I am the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology, Director of the NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies, and Director of the University of Michigan Neuropathy Center and ALS Center of Excellence. I am annually listed in Best Doctors in America, a Past President of the Peripheral Nerve Society and American Neurological Association (ANA), a member of the National Academy of Medicine and Association of American Physicians, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As of summer 2020, I am Chair of the Neurology and Psychiatry Section of the National Academy of Medicine. My work is internationally recognized and published in >500articles and 70 book chapters (Google Scholar h-index = 109), with over 45,000 citations. I have been continuously NIH funded since 1989, and I oversee an established laboratory of 25 exceptional scientists. My laboratory develops novel cellular, gene, and growth factor therapies for neurologic disorders. I conducted pioneering studies on the pathogenesis of neuropathy in metabolic diseases, leveraging in vitro and in vivo models, clinical specimens, and multiple omics-based approaches, and identified dyslipidemia during diabetes as a key driver of nervous system damage, leading to new clinical patient care guidelines by the American Diabetes Association. I also developed a clinical tool to diagnose diabetic neuropathy that is used worldwide and in multiple NIH clinical trials. I have a strong track record of successful collaborations, and am a pioneer in directly transforming basic research into advances in clinical treatment. I led the first and only FDA-approved Phase 1 and 2 trials of direct spinal cord stem cell transplantation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We are planning a Phase 3 trial and developing a similar cellular therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. I established an ALS biorepository to facilitate studies to increase our understanding of disease pathogenesis, and uncovered epigenetic, metabolomic, and immunological mechanisms representing potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and further identified environmental toxins as risk factors. I have mentored over 100 postdoctoral and clinical fellows and 9 neuroscience graduate students, and I was PI of the University of Michigan T32 NIH/NINDS Training in Clinical and Basic Neuroscience for ~2 decades. Thus, I have a long-standing history of effective biomedical research, translational clinical applications, leadership, and career development and mentoring.

Diabetes and obesity complications
Peripheral neuropathy
Cognitive decline
Alzheimer's disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)