Drs. Barnes, Kaplin, Morrison and Pidcock
Join the TMA Medical Advisory Board
The Transverse Myelitis Association Medical Advisory Board was initiated
by Dr. Charles Levy. Dr. Levy is a Physiatrist, a doctor of physical
and rehabilitative medicine. We met Dr. Levy when Pauline was a patient
at Dodd Hall, The Ohio State University. He was director of the wheelchair
clinic at Dodd and he was responsible for getting Pauline fitted into her
purple wheelchair in 1994. When Deanne and I were just getting the
TMA off the ground, Dr. Levy created an opportunity for the officers of the
TMA to come together in Columbus to learn about other rare disease organizations,
and the great work being done by these groups. As Dr. Levy’s guests
at this conference, the officers of the TMA became sensitized to the importance
of having guidance from the medical profession in our planning and our activities.
Following this conference, Dr. Levy graciously and generously offered to
serve on The Transverse Myelitis Association Medical Advisory Board.
Dr. Levy has been instrumental in guiding the TMA almost since our inception.
Shortly after initiating the Medical Advisory Board, Dr. Levy recruited Dr.
Joanne Lynn to serve on the TMA Medical Advisory Board. As a Neurologist
and the Director of the MS Center at The Ohio State University, Dr. Lynn
was a wonderful and significant addition to the Board. The Gilmurs
next recruited Dr. James Bowen from the MS Center at the University of Washington
to serve on the Board. Dr. Douglas Kerr joined the Medical Advisory
Board during the First International TM Symposium in Seattle. Dr. Kerr
established the Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Center and has become the
country’s and the world’s only specialist in the treatment and research on
TM.
We have been incredibly blessed with a wonderful group of physicians to serve
on our Medical Advisory Board. I am in contact with these doctors on
a regular basis. They are contributors to the newsletters, they offer
me advice about treatments and referrals which I pass onto people in the
TM community, and they are participants in our meetings, conferences and
symposia. They are engaged in TM research. They are intensively
involved in disseminating information and educating about TM to both TM patients
and doctors and they are publishing articles regarding various aspects of
TM. As the TMA becomes involved in funding research, it is the Medical
Advisory Board which will offer guidance in designing and participating in
the review and selection process.
Perhaps most importantly, these physicians are offering patients with TM
the best possible treatments and care. These doctors pretty much respond
to whatever I ask – graciously, generously and none of them have any time
for any of what I request. But it always gets done.
They are competent, exceptional, brilliant doctors and researchers, and they
are quality human beings. I wonder often how it was that these four
incredible people found their way into an association with our fledgling
organization. It has been a blessing.
I met Drs. Barnes, Pidcock, Morrison and Kaplin in Baltimore during the Second
International TM Symposium. Drs. Morrison and Barnes are pediatric
neurologists, Dr. Pidcock is a pediatric physiatist and Dr. Kaplin is a psychiatrist.
They were all very interested in TM, were becoming very involved in treating
patients with TM, and were involved in research on TM. They were invited
presenters in Baltimore, and they were all very much engaged by the people
who came to Baltimore with TM and their caregivers. As pediatric specialists,
I invited Drs. Barnes, Morrison and Pidcock to present and to participate
in the TMA Children’s and Family Workshop. All of the doctors who came
to Columbus not only donated their time and expertise, they paid their own
way to the workshop. And the doctors were not only in Columbus to present
to the parents; they were in Columbus for the entire weekend to offer information
and support to the parents throughout the entire workshop. Some of
their family members also attended and served as companions to the children
who needed assistance on the fieldtrips. Great doctors and awesome
human beings!
I am thrilled to announce to our TMA members that Dr. Barnes, Dr. Kaplin,
Dr. Morrison and Dr. Pidcock are the newest members of our Medical Advisory
Board. These four doctors bring new areas of specialization to the
TMA that are critical for our members and for furthering the goals of the
Association. I am honored to introduce you to the newest members of
our medical advisory board.
