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Meet the PARS Team




  • Kenneth Marek, MD
  • Danna Jennings, MD
  • Matthew B. Stern, MD
  • Andrew Siderowf, MD MSCE

    This is a collaborative study coordinated by investigators and research coordinators at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders and the Movement Disorders Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

    The Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders (IND) was formed in March 2001 as a registered non-profit research institute that aims to advance research in Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease and Huntington disease through clinical trials and brain imaging. Operating in New Haven, CT, the Institute stands as a premier research facility for clinical trials and brain imaging research to better understand neurologic disorders.

    The Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the Unviversity of Pennsylvania provides comprehensive care to patients with Parkinson's disease, dystonia, Tourette's syndrome, Huntington's disease and other movement disorders. The center is part of the PENN neurological Institute of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which is ranked by U.S. New and World Report as highest in the region and in the ten nationally for medical and surgical treatments of neurological disorders. The Center staff is committed to exceptional patient care, professional and community education, social support services and research into the causes of Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. A staff of five internationally recognized neurologists treat more than 2,000 patients annually.

    Kenneth Marek, MD is the President and Senior Scientist at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders. He graduated from Princeton University (AB, biochemistry) and received his medical degree from Yale University. Dr. Marek was trained in internal medicine and neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and is board certified in both of these specialties. He received further training as a post-doctoral fellow in neurochemistry at the Institute of Neurology, Queens Square, London. He has been a faculty member in the departments of neurology at Johns Hopkins University and Yale University.

    Dr. Marek has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards including those from the National Institute of Health, Department of Defense, American Heart Association, Parkinson's Disease Foundation, and National Parkinson's Foundation and has been a recipient of the National Parkinson's Foundation Richard E. Heikkala Research Scholar Award. He has served on the executive committee of the Parkinson Study Group and in leadership roles in the Huntington Study Group. He serves on the research advisory committee of the Huntington Disease Society of America and the scientific advisory board of the Michael J Fox Foundation. He also was a co-founder of Molecular NeuroImaging, LLC, (MNI) a company providing clinical neuroimaging research services.

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    Danna Jennings, MD is Clinical Research Director at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders. She received her medical degree from Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Jennings received her training in Neurology from Boston University and completed a movement disorders fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. She was a teaching faculty member in the department of neurology at Yale University prior to her position at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders. Dr. Jennings has been an active member of the Parkinson's Study Group and the Huntington Study Group. She has served as investigator on over 30 clinical trials aimed at the development of improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative conditions. Dr. Jennings' specific research interests include the development of accurate diagnostic tests to detect changes in the brain that may occur even prior to symptoms in neurodegenerative conditions. She is currently involved in several studies aimed at the development of medications that may modify the rate of progression of Parkinson's disease. In addition, she has designed studies that focus on developing a better understanding of risk factors that may play a role in the rate of progression of Parkinson disease.

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    Matthew B. Stern, M.D is the Parker Family Professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and director of the Parkinson's disease and Movement Disorders Center. The Pennsylvania Hospital Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center is one of the National Parkinson Foundation's worldwide Centers of Excellence. He is also the director of the PADRECC (Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center) at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Hospital, one of only six such Centers in the United States. Dr. Stern is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and has served on the Executive Board of the Movement Disorders Section. He is a member of the American Neurologic Association, Parkinson Study Group and International Movement Disorders Society, for which he has served several leadership positions and currently chairs its industrial relations committee. Dr. Stern has authored or co-authored numerous papers on Parkinson's disease and related topics. He is the editor or co-editor of seven books and has lectured throughout the world on Parkinson's disease and related disorders. Dr. Stern received his BA from Harvard University and his MD from Duke University. He completed his residency training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

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    Andrew Siderowf, MD, MSCE received his MD from the Duke University School of Medicine. Following residency training in Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Siderowf completed a fellowship at the University of Rochester in Movement Disorders and Experimental Therapeutics under the direction of Ira Shoulson, MD. Dr. Siderowf is a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics and a fellow of the University of Pennsylvania Institute on Aging. Dr. Siderowf's clinical interests are in Parkinson's disease and related disorders. His research interests are in improving clinical trials methods in neurodegenerative disorders, assessment of quality-of-life in patients with Parkinson's disease and in economic analysis.

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