Understanding AFM

November 16, 2016

2016 ASK THE EXPERT PODCAST SERIES SPONSORED BY

Alexion is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on serving patients with severe and rare disorders through the innovation, development and commercialization of life-transforming therapeutic products. Their goal to deliver medical breakthroughs where none currently exist is driven by the knowledge that people’s lives depend on their work. 

* The Executive Committee of SRNA with the medical and scientific council determines the content and topics of the podcasts. Sponsors are not able to influence the education program.

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About Our Guest Speakers

Ben_GreenbergBenjamin Greenberg, MD, MHS

Associate Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Deputy Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program and Director of the Transverse Myelitis and Neuromyelitis Optica Program, Dallas, TX

Dr. Benjamin Greenberg received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and his Masters Degree in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Then, he completed an internship in medicine at Rush Presbyterian-St. Lukes Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois before going on to his residency in neurology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. He then joined the faculty within the division of neuroimmunology at Hopkins and became the co-director of the Transverse Myelitis Center and director of the Encephalitis Center. In January of 2009 he was recruited to the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center where he was named Deputy Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program and Director of the new Transverse Myelitis and Neuromyelitis Optica Program. That same year he established the Pediatric Demyelinating Disease Program at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

Dr. Greenberg is recognized internationally as an expert in rare autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system (e.g. transverse myelitis, neuromyelitis optica, ADEM and autoimmune encephalitis). He splits his clinical time between seeing both adult and pediatric patients. He routinely consults on the inpatient units of University Hospital, Zale Lipshy, Parkland and Children’s. His research interests are in both the diagnosis and treatment of transverse myelitis, neuromyelitis optica, encephalitis, multiples sclerosis and infections of the nervous system. He is actively involved in developing better ways to diagnose and prognosticate for patients with these disorders. He has led an effort to improve biorepository development and has created uniform protocols for sample handling and analysis. As part of this initiative his research has identified novel biomarkers that may be able to distinguish between patients with various neurologic disorders. He also coordinates trials that study new treatments to prevent neurologic damage and restore function to those who have already been affected. He currently serves as the Director of the Neurosciences Clinical Research Center and is a Cain-Denius Foundation Scholar.

Ben_GreenbergKaren McCain, PT, DPT, NCS

Associate Professor in the School of Health Professions
Associate Director of the David M. Crowley Research and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX

Karen McCain, PT, DPT, NCS, is an Associate Professor in the School of Health Professions as well as the Associate Director of the David M. Crowley Research and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas (UT Southwestern). In addition, she is the Director of the Neurologic Residency program at UT Southwestern. She received her bachelor’s in physical therapy from UT Southwestern in 1992 and a doctorate in physical therapy from Regis University in 2006. Dr. McCain is board certified by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) as a Neurologic Clinical Specialist. She has been teaching at the university level since 1998 and currently teaches in a DPT program.

Dr. McCain maintains a clinical practice with a focus on gait recovery in persons with neurologic injuries. In addition, she actively conducts research in the areas of gait recovery after stroke as well as the impact of orthoses on gait in persons with neurologic diagnoses. Dr. McCain is the principal investigator of an ongoing clinical trial of early standardized task-specific training (ESTT) in persons recovering from stroke and has published several papers related to this research. She has presented her findings at local as well as national meetings, including American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and Combined Sections Meeting of the APTA. Due to her abundant research and clinical experience, Dr. McCain has shared her knowledge in continuing education courses across the United States and is a frequent reviewer for scientific publications including Topics in Stroke RehabilitationPhysical TherapyPhysiotherapy Theory and PracticeAmerican Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.