George T Kannarkat, MD, PhD

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Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Department: Neurology

Contact information
3900 Woodland Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4551
Education:
BA (Biology, International Studies)
Baylor University, 2009.
PhD
Emory University School of Medicine, 2016.
MD
Emory University School of Medicine, 2017.
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Description of Clinical Expertise

Movement disorders clinician who focuses on Parkinson's disease, REM-sleep behavior disorder, and those at-risk for neurodegenerative disease.

Description of Research Expertise

Physician-scientist who is interested in mechanisms outside the brain (inflammation, protein misfolding, and environmental toxicants) that contribute to neurodegeneration.

Selected Publications

George Kannarkat, Dimple Chouhan, D. Kacy Cullen, John Duda: Tissue-Engineered Nigrostriatal Pathways (TE-NSPs)Serve as a Novel Tool to Study the Cell-to-Cell Spread of Pathologic Alpha-Synuclein. American Neurological Association Annual Meeting 2025 2025.

George Kannarkat: The Source and Pathogenic Potential of Blood-derived Alpha-Synuclein. American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting 2025 2025.

George Kannarkat, Travis Unger, Robert Skrinak, Caroline Lewis, Kelvin Luk, Thomas Tropea, Daniel Weintraub, Alice Chen-Plotkin: Blood-Derived Alpha-Synuclein Strains in Lewy Body Diseases are Associated with Extracellular Vesicles and Induce Cellular Inclusions. American Neurological Association Annual Meeting 2025 2025.

Nathan Zhang, Andres Fernandez del Castillo, George Kannarkat: Establishing the Parkinson's Disease At-Risk Clinic (PD-ARC). American Neurological Association Annual Meeting 2025 2025.

Kannarkat GT, Zack R, Skrinak RT, Morley JF, Davila-Rivera R, Arezoumandan S, Dorfman K, Luk K, Wolk DA, Weintraub D, Tropea TF, Lee EB, Xie SX, Chandrasekaran G, Lee VM, Irwin D, Akhtar RS, Chen-Plotkin AS.: Blood α-Synuclein Separates Parkinson's Disease from Dementia with Lewy Bodies. Ann Neurol 2025.

Gilboa T, Ter-Ovanesyan D, Wang SC, Whiteman S, Kannarkat GT, Church GM, Chen-Plotkin AS, Walt DR.: Measurement of α-synuclein as protein cargo in plasma extracellular vesicles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 121: e2408949121, Nov 2024.

Kannarkat GT, Zack R, Skrinak RT, Morley JF, Davila-Rivera R, Arezoumandan S, Dorfmann K, Luk K, Wolk DA, Weintraub D, Tropea TF, Lee EB, Xie SX, Chandrasekaran G, Lee VM, Irwin D, Akhtar RS, Chen-Plotkin AS.: α-Synuclein Conformations in Plasma Distinguish Parkinson's Disease from Dementia with Lewy Bodies. Res Sq Sep 2024.

Kannarkat JT, Kannarkat GT, Jones LK Jr.: Neurologic Alternative Payment Models-Bridging the Gap. JAMA Neurol Jan 2024.

Tropea TF, Kannarkat GT, Shaw LM.: Early and Accurate Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease May Be Rooted in Seed Amplification Assays. Clinical Chemistry 69(11), Nov 2023 Notes: DOI: 10.1093/clinchem/hvad111.

Tropea TF, Kannarkat GT, Shaw LM.: Early and Accurate Diagnosis of Parkinson Disease May Be Rooted in Seed Amplification Assays. Clin Chem 69: 1209-1211, Nov 2023.

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Last updated: 11/10/2025
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