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Pedro Gonzalez-Alegre, MD, PhD

Adjunct Professor of Neurology
Director, Huntington's Disease Center of Excellence Department of Neurology The University of Pennsylvania
Director, Neurogenetics Program Department of Neurology The University of Pennsylvania
Director, Clinical Programs, Raymond G. Perelman Center for Molecular & Cellular Therapy Children Hospital of Philadelphia
Co-Director, Division of Movement Disorders Department of Neurology The University of Pennsylvania
Director, Translational Center of Excellence, Gene & Molecular Therapy in Neurology
Department: Neurology

Contact information
University of Pennsylvania
Department of Neurology
800 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Education:
MD
University of Malaga Medical School, Málaga (Spain), 1996.
PhD (Neuroscience)
University of Malaga Medical School, Málaga (Spain), 2009.
Post-Graduate Training
Intern, Department of Medicine, Saint Vincent Hospital, 1998-1999.
Resident, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa , 1999-2002.
Fellow, Movement Disorders/Neurogenetics, University of Iowa , 2002-2004.
Certifications
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, 1997.
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (recertification March 2013), 2003.
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Description of Clinical Expertise

Dr. Pedro Gonzalez-Alegre is a physician-scientist certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and with subspecialty training in Movement Disorders/Neurogenetics. After completing his residency and fellowship training at the University of Iowa, he joined the faculty at that institution where he reached the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. In 2014, he was recruited to the Department of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania. He has been elected to the Best Doctors in America list every year since 2009. He is the founding director of the Penn HD Center since 2015, gaining designation as a Center of Excellence of the HDSA (Huntington’s Disease Society of America) in 2016. He also launched a new Neurogenetics Clinic at Penn in 2015.

Description of Other Expertise

Dr. Gonzalez-Alegre has devoted significant efforts to education. He has been the advisor of several graduate students that successfully obtained their PhD, mentored numerous undergraduate and medical students, neurology residents and fellows, and participated in multiple local, national and international educational programs related to neurology. He was named Associate Director of the Neurology Residency Program at the University of Iowa in 2009, Residency Program Director and acting Vice-Chair for Education in 2012, Chair of the Seminar Committee and Member of the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience at the University of Iowa in 2012. His educational efforts were rewarded by the 2009 and 2012 Medical Education Faculty Award in Neurology of the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa and the 2014 Best Teacher Award from the Neurology Residents at UI.

Description of Research Expertise

Dr. Gonzalez-Alegre is a highly committed clinician-scientist who directs a laboratory devoted to the investigation of the neurobiological bases and therapeutics of dystonia. For his research efforts, funded through federal and private sources, he has been recognized with 2003 S Weir Mitchell Award of the American Academy of Neurology, the 2004 Junior Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research from the Movement Disorders Society, the 2012 Jon Stolk Award in Movement Disorders from the American Academy of Neurology, and the 2012 Stanley Fahn Award from the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. He is also Co-Director for Clinical Programs of the Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular & Molecular Therapy at the Children Hospital of Philadelphia, involved in translational efforts to advance novel molecular therapies for various neurological diseases to early phase clinical trials.

Selected Publications

Dratch L, Paul R, Baldwin A, Brzozowski M, Gonzalez-Alegre P, Tropea TF, Raper A, Bardakjian T: Transitioning to Telemedicine in the COVID-19 Era: Patient Satisfaction with Genetic Counseling via Telephone or Videoconferencing in Adult Neurology. J Genet Couns Jul 2021 Notes: doi: 10.1002/jgc4.1470. Epub ahead of print.

Guo MH, Bardakjian TM, Brzozowski MR, Scherer SS, Quinn C, Elman L, Orthmann-Murphy J, Tropea TF, Ellis CA, Gonzalez-Alegre P. : Temporal trends and yield of clinical diagnostic genetic testing in adult neurology. Am J Med Genet A. Jun 2021 Notes: doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.62372. Online ahead of print.

Guo MH, Bardakjian TM, Brzozowski MR, Scherer SS, Quinn C, Elman L, Orthmann-Murphy J, Tropea TF, Ellis CA and Gonzalez-Alegre P. : Temporal trends and yield of clinical diagnostic genetic testing in adult neurology. Am J Med Genet A Jun 2021 Notes: doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.62372. Online ahead of print.

Isonaka R, Goldstein DS, Zhu W, Yoon E, Ehrlich D, Schindler AB, Kokkinis AD, Sabir MS, Scholz SW, Bandres-Ciga S, Blauwendraat C, Gonzalez-Alegre P, Lopez G, Sidransky E, Narendra DP. : α-Synuclein deposition in sympathetic nerve fibers in genetic forms of Parkinson’s Disease. Mov Disord Jun 2021 Notes: doi: 10.1002/mds.28667. Online ahead of print.

Tropea TF, Amari N, Han N, Rick J, Suh E, Akhtar RS, Dahodwala N, Deik A, Gonzalez-Alegre P, Hurtig H, Siderowf A, Spindler M, Stern M, Thenganatt MA, Weintraub D, Willis AW, Van Deerlin V, Chen-Plotkin A. : Whole Clinic Research Enrollment in Parkinson's Disease: The Molecular Integration in Neurological Diagnosis (MIND) Study. J Parkinsons Dis 11(2): 757-765, May 2021.

Melis C, Beauvais G, Muntean BS, Cirnaru MD, Otrimski G; Creus-Muncunill J, Martemyanov KA, Gonzalez-Alegre P, Ehrlich ME.: Striatal dopamine induced ERK phosphorylation is altered in mouse models of monogenic dystonia. Mov Disord 36(5): 1147-1157, May 2021.

Klapper J, Bardakjian T, Sigal I, Muralidharan K, Gonzalez-Alegre P. : Healthcare Delivery via Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Experience of a Huntington’s Disease Center. Clin Parkinsonism Relat Disord 4: 100093, April 2021.

Ogilvie AC, Gonzalez-Alegre P, Schultz JL: Diabetes Mellitus Is Associated With an Earlier Age of Onset of Huntington's Disease. Mov Disord 36(4): 1033-1034, Apr 2021.

Walker IM, Riboldi GM, Drummond P, Saade-Lemus S, Martin-Saavedra JS, Frucht S, Bardakjian TM, Gonzalez-Alegre P, Deik A.: PPP2R5D Genetic Mutations and Early-Onset Parkinsonism. Ann Neurol 89(1): 194-195, Jan 2021.

Cirnaru MD, Creus-Muncunill J, Nelson S, Lewis T, Watson J, Ellerby LM, Gonzalez-Alegre P*, Ehrlich ME*.: Striatal Dysfunction after Neonatal Decrease in X-linked Dystonia Parkinsonism Related TAF1 Isoforms. Mov Disord 2021 Notes: in-press).

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Last updated: 07/30/2021
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