Comprehensive Movement Disorders Center

Overview

The Comprehensive Movement Disorders Center provides multi-disciplinary care to patients with Parkinson’s Disease, Essential Tremor, Dystonia and other related conditions.  The center is composed of neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, physical & speech/swallow therapists and others who deliver individualized care that optimizes medical and surgical therapies.

The movement disorders team evaluates patients in a comprehensive fast track” clinic where those considering deep brain stimulation, focused ultrasound, laser ablation, or other surgical options can learn about their disease and explore these possibilities.  Treatment plans are designed in a team-based fashion, and clinicians from neurosurgery and neurology often work together even in the operating room and MRI-suite to ensure optimal decision-making for maximal patient benefit.

Our doctors and other clinicians combine this patient-centered approach with the latest technologies to deliver the highest-quality, world-class care.  These technologies include “incision-less” focused ultrasound therapy, advanced deep brain stimulation with neural sensing, MRI-guided laser ablation, 3D-printed, patient-customized brain targeting systems and real-time, intra-operative neuro-imaging.

As members of the Brown University faculty, our clinicians not only apply the latest technologies to improve our patients’ lives, but we also conduct research to better understand these neurological disorders and to develop and test new therapies.  Ongoing studies include computational modeling, machine-learning decoding of neural activity, nonhuman models of cognitive processes, and patient-based clinical trials, among many others. 

Our talented, highly-experienced team and extraordinary technological resources enable the Brown University / Rhode Island Hospital Comprehensive Movement Disorders Center to provide exceptional, unique care to individuals seeking to enhance their lives.

Our Team

Director

Wael F. Asaad, MD, PhD

Sidney A. Fox and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science
Professor of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience
Vice-Chair, Research
Director, Functional and Epilepsy Neurosurgery Program
Director, Laboratory for Neurophysiology and Neuromodulation
Associate Director, Neurosurgery Residency Training Program
Director, Fellowship in Functional & Epilepsy Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery

Athar Malik, MD, PhD

Samuel I. Kennison, M.D. and Bertha S. Kennison Assistant Professor of Clinical Neuroscience
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery
Director, Brain Injury & Restorative Neurosurgery

Director, Restorative Neuroscience Laboratory

Sarah Kraich

PA - Outpatient

Neurology
Prarthana Prakash, MD
Saud Alhusaini, MD
Emily Weisbach, MD
Victoria Chang, MD
Biju Gopalakrishnan, MD
Joseph Friedman, MD

Physical Therapy
Kenneth Vinacco, PT, DPT

Speech Therapy
Sandra Aguiar, MS, CCC-SLP

Conditions We Treat

Research

The Neurophysiology & Neuromodulation Laboratory

Technology

Custom 3D-Printed Targeting Platforms

Deep Brain Stimulation

Focused Ultrasound

BrainLab AIRO Mobile CT Scanner with Navigation System

News

“New generation of surgical technology” comes to RI Hospital

Rhode Island Hospital
593 Eddy Street, APC 6
Providence, RI 02903
401-793-9128
401-444-2661