Previous Awards Recipients

Awards Funded Under the Dystonia Coalition Career Development Program

2022

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
J. Hoffmeister, PhD	Regents of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN	Direct Quantification of Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia with High-Resolution Manometry

2021

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
L. Scorr, MD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Immune mechanisms in cervical dystonia

2020

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
N. Bukhari-Parlakturk, MD, PhD	Duke University, Durham, NC	Non-invasive neuromodulation to study long-term plasticity mechanisms in task-specific dystonia
L. Rocchi, MD	University of Rome, Italy	Repetitivesomatosensory stimulation in focal hand dystonia: a study on inhibitory circuitry plasticity of the somatosensory system and primary motor cortex

2017

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Mentor(s)
M. Hammer, MD	University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI	Laryngeal somatosensory evoked cortical potentials in spasmodic dysphonia-an initial study to elucidate abnormal sensory mechanisms in laryngeal dystonia	Charles “Chuck” Larson, PhD; Mary “Beth” Meyer, PhD

2016

Recipient	Institution	ProjectTitle	Mentor(s)
A. Shaikh, MD	Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH	Physiology of head tremor in cervical dystonia	H.A. Jinnah, MD, PhD; Mark Walker, MD
K. Udupa, MD	University of Toronto, Canada	Phase-amplitude coupling of local field potentials in internal globus pallidus in dystonia	Robert Chen, MA, MBBChir, MSc, FRCPC
M. Bologna, MD	Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy	Effects of cerebellar theta-burst stimulation on arm and neck movement kinematics in patients with primary dystonia	Alfredo Berardelli, MD

2014

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Mentor(s)
D. Arkadir, MD	Hadassah University, Israel	Reinforcement learning in DYT1	Stan Fahn, MD; Yael Niv, PhD

2013

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Mentors(s)
S. PirioRichardson, MD	University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM	Identification of optimal stimulation site for cervical dystonia symptoms: an exploratory study	Robert Chen, MA, BChir, MB, MSc
D. Peterson, PhD	University of California, San Diego, CA	The contribution of blinks and spasms to blepharospasm severity	Mark Hallett, MD
T. Pearson, MD	Columbia University, New York, NY	Assessment of clinical rating scales in childhood primary dystonia: a pilot study

2012

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Mentor(s)
B. Berman, MD	University of Colorado, Denver, CO	Functional connectivity of the basal ganglia in primary focal dystonia: a pilot study	Mark Hallett, MD; Tor Wager, PhD
A. Wagle-Schukla, MD	University of Florida, Gainesville, FL	STN DBS in primary cervical dystonia: a pathophysiological insight	Michael S. Okun, MD

2011

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Mentor(s)
M. Karimi, MD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	GPi induced plasticity in primary cervical dystonia	Joel S. Perlmutter, MD; Michael Okun, MD (consultant)
T. Kimberley, PT, PhD	University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN	Determining the efficacy of synergistic intervention in focal hand dystonia with rTMS and sensory motor retraining	Cathrin Buetefisch, MD, PhD; James R. Carey, PT, PhD (consultant)

2010

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Mentor(s)
M. Zurowski, MD	University of Toronto, Canada	Development of a psychiatric screening tool for CD; psychiatric aims of project 2	Susan Fox, MD; Other Key Personnel: CynthiaComella, MD
A. Espay, MD	University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH	Sensory and emotional processing in psychogenic dystonia: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study	Jerzy Szaflarski, MD (Primary); Robert Chen, MA, BChir, MB, MSc (Secondary)

2009

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Mentor(s)
M. Carbon-Corell, PhD	Feinstein Institute, Manhasset, NY	Sensorimotor network activity as a functionalimaging marker for dystonia	David Eidelberg, MD

Pilot Projects Supported with Funding from the Dystonia Coalition

2022

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
D. Martino, MD, PhD	University of Calgary, Canada	Moodscreen for cervical dystonia: a diagnostic accuracy study of depression and anxiety
D. Corp, PhD	Deakin University, Australia	The effect of multi-day continuous theta-burst stimulation on symptoms of cervical dystonia

2021

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
C. Cruchaga, PhD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	Proteomic characterization of Dystonia

2020

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
M. Hammer, MA, PhD	University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, WI	Non-invasive mechanosensory perturbation technique to test voice-related motor and somatosensory cortical responses in spasmodic dystonia

2015

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Co-Investigators
J. Mink, MD	University of Rochester, Rochester, NY	Pilot study of dystonia rating scales in children with primary (isolated) dystonia	Erika Augustine, MD, MS

