Introduction & Carly Tanner, MD, PhD: What Causes PD? An Epidemiologist's Perspective

Talks from the 8th Annual UCSF Symposium on Parkinson’s Disease for Patients and Caregivers

November 15, 2014

UCSF Parkinson’s Disease Center, a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence


Dr. Tanner is a Professor of Neurology at UCSF and Director of the San Francisco PADRECC with a clinical practice that specializes in movement disorders. Her research interests include investigations of descriptive epidemiology, environmental and genetic determinants, biomarkers, early detection, non-motor disease features and interventions for the secondary prevention, disease modification and symptomatic treatment of movement disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Tanner is past co-chair of the Parkinson Study Group (PSG) and has conducted numerous clinical trials with the PSG and other groups. Other research interests include work to facilitate collaborative research and improve patient access to research and clinical care, locally and internationally, including the MDS Telemedicine Task Force and work to identify PD-associated biomarkers (Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative, LABS-PD studies). Dr. Tanner chairs the MDS Epidemiology Task Force, serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association, and on committees for NIH and the AAN. Her honors include the AAN Movement Disorders Research Award in 2012 and the Cotzias Award of the Spanish Neurological Society in 2013.