The Edmond J. Safra Fellowship in Movement Disorders

University of Alabama at Birmingham – Birmingham, Alabama

Aditya completed medical school at Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad, India and neurology residency at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. As a resident, his interactions with Parkinson’s patients offered profound insights into the human condition and showed him the impact that a well-trained and compassionate physician can have on the lives of patients and their families. As a fellow, he intends to build his clinical acumen as a neurologist and engage in research to further understanding of complex movement disorders.

Toronto Western Hospital – Toronto, Canada

Conor completed medical school at University College Dublin and neurology residency at Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. His PhD focused on understanding the mechanisms involved in freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease. He enjoys the diagnostic challenge of movement disorders, as well as the close relationship one develops with patients. Coming from a technical background, Conor is particularly interested in how technology can be used to better understand Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. He looks forward to becoming part of the growing global network of movement disorder specialists and advance critical research in this area. 

UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology - London, England

Eoin completed medical school at University College Dublin and neurology residency at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. Since 2018, he has worked as a movement disorder clinical and research fellow at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, England. He is passionate about movement disorder neurology and actively involved in clinical research and has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Baylor College of Medicine - Houston, Texas

Chintan completed medical school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Texas and neurology residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Chintan hopes to continue his growth as a neurologist and focus on building lasting relationships with patients living with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. The fellowship will facilitate his commitment to bridging the gap between basic and clinical research and its clinical application to patients.

The Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at University of Florida Health - Gainesville, Florida

Juan completed medical school at University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain and neurology residency at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. During fellowship, Juan hopes to achieve clinical expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of movement disorders and to start building his career as a movement disorder physician-scientist. He hopes to characterize pre-symptomatic diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases and design strategies for the characterization of disease subtypes that could lead to personalized treatments and prognosis.

University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pavan completed medical school at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland and neurology residency through the Harvard Neurology Residency Program at Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts. He plans to advance the treatment of patients with Parkinson disease and other movement disorders by gaining expertise during his fellowship and conducting clinical research to improve early diagnosis and expand available treatment options.

Fleni Hospital - Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sergio Castillo-Torres is a clinical neurologist, currently working as an assistant professor of neurology at the Hospital Universitario (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), a teaching hospital in Monterrey, Mexico. He decided to become a neurologist because of the intellectual challenges of the neurological examination and lesion localization. Early in his training, he became thrilled by the protean clinical manifestations of movement disorders and decided to pursue specialization in this field to provide the best care for patients given the scarcity of specialists.

The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre – Montreal, Canada

Steve Joza completed a doctorate in pathobiology at the University of Toronto, medical degree at Queen’s University at Kingston, and neurology residency at the University of Alberta. He is excited to start his fellowship training in movement disorders with a focus on researching the early prodromal stages of Parkinson’s disease.

Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital - Paris, France

Poornima Jayadev Menon is currently completing her third year of neurology training in Ireland and undertaking a Masters in Genomic Medicine at Cambridge University. Through the Edmond J. Safra Fellowship, she hopes to gain a deeper understanding into the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease, the genetic variants responsible for this condition and the evolution of this disease. She aspires to contribute to the cumulative effort of developing a therapy that can prevent progression for patients with Parkinson’s disease. She is excited to spend the next two years learning clinical skills from the phenomenal physicians at the ICM as she pursues her ambition of becoming a movement disorders physician.

Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center - New York, New York

Andrea Yoo was born in South Korea; raised in Queens, New York; and completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University.  At NYU Grossman School of Medicine, she fostered her interest in movement disorders studying art therapy intervention and visual spatial processing in Parkinson’s disease. She is Chief Resident in Neurology at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell and is researching chemodenervation for cervical dystonia and migraines. As an Edmond J. Safra Fellow at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, she hopes to expand her clinical knowledge to multiple areas in movement disorders and pursue clinical research in Parkinson’s disease, including disease-modifying agents and novel targets for non-motor symptoms.

The Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at University of Florida Health - Gainesville, Florida

Jun “John” Yu is currently a neurology resident and aspiring movement disorders fellow at the University of Florida Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases. His clinical and research interest in neuromodulation therapies for Parkinson’s disease stemmed from his longstanding fascination with brain networks and advanced technologies. As a determined clinician-scientist, Dr. Yu aims to hone his skills for a successful academic career providing comprehensive, interdisciplinary, patient-centered care for individuals with PD and advancing understanding of basal ganglia circuits and physiology through the continued innovation and optimization of neuromodulation therapies.