Gregory Neal Barnes,
MD PhD
Dr. Barnes received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Kentucky
Graduate School in 1990. He received his Medical Degree from the University
of Kentucky College of Medicine in 1992. Dr. Barnes served as a Resident
in Pediatrics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital at Washington University School
of Medicine from 1992 to 1994. He was a Clinical Fellow in Pediatrics
and Neurology at Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston from
1994 to 1997. He served as an Epilepsy Research Fellow at the Duke
Center for the Advanced Post-doctoral Study of Epilepsy at the Duke University
Medical School from 1997 to 2000.
Dr. Barnes is currently an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Neurology
and Pediatrics at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and in the
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry of the University of Kentucky.
He is the Director of the Developmental Neurobiology Laboratory in the Department
of Neurology of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He
is an Associate Member of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center
of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Dr. Barnes is an
Attending Physician in the Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics, Division
of Pediatric Neurology, University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital in Lexington.
He also serves as Medical Staff in Child Neurology, Kentucky Commission for
Children with Special Needs in Louisville.
Dr. Barnes is a member of The Transverse Myelitis Consortium Working Group.
He is very widely published and has preformed extensive research in the area
of epilepsy.
Gregory Neal Barnes, MD PhD
Department of Neurology
L441, Wind D, KY Clinic
704 South Limestone
Lexington, KY 40536-0284
Adam I. Kaplin, MD PhD
Dr. Kaplin completed his undergraduate training at Yale University in 1988
where he graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Biology. He completed
his MD and PhD training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1996,
where he was a Medical Science Training Program awardee. Dr. Kaplin
completed an internship in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical
Center, followed by residency training in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
In his final year of residency training, he was selected to be Chief Resident
of Psychiatry. Dr. Kaplin was invited to join the faculty as an Instructor
in the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine immediately
following his residency training, and was awarded one of the two Pfizer Postdoctoral
Fellowship Grants in Biological Psychiatry offered in this country.
In his second year on the faculty, Dr. Kaplin was promoted to Assistant Professor
of Psychiatry. Dr. Kaplin's research experience includes having been trained
in the labs of two Nobel Laureates, and having completed his PhD training
in the Lab of Solomon Snyder, MD, one of the preeminent leaders in the field
of Neuroscience. Dr. Kaplin has been an author on nine papers and four
abstracts in scientific or medical journals. His research has focused
on mechanisms of neuronal stimulation and communication. Additional
awards that Dr. Kaplin has received include being selected as the NIH/NIMH
Outstanding Resident of the year in 1998, and a Future Leader in Psychiatry
by Emory University in 2002.
Dr. Kaplin's involvement in Transverse Myelitis (TM) began when he was recruited
by Dr. Douglas Kerr to serve as the Chief Psychiatric consultant to the Johns
Hopkins Transverse Myelopathy Center (JHTMC) in 2000. In addition to
his clinical involvement in the Center through his work as a consultant and
outpatient psychiatrist for patients with TM, Dr. Kaplin has initiated a
collaborative research project with Dr. Kerr to investigate the psychiatric
sequela of TM. To date, no other clinician or researcher has investigated
the psychiatric effects of TM. This work has already revealed an astonishingly
high rate of clinical depression in patients with TM, and promises to not
only elucidate optimal ways to treat this sequela, but may shed light on
the pathophysiologic mechanisms of how TM involves the central nervous system.
Dr. Kaplin was a presenter and one of the members of the planning committee
for the Second International Transverse Myelitis Symposium in Baltimore,
MD in 2001. He also participated in the Cody Unser, Reeve-Irvine Research
Center/UCI California TM Conference in 2002, where he, Dr. Doug Kerr and
Ms. Chitra Krishnan spoke about their experience in the JHTMC working with
patients affected by TM.