2013

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Co-Investigators
S. Frucht, MD	Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY	A New Rating Scale for Focal Task-Specific Dystonia of the Musician’s Hand	Eckart Altenmueller, MD, Hans-Christian Jabusch, MD, Glenn Stebbins, PhD, & many others
S. Eichenseer, MD	Rush University, Chicago, IL	Item Response Theory: An Individualized Approach to Evaluating a Comprehensive Cervical Dystonia Rating Scale	Christopher Goetz, MD, Glenn Stebbins, PhD, CynthiaComella, MD
M. LeDoux, MD, PhD	University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN	Targeted sequencing in primary dystonias	Utilization of Dystonia Coalition Biorepository collection
H. Jinnah, MD, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Dystonia coalition iPS resource	Various sites contributing samples
S. Norris, MD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	Functional connectivity in spasmodic dysphonia and muscle tension dysphonia	Joel Perlmutter, MD; Randal Paniello, MD, PhD; Abraham Snyder, MD, PhD
K. Lohmann, PhD	University of Lübeck, Germany	Unraveling novel genetic causes in alcohol-responsive dystonia by exome sequencing	Christine Klein, MD

2011

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Co-Investigators
C. Klein, MD	University of Lübeck, Germany	Characterization of Endophenotypes in Focal Task-Specific Dystonia	Alexander Schmidt, MD; Alexander Münchau, MD
H. Houlden, MRCP, PhD	University College London, United Kingdom	An Investigation of the Neuropathology, Clinical Phenotype and Expression Characteristics of Brain Tissue with THAP1 and TOR1A Mutations	Lucia Schottlaender, MD, Janice Holton, PhD

2010

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Co-Investigators
G. DeFazio, MD, PhD	University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy	Development and Validation of Clinical Diagnostic Guidelines and a Novel Severity Rating Scale for Primary Blepharospasm	Alfredo Berardelli, MD, Davide Martino, MD, H. A. Jinnah, MD, PhD, Mark Hallett, MD
E. Roze, MD	University Hospitals Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France	Cerebellum and Cortical Plasticity: The Case of Focal Dystonia	Sabine Meunier, MD, PhD, Marie Vidailhet, MD, Margherita Russo, MD, Angelo Quartarone, MD, PhD, Asha Kishore, MD, DM, Syam Krishnan, MD, DM
K. Bhatia, MD, FRCP	University College London, United Kingdom	DYT6: a window to mechanisms in primary dystonia?	John Rothwell, PhD
M. Bartlett, PhD D. Peterson, PhD	University of California, San Diego, CA	Increasing CERTainty in blepharospasm	Gwen Littlewort, PhD

2009

Recipient	Institution	Project Title	Co-Investigators
M. LeDoux, MD, PhD	University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN	THAP1 sequence variants in dystonia	Washington University, New York Center for Voice & Swallowing Disorder, Bastian Voice Institute, Mayo Clinic-Jacksonville, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Parkinson’s & Movement Disorder Institute-California

Pilot Projects Supported with Alternative Funding

2022

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
N. Grant, MD	MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington D.C.	Use of Artificial Intelligence to Screen for Laryngeal Dystonia
S. Norris, MD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	Body Region Frequency and Co-Occurrence in Non-Focal Dystonia: A Cross-Sectional Review
S. Factor, DO	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Comparison of Clinical Aspects of Cervical Dystonia Between Parkinson's Disease and Idiopathic Cervical Dystonia

2021

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
J. Vizcarra, MD HA. Jinnah, MD, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Longitudinal followup of idiopathic hemidystonia: a descriptive study of 15 patients
V. Fung, PhD, FRACP F. Chang, MD, PhD	Westmead Hospital, Australia	Abrupt onset dystonia -analysis of variable phenotypes, genetic causes, treatments
E. Hess, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Sex Differences in Dystonia
A. Berardelli, MD	Sapienza University, Rome, Italy	Digital Voice Analyses for Spasmodic Dystonia and Vocal Tremor in Dystonia Coalition Cohort

2020

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
G. Kilic-Berkmen, PhD M. Zaribaf H.A. Jinnah, MD, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Family structures in Dystonia Coalition cohorts
K. Lohmann, PhD	University of Lübeck, Germany	Elucidating novel genetic causes of dystonia by large-scale sequencing
W. Jost, MD, PhD	Parkinson-Klinik Ortenau, Wolfach, Germany	Retrospective evaluation of cervical dystonia according to the col cap concept
K. Peall, MD	Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom	Use of predictive models in the identification of phenotypic subgroups across the spectrum of dystonia
L. Scorr, MD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	A descriptive study of blepharospasm from the DC cohort
P. Kassavetis, MD, PhD M. Hallett, MD	National Institutes of Health (NIH)	Blepharospasm symptoms during speech
M. Sousa, MD S.Fox, MD	University of Toronto, Canada	Anxiety in cervical dystonia
N. Koirala, PhD	Haskins Lab, New Haven, CT	Real time detection in movement of dystonia patients using machine learning algorithms
M. Tosin, PhD candidate	Rush University, Chicago, IL	Head tremor in cervical dystonia
N. Koirala, PhD	Haskins Lab, New Haven, CT	Evaluation of laryngeal dystonia by using machine learning algorithms
B. Aravamuthan, MD, PhD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	Objective identification of dystonia in gait videos of people with DYT1