Toronto Western Hospital – Ontario, Canada

Laura is a Spanish physician, currently in the fourth year of neurology residency training at the Clinica Universidad de Navarra in Spain. During her two-year fellowship at Toronto Western Hospital, she intends to further her knowledge on the pathogenesis of all neurological diseases with movement disorders, especially Parkinson's disease. Her goal as a physician is to provide the best possible care to patients with these disorders. To achieve this, she says she must expand her clinical and research expertise and develop first rate teamwork skills.

Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre – Nijmegen, the Netherlands

After obtaining his medical degree from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and completing a master's thesis on deep brain stimulation for tremor, Milan completed his neurology residency at Zuyderland Medical Centre. He then completed a six-month elective at the Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. During his residency he engaged in various research projects and now prepares for a PhD project on Parkinson’s disease, which he will conduct during his fellowship. Through fellowship, he aspires to advance his competence in multidisciplinary care for patients with movement disorders, with special attention to improving access to care for underserved communities.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine – Baltimore, Maryland

Stephen's interest in neurodegeneration dates to a high school internship at NIH, where he worked primarily on the genetics of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. He is completing an MD-PhD program at NYU, where his research focuses on cellular neuroscience. During fellowship, he plans to focus on the cellular and genetic mechanisms of disease progression in Lewy body dementia and related forms of atypical parkinsonism. His long-term goal is to assist patients with these diseases, while gleaning broadly applicable insights into classical Parkinson's disease.

Emory University – Atlanta, Georgia

Ricardo López Castellanos was born and raised in El Salvador, where he obtained his MD degree and became interested in movement disorders. While participating in PD support groups, he developed a passion for patient empowerment through education. He then completed a movement disorder research fellowship at the University of Cincinnati, where he studied autonomic dysfunction in PD and the use of technology and objective measures to improve patients’ quality of life. Currently, he is completing neurology residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he serves as a chief resident.

University College London – London, England

Francesca completed medical school and neurology residency at the University of Verona in Italy. Her PhD focused on clinicogenetic correlations in dystonia. She is passionate about deep phenotyping and genotype-phenotype interactions in movement disorders. For several years, she worked as a movement disorder clinical and research fellow at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Neurogenetics laboratory at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology in London. She is involved in clinical transitional research and has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles. Through fellowship, she aims to master the diagnosis and treatment of movement disorders and strengthen bridging competencies in the neurogenetics of this field.

Cleveland Clinic – Cleveland, Ohio

Leila received her medical degree from the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran. She completed two years of research training at the University of Florida. She now is completing neurology residency at the University of Texas in San Antonio. During her two-year fellowship, she aims to continue training in micro-electrode recording (MER) and researching deep brain stimulation (DBS). She says The Edmond J. Safra Fellowship in Movement Disorders affords her the opportunity to achieve her goal of expanding clinical, procedural and research skills as a clinical-investigator in movement disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.

Rush University Medical Center – Chicago, Illinois

Christina is a neurology resident at the University of Pennsylvania with a particular interest in neural circuit dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease and neural stimulation technologies. She completed an MD-PhD program at Duke University with a research focus on beta frequency oscillations and bradykinesia. She aspires to pursue a clinically based career in movement disorders within an academic hospital system to combine her passion for clinical neurology with opportunities for clinical research and teaching. In fellowship, she hopes to gain expertise in both the clinical practice of movement disorders and surgical mapping for deep brain stimulation.

University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Rebecca has a longstanding interest in neurodegenerative conditions and combining scientific discovery with clinical practice. She completed a doctorate in neuroscience and medical degree at Columbia University. Rebecca currently serves as Chief Resident at the Harvard Neurology Residency Program at Brigham and Women’s, and Massachusetts General Hospitals. In her movement disorders fellowship, Rebecca looks forward to forging trusted, compassionate relationships with her patients and families as they navigate chronic disease. At the University of Pennsylvania, Rebecca looks forward to engaging in translational research in genetics underlying Parkinson’s and related disorders, with a goal of bringing personalized medicine into the movement disorders clinic.