Dr. Irene Litvan is the Tasch Endowed Chair of Parkinson Disease Research at the University of California San Diego, Professor of Neurosciences and Director of the UCSD National Parkinson Foundation Movement Disorder Center of Excellence. Her major research goals are to better understand the causes, find biological markers and identifying novel neuroprotective treatments for patients with neurodegenerative disorders with parkinsonism or dementia. She is a movement disorder specialist, behavioral neurologist and neuroepidemiologist with more than 25 years of experience conducting clinical trials and leading multidisciplinary and multisite clinical studies. Dr. Litvan received the National Institutes of Health merit award for leading international multicenter studies to evaluate and improve the clinical diagnostic criteria of parkinsonian neurodegenerative disorders. In addition to being senior editor of 4 books, Dr. Litvan has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. She is a fellow of the American Neurological Association and American Academy of Neurology. She serves on many boards and committees of the International Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorder Society, World Federation of Neurology, and medical scientific boards. She was the local chair and co-chair of the 19th International Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorder Society. She is committed to mentor students, residents, fellows and junior faculty to become clinical translational scientists. Her research stresses “bench to bedside” diagnosis and treatments and “hospital to community” interdisciplinary translational therapies.

Dr. Irene Litvan’s research interests include: Neurodegenerative Disorders Movement Disorders Parkinson's Disease Dementia