Movement Disorders in Childhood

Harvey S. Singer MD is currently Professor Emeritus at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and active faculty member at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. He grew up in the Bronx and Long Island, went to college and medical school in Ohio (Oberlin College and Western Reserve Univ.), did his pediatric training in Chicago and Cleveland, and his pediatric neurology residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. After completing his training, Dr Singer remained on the active faculty at Hopkins for 45 years. He was Director of Pediatric Neurology from 1991 – 2011. He was the first recipient (2013) of the Child Neurology Society’s Blue Bird Circle Training Program Director Award and a Hower Award lecturer (2016). His clinical research interests include movement disorders, especially Tourette syndrome, stereotypic movements, and proposed autoimmune disorders. His translational research-oriented laboratory focuses on the neurobiology of stereotypic movements and tics. He has been the recipient of federal and private grants, authored numerous original articles, chapters, and three books. He enjoys biking, travel, visiting his five grandchildren, and work.

Jonathan W. Mink, MD PhD is the Frederick A. Horner, MD Distinguished Professor in Pediatric Neurology at the University of Rochester, where is also Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics. He is currently Chief of the Child Neurology Division and Vice Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Rochester. He graduated from the Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University and then completed residency training in Child Neurology at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. He completed a fellowship in Movement Disorders at Washington University and remained on the faculty there until moving to his current position at the University of Rochester in 2001. His research interests include basal ganglia mechanisms in movement disorders, experimental therapeutics in pediatric movement disorders, and multiple avenues of investigation in the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (Batten diseases). He is a former member of the NINDS Advisory Council and the FDA Pediatric Advisory Committee. He has served as President of the Child Neurology Society. He has received numerous award in recognition of his contributions including the Derek Denny-Brown Award from the American Neurological Association, the Oliver Sacks Award from the Tourette Association of America, and the Hower Award from the Child Neurology Society.

Donald L. Gilbert, MD, earned his Bachelor of Arts at Princeton University, where he majored in philosophy. He subsequently earned his MD at the University of Michigan and spent a year at the National Institutes of Health as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar. Dr. Gilbert trained in pediatrics and pediatric neurology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and is board certified in neurology with special competence in child neurology. Dr. Gilbert has an MS in clinical research design and statistical analysis from the University of Michigan.

At Cincinnati Children's, Dr. Gilbert directs the Movement Disorders and Tourette Syndrome Clinics, which specializes in evaluation and pharmacologic treatment of tics, tremor, chorea, ataxia, dystonia, stereotypies, drug-induced movement disorders, paroxysmal movement disorders, and functional movement disorders https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/service/m/movement. Dr. Gilbert directs or participates in a number of single and multi-center studies into causes and treatments of Tourette syndrome and pediatric movement disorders. Dr. Gilbert also studies physiological mechanisms of motor control in Tourette Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in childhood at the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Laboratory https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/research/divisions/n/neurology/labs/gilbert-wu at Cincinnati Children's.

Joseph Jankovic, M.D. is Professor of Neurology, Distinguished Chair in Movement Disorders, and Founder and Director of the Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic (PDCMDC), Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. After completing his Neurology training at Columbia University, New York City, he joined the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine in 1977. Since that time he has led clinical team that focuses on the most compassionate and expert care and research on etiology, pathophysiology, and experimental therapeutics of Parkinson’s disease and related neurodegenerative and movement disorders such as tremors, dystonia, Tourette syndrome, Huntington disease, restless legs syndrome, tardive dyskinesia, and paroxysmal dyskinesias. Under the direction of Dr. Jankovic the PDCMDC has been recognized as "Center of Excellence" by the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Huntington Disease Society of America, the Tourette Association of America, and the Wilson Disease Association.
Past president of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society and of the International Neurotoxin Association, Dr. Jankovic is the recipient of many awards including the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Movement Disorders Research Award, First National Parkinson Foundation Distinguished Service Award, Huntington’s Disease Society of America Guthrie Family Humanitarian Award, Tourette Syndrome Association Lifetime Achievement Award, Dystonia Medical Research Foundation Distinguished Service Award, Benign Essential Blepharospasm Research Foundation Award, and Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Neurotoxin Association, Dr. Jankovic has been recognized as an Honorary Member of the American Neurological Association, Australian Association of Neurologists, French Neurological Society, and the International Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Society. Dr. Jankovic has published over 1,200 original articles and over 55 books, is included among “Highly Cited Researchers”, and has been ranked #1 expert in the world in movement disorders and in botulinum toxins (http://expertscape.com/). He has served as the principal investigator in hundreds of clinical trials and his pioneering research on drugs for parkinsonian disorders and hyperkinetic movement disorders has led to their approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Dr. Jankovic is a fellow of the AAN and current or past member of many scientific and medical advisory boards and has served on the executive scientific advisory boards of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and the National Parkinson Foundation. Dr. Jankovic has mentored numerous fellows and other trainees many of whom have become leaders in the field of neurology and movement disorders. For further information visit www.jankovic.org.