2019

Recipient	Institution	ProjectTitle
G. Kilic-Berkmen, PhD H.A. Jinnah, MD, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Delineating patterns of segmental and cervical dystonia
C. Klein, MD, PhD K. Lohmann, PhD	University of Lübeck, Germany	GWAS-SNP
M. Powell, PhD	Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN	Artificialintelligence for screening, diagnosing, and monitoring laryngeal dystonias
N. Harrison, MD S. Norris, MD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	Phenomenology and clinical characteristics of shoulder dystonia in those with upper extremity versus cervical dystonia
A. Cotton HA. Jinnah, MD, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Patient-reported outcomes versus clinical rating scales
E. Reid, PhD	Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA	Phonetic analysis of spasmodic dysphonia

2018

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
B. Berman, MD	University of Colorado, Denver, CO	Patterns of spread in dystonia
S. Norris, MD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	Spread of limb dystonia
D. Martino, MD	University of Calgary, Canada	A cross-sectional analysis of demographic and clinical predictors of spread in adult-onset idiopathic dystonia from the Dystonia Coalition cohort

2017

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
C. Klein, MD, PhD K. Lohmann, PhD	University of Lübeck, Germany	Identification of penetrance and risk modifying variants in dystonia using different genome-wide technologies
D. Peterson, PhD	University of California San Diego and the Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA	Objective phenotyping in cervical dystonia
H. Sarva, MD	University of Calgary, Canada	Describing gait in patients with blepharospasm
A. Fois V. Fung, MD F. Chang, MD	Westmead Hospital, Australia	Torticollis in hemidystonia
S. Cho, MD M. Hallett, MD	National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Bethesda, MD	Sensory tricks in BSP
A. Espay, MD	University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH	Tremor in CD

2016

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
A. Shaikh, MD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Tremor in dystonia
Y. Sun, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	GWAS for CD
Y. Sun, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Metabolomics for CD
N. Patel, MD	Henry Ford Heath System, Detroit, MI	Substance abuse in dystonia
A. Morris, MD J.S. Perlmutter, MD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	Acoustic quantification of laryngeal dystonia
B. Berman, MD	University of Colorado, Denver, CO	Prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in dystonia
S. Pirio-Richardson, MD	University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM	Changes in medication use in dystonia in patients enrolled in a longitudinal natural history repository
L. Froescheke, PhD	Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL	Phonatory breaks in SD
L. Scorr, MD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Multicenter study of OMD (combined with clinical characteristics and impact on quality of life project-2016)

2015

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
J. Park, MD M. Hallett, MD	National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Bethesda, MD	Multicenter study of WC
S. Pirio-Richardson, MD	University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM	Patterns of medication use
J. Junker, MD N. Bruggeman, MD	University of Lübeck, Germany	Alcohol-responsiveness in dystonia
J. Junker, MD	University of Lübeck, Germany	Quality of life in dystonia and predictors (non-motor features)
S. Norris, MD	Washington University, Saint Louis, MO	Clinical characteristics of cervical dystonia
A. Shaikh, MD	Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH	Quantitative analysis of dysphonia and voice tremor

2014

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
H. Sarva, MD S. Bressman, MD	Mount Sinai, New York, NY	Long term clinical outcomes in DYT1 dystonia

2013

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
D. Wahba, PhD H.A. Jinnah, MD, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Patient reported outcomes of depression, anxiety, and quality of life in Dystonia Coalition Cohort

2012

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
C. Prudente, PhD student	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	fMRI in cervical dystonia
N. Patel, MD J. Jankovic, MD	Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI	Sensory tricks in cervical dystonia

2011

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
C. Prudente, PhD student	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Neuropathology of CD

2010 - 2016

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
M. Johns, MD E. Hapner, SLP	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Diagnostic Delay in LD

2010 - 2015

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
M. Johns, MD E. Hapner, SLP	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Tremor & LD

2010 - 2013

Recipient	Institution	Project Title
S. Factor, DO H.A. Jinnah, MD, PhD	Emory University, Atlanta, GA	Diagnostic delay in CD