Dr. Eva Feldman is a clinician-scientist who has devoted her career towards understanding the neurological complications of obesity and diabetes, uncovering the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, improving treatment options for patients, and educating health care professionals. With over 30 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), her reputation is internationally recognized and she directs a research program of 22 scientists at the University of Michigan Medicine. In the laboratory, her pioneering studies on neurological disorders in metabolic diseases using cell-based models, novel mouse models, and human subjects has identified dyslipidemia during obesity and diabetes as a key driver of nervous system damage in children and adults, leading to new clinical guidelines on patient care by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Her comprehensive transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic phenotyping of obese and diabetic animal modelsand human samples is likewise furthering insight into the pathogenesis of neurological complications and driving the development of novel therapies. Dr. Feldman is also a pioneer in translating laboratory discoveries into clinical treatments, and served as the Principal Investigator of the first two FDA approved clinical trials evaluating a stem cell transplantation therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These advances are complemented by her research efforts focused on understanding the role environmental exposures and the immune system play in ALS. Dr. Feldman’s findings are published in 450 manuscripts, 70 book chapters, and 4 books, and she has trained over 100 basic science and clinical fellows. She directed the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan from 2007 to 2017, and received $100 million in 2011 to support translational research in the Institute by clinician-scientists. She served as President of the American Neurological Association from 2011-2013, the third woman to hold this position in 130 years. Dr. Feldman is a member of the Association of American Physicians and the National Academy of Medicine (formerly known as the Institute of Medicine). She has received numerous awards, including lifetime achievement awards from the ADA, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the Endocrine Society. In 2016, she received the National Physician of the Year for Clinical Excellence in New York City, and in 2019 received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Michigan Medicine Alumni Society. She has been elected by her peers as one of the Best Doctors in America for 18 consecutive years.
Dr. James Russell is Head of the Neuromuscular Division, Vice for Chair for Research, and Director of the Peripheral Neuropathy Center in the Department of Neurology. He completed his neurology residency at the University of Iowa and completed training in neuromuscular/peripheral nerve disease at the Mayo Clinic Rochester. After further research training at the Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Russell then joined the faculty at the University of Michigan where he was Associate Professor with tenure, and Director of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) Autonomic and Clinical Electrophysiology Laboratory. Dr. Russell joined the University of Maryland Medical Center in 2006, where he is Professor of Neurology, Anatomy and Neurobiology and Vice Chair for Research. He is board certified in Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology, and Autonomic Disorders. He holds a masters degree in Clinical Research and Trial Design from the University of Michigan. Dr. Russell is a Fellow of the American Neurological Association, the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine, the Royal College of Physicians, and the American College of Physicians. He has an active neuromuscular practice as well as research programin peripheral neuropathy. Dr. Russell's laboratory has as its research focus the understanding of the mechanism/s and treatment of diabetic neuropathy. His laboratory is interested in developing strategies to prevent of reverse neuropathy. In translational research, the laboratory is currently examining pathways of oxidative and mitochondrial injury in the peripheral nervous system, and mechanisms to prevent or reverse cellular injury. Understanding these basic mechanisms of glucose-induced injury in the peripheral nerve will allow a more a rational design of therapies aimed at ameliorating diabetic neuropathy. In clinical research, the research group is determining the effect of lifestyle interventions on autonomic and somatic neuropathy in subjects with neuropathy associated with pre-diabetes and diabetes. This research is aimed at developing improved diagnosis and new treatments for peripheral neuropathies. Dr. Russell has clinical research interests in neuromuscular diseases, specifically in the study of peripheral neuropathies. He has active clinical research interests in the pathogenesis and treatment of neuropathy in diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, and in inflammatory neuropathies. He also has clinical and research interests in autonomic neuropathies. He directs the Autonomic Nervous System Disorders Laboratory at the University of Maryland.
Wolfgang Löscher, MD PhD, graduated from the School of Medicine, Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria in 1988. He was a Research Assistant at the Department of Physiology in Graz from 1988 – 1993, a trainee in Neurology at the University Departments of Neurology Graz and Salzburg, and then a Research fellow at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden in 1994 and 1995. In December 1995, he received his PhD in Neuroscience from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Professor Löscher has been a board certified neurologist since 1998. Since 2001, he hasbeen an associate professor at the Department of Neurology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria, a certified EMG and EVP instructor, and Head of the Neuromuscular Unit, EMG, and EP-laboratory. He is also currently head of the Neuromuscular working group of the Austrian Association of Neurology (ÖGN). His clinical and research interests focus on the clinical aspects and genetics of neuromuscular disorders and clinical neurophysiology.
Univ. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Grisold, is a specialist for neurology and psychiatry. Special interests are general neurology, neurooncology, neuromuscular disease, education, and patient related issues such as pain, palliative care, and advocacy. He has experience in hospital practice, research, and private practice. He has participated in EU projects on paraneoplastic syndromes. His scientific focus is on the effect of cancer on the peripheral nervous system, in particular peripheral neurotoxicity and the direct effects of cancer. In regard to neuromuscular disease, he has experience with neuromuscular diseases, such as autoimmune diseases, in particular myasthenia gravis and inflammatory neuropathies. He has much experience in neuromuscular clinics, and practices electrophysiology. He is involved in several international neurological societies and is the secretary general of the World Federation of Neurology. He has organized several international neurological congresses, among them the EANO congress in 2006, and the ICNMD 2018. He currently has more than 600 publications, 250 pubmed quoted, and 7 books. (Neuromuskuläre Läsionen bei Malignomen (German); Praktische Neuroonkologie (German); Atlas of neuromuscular disease, 2 editions; Neuromuscular complications of cancer; and Neuro-Oncology, Part I and II, Volume 105, jointly with R. Soffietti, in 2012; Advocacy in Neurology, 2019.)
Dr. Stefan Meng is a radiologist in the Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, and in a private office. In his clinical workhe is specialized in ultrasound. Additionally, Dr. Meng heads an ex-vivo ultrasound lab at the Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Medical University of Vienna. His clinical and experimental research is focused on neuromuscular and head and neck imaging. He is member of the board of the Austrian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine and organizes pre- and postgraduate ultrasound courses.