Adam I. Kaplin, MD PhD
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
600 North Wolfe Street/ Meyer 115
Baltimore, MD 21287-7131
Leslie Morrison, MD
Leslie Morrison, MD is an Associate Professor and Division Chief of Child
Neurology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Dr. Morrison
has been involved in research on Transverse Myelitis and is extensively involved
in educational efforts which support the TM community and which disseminate
information about TM to the medical community. Dr. Morrison represents
her institution as a member of the Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Consortium
since March 2000. She was an invited speaker at the Second International
TM Symposium in Baltimore in July 2001 and the First California TM Conference
held in June 2002. Dr. Morrison attended the first TMA Children’s and
Family Workshop in July 2002 in Columbus. In addition to her two formal presentations
to the parents, she was available throughout the workshop weekend to answer
parent’s questions and to offer support to the families. She is currently
engaged in a research project focused on matrix metalloproteinases in the
cerebrospinal fluid of Transverse Myelitis, expecting completion by July
2003 and funded by the Cody Unser First Step Foundation.
Dr. Morrison brings a very unique perspective and exceptional qualifications
to her care of children with Transverse Myelitis. She received her
education from the University of New Mexico as a physical therapist and has
five years of experience in pediatric PT. She then received her education
and training as a Child Neurologist.
Dr. Morrison’s other research interests and experience include the study
of inherited neurological disorders that disproportionately affect New Mexican
families. This work has earned her recognition from the Dean of the UNM School
of Medicine, and has resulted in research funding and new clinic development.
Dr. Morrison has particular enthusiasm for mentorship of students from middle
school through faculty, to further career development in the Clinical Neurosciences.
She is nationally recognized for her service as an examiner for the American
Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and has recently been appointed to the
Neurology Recertification Committee, the Child Neurology Society Practice
Parameter Committee, the Board of Directors for the Child Neurology Foundation,
and as a counselor for the Society of Clinical Neurologists. At the University
of New Mexico, she serves as the Chief of Clinical Operations for the Department
of Neurology, is an elected member of the Medical Executive Council and is
on an ethics advisory team for the Health Sciences Center.
Dr. Morrison enjoys time with her family in music, outdoor sports and travel.
Leslie Morrison, M.D.
Associate Professor,
Pediatric Neurology
University Health Sciences Center
2211 Lomas Boulevard NE
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Frank S. Pidcock, MD
Dr. Frank Pidcock is a clinical research scientist at Kennedy Krieger Institute.
He is the Associate Director of Pediatric Rehabilitation at Kennedy Krieger
Institute. He is an Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr. Pidcock attended the Johns Hopkins University before going on to medical
school at the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from
which he graduated in 1977. His postdoctoral training includes pediatric
residency at Hahnemann University Hospital from 1979 to 1981, developmental
pediatrics fellowship at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children from 1979
to 1981, and rehabilitation medicine residency at Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital from 1991 to 1994. Dr. Pidcock was the Director of the Pediatrics
Program at Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia from 1987 until
1991. After completing a residency in rehabilitation medicine in 1994,
Dr. Pidcock joined the medical staff at the Kennedy Krieger Institute as
the Associate Director of the Pediatric Rehabilitation Program. Dr.
Pidcock is an attending physician at both Johns Hopkins Hospital and Kennedy
Krieger Children’s Hospital. He is board certified in pediatrics and
physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Dr. Pidcock’s clinical research focuses on developing treatment protocols
and quantitative measurements for the use of therapeutic botulinum toxin
injections in the treatment of children with spasticity from cerebral palsy,
traumatic brain injury, or other processes that affect motor control.
Indications for giving therapeutic botulinum toxin include improving mobility,
preventing deformity, and improving quality of life. Measurement techniques
that Dr. Pidcock is studying include functional brain imaging (fMRI) to look
at the effects of peripheral botulinum toxin injections on cortical activation
and a spasticity measurement system designed to quantitatively measure the
effects of spasticity reduction at the wrist.
Other areas of interest for Dr. Pidcock include the rehabilitation of children
with pediatric transverse myelitis and musculo-skeletal manifestations of
chronic graft vs. host disease. He is also involved with the development
of outcome measurement tools for children with burns.
Frank S. Pidcock, MD
Associate Director Pediatric Rehabilitation
Kennedy Krieger Institute
707 North Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21205
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