USC Movement Disorder Fellowship Program

USC Movement Disorder Fellowship Program

The USC Movement Disorders Fellowship was initiated in 1991 under Dr. Cheryl Waters, MD who started the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Clinic at USC. The initial emphasis and core values of this Movement Disorders Clinic focused on the importance of excellence in patient care. An active and continued participation in the clinical trials process has maintained access to state of the art research and therapeutics in the treatment of Movement Disorders.

Dr. Mark Lew, MD, the first Fellow trained under Dr. Waters, is now the Fellowship director and division chief. In addition to the already established Parkinson’s disease clinical expertise at USC, Dr. Lew helped pioneer the use of botulinum toxin therapy as a gold standard treatment for dystonia.

Under Dr. Lew’s management, the Division quickly expanded to become the largest neurologic subspecialty clinical service at USC. Dr. Lew is joined by Dr. Giselle Petzinger, MD and Dr. Michael Jakowec, PhD, who established and directed the basic science components of the Program. Dr. Jennifer Hui, MD joined the faculty in 2004 after a Movement disorders fellowship at USC to add a behavioral aspect to the scope of the Division’s research. Dr. Danielle Feigenbaum joined our faculty in 2017 after her fellowship at USC and Dr Xenos Mason recently joined our faculty after completing a Movement Disorders fellowship at UCLA. Dr. Mason’s practice is focused on deep brain stimulation (DBS) and neuro-imaging in movement disorders. Dr Katherine Wong joined the Movement Disorders Faculty in August 2022. She completed a 2-year Fellowship at UCSF working with Dr Carlie Tanner. She is focusing her work on cognitive dysfunction in Movement Disorders. Dr. Emily Taraneh Tamadonfar finished her 2-year fellowship in Movement Disorders at USC and joined the faculty in July 2023. She is certified in clinician neuro-education and her interest is in ataxia and clinical trials.

The DBS program at USC features 3 stereotactic neurosurgeons, each with individual research interests. Dr. Brian Lee heads the division, and specializes in the Clearpoint technique and exploring of closed loop circuits in DBS. Dr. Darrin Lee is conducting research in cognitive and behavioral applications of DBS. Dr. Mark Liker is the most senior neurosurgical specialist and has extensive experience in DBS for the treatment for secondary dystonia. Nasrin Esnaashari, DNP, serves as the program’s DBS coordinator and chief programmer.

Throughout this expansion, the Movement Disorders Fellowship at USC has been a core component of the Division’s activities. Now, more than ever, as knowledge about Movement Disorders expands, USC continues to uphold its role in training the next generation of Movement Disorders specialists.

Fellowship Goal

To train neurologists to become experts in the diagnosis and management of patients with movement disorders by providing a comprehensive, clinically relevant background of practical experience, clinical research, and basic science.

Objectives

• Acquire expertise in the description, evaluation, diagnosis, and management of patients with movement disorders.
• To become competent, available for patients with movement disorders including (1) botulinum toxin injections, (2) evaluation for surgical options in movement disorders and (3) post-operative deep brain stimulator management.
• To become expert in movement disorders literature including (1) relevant basic and clinical research, (2) clinical strategies and controversies in management.
• To become familiar with the process of clinical research from conception, design, safety, role of regulation, conduct, analysis and results reporting.
• To develop independence by organizing a weekly didactic conference, teaching materials, and developing a project.

Program duration

The Fellowship has traditionally been a one year program. Given the expanded nature of contemporary movement disorders practice and abundance of research opportunities, the current structure is based on a clinically oriented one-year fellowship with an option to extend to two years dependent on (1) performance of the fellowship candidate in the first year and (2) a pre-specified goals and objectives for a project that the fellow is responsible for during the second year.

Fellowship activities

The USC Movement Disorders Fellowship will achieve the 5 stated objectives by providing four fellowship activities.

• Didactic teaching
• Clinical experience
• Clinical research experience
• Tools for independent professional growth

Location of fellowship activities

• Healthcare Consultation Center II (HCC II): Didactic teaching, outpatient clinical experience, and clinical research experience are centered here. Academic offices are located in HCC II and in the Center for Health Professionals (CHP).
• Keck Hospital of USC: Inpatient movement disorders consultations are done in this tertiary, referral hospital. Stereotactic movement disorders surgeries are performed at Keck Hospital.
• Los Angeles General Medical Center: Inpatient movement disorders consultations may be requested here. A mandatory monthly botulinum toxin clinic is conducted here.
• Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA): Outpatient movement disorders clinic takes place here as well as stereotactic movement disorders surgeries.
• Resources at large at USC are used as needed. These include the Norris Medical Library, Los Angeles General Medical Center outpatient clinics, the basic science labs of Drs. Petzinger and Jakowec. Experiences may also be arranged for training time at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), and Rancho Los Amigos with department chair, Dr. Helena Chui, MD for those with a special interest in studying dementia.

How to Apply

Interested Applicants can apply for the Movement Disorder Fellowship through the San Francisco Match Program. SF Match website.

Download Fellowship Application