Specialists
Whether in private practice or academic neurology, many of our former fellows are practicing in areas that are under-served in Movement Disorders. The map to the right highlights the states that are under-served in Movement disorders with the darker areas having far greater demand than supply. The pushpins represent areas where MDC’s former fellows are currently practicing.
During the 2019-2020 academic, the Movement Disorders Center is training 4 new movement disorders specialists – 2 second year fellow and 2 first year fellows. Including these 4 trainees, the Movement Disorders Center has trained 18 fellows. Of the 14 who have graduated, 6 have gone into academic careers, 3 have gone into private practice with active research programs, and five have gone into private practice serving underserved communities.
Philanthropic donations help our fellows a get the books, tools, and resources that will help ensure they receive the best training. These funds also allow are fellows to attend national and international educational conferences to learn and network with other neurologists and movement disorders specialists.
Conducting Exciting Research
Our faculty is heavily involved in research. Their projects include trying new therapies, finding better ways to diagnose diseases, and learning more about movement disorders.
Some projects are funded by grants from NIH, the Department of Defense, Parkinson’s Foundation, Colorado Department of Public Health and Education, Michael J. Fox Foundation, and many others. Others are industry-sponsored clinical trials of new medications.
The MDC Pilot Grant Program
The MDC encourages young researchers to pursue careers in movement disorders through our pilot grant funding. In 2015, the MDC established our Pilot Grant Program to help these young researchers begin their careers.
Pilot projects are typically smaller and are used to test a theory before undertaking a larger project. This small group of data can help prove an idea is worth exploring.
Our pilot grant program also lets young researchers gain experience of the grant process.
We have awarded nine grants in four years with funding totaling over $100,000. These grants have resulted in publications in NIH-funded clinical trials, publications in scholarly journals, and presentations at international conferences.
Active clinical trials for Parkinson disease
Participants in our active clinical trials
Number of pilot grant awarded since 2014
Peer-reviewed articles published by MDC faculty in 2018
Funding can help our researchers gather pilot data or help support our pilot grant program.
Community Outreach
Faculty from the MDC regularly give talks to patients, families, caregivers, students, and other providers throughout Colorado and in Wyoming. They write articles for our twice-yearly newsletter and put on several symposiums for various movement disorders.
Donations help to make sure we have the resources to continue to give these educational talks and publish our newsletter.