Back to Main

Faculty Detail     Name DAVID GEORGE STANDAERT   Campus Address CIRC 516 Zip 0021 Phone 205-996-6329 E-mail dstandaert@uab.edu Other websites www.uab.edu/CNET

Faculty Appointment(s) Appointment Type Department Division Rank Primary  Neurology   Neurology Chair Office Professor Secondary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Professor Secondary  Neurobiology  Neurobiology Professor Secondary  Pharmacology/Toxicology   Pharmacology/Toxicology Chair's Office Professor Center  Neurology   Alzheimer's Disease Center Professor Center  Arthritis & Musculoskeletal Diseases Center  Arthritis & Musculoskeletal Diseases Center Professor Center  General Clinical Research Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Professor Center  General Clinical Research Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor Center  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Ctr for Exercise Medicine Professor Center  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med Professor Center  Neurology   Ctr Neurodegeneration & Exp Ther (CNET) Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations Cell, Molecular, & Developmental Biology  Cellular and Molecular Biology Program  Genetics and Genomic Sciences  Integrative Genetics Graduate Program  Medical Scientist Training Program  Neuroscience  Neuroscience Graduate Program  Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine

Biographical Sketch  Dr. Standaert was named the John N. Whitaker Professor & Chair of Neurology in 2012. Prior to that, he was appointed the John T. and Juanelle D. Strain Endowed Chair by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama system, which he held for five years. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Washington University in St. Louis in medicine and pharmacology in 1988. He completed a one-year internship in medicine at Jewish Hospital of St. Louis in 1989 and a three-year neurology residency in 1992 at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a three-year research and clinical fellowship in neurology (movement disorders) at Harvard Medical School Massachusetts General Hospital in 1995. Dr. Standaert is licensed to practice medicine in the states of Massachusetts and Alabama and was board certified in 1993 by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Standaert's clinical teaching has consisted of: serving as an attending physician on the MGH Neurology inpatient service, one month each year; teaching residents, fellows and medical students in the Movement Disorders clinic on a weekly basis; and teaching in Resident's clinic about once a month. Classroom teaching has consisted of serving as member of the Core Faculty for Harvard Health Sciences Technology Pharmacology course (HST150) and a lecturer for the Harvard Medical School Human Neuroscience and Behavior course. Dr. Standaert serves as Director of the Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Director of the Division of Movement Disorders in the Department of Neurology, Director of the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) Advanced Center for Parkinson Research, and Director of the UAB Bachmann-Straus Dystonia and Parkinson’s Disease Center of Excellence. He sees many patients in a weekly clinic and oversees many clinical trials for new treatments in Parkinson’s disease.

Society Memberships Organization Name Position Held Org Link American Academy of Neurology  Member    American Neurological Association  Member    Movement Disorders Society  Member    Parkinson Study Group  Member    Society for Neuroscience  Member

Research/Clinical Interest Title Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases Description My laboratory is working on understanding both the root causes of Parkinson disease (PD) as well as the origin of the disabling symptoms that appear after long term treatment of the disease. The lab has a strong translational orientation – our goal is to accelerate the delivery of new therapies for Parkinson disease to the patients who desperately need them. A primary focus of the laboratory is understanding the role of the protein alpha-synuclein in PD pathophysiology, and searching for novel approaches for protecting the brain from the effects of excess alpha-synuclein. We use a variety of cellular and rodent models, and are exploring the effects of several chaperone molecules, including those derived from open-ended screens in simple non-mammalian systems. A related interest is the role of neuroinflammation in PD. In human PD, there is a marked brain inflammatory response. Recent work in the Standaert lab using mouse models has led to the idea that this inflammation may be triggered directly by the presence of excess alpha-synuclein. The response involves both microglia as well as the adaptive immune system, and both components may be targets of therapies to prevent or retard the disease. We are also exploring the effect of levodopa on brain function in PD. Levodopa remains the most effective existing treatment, but long-term therapy leads to many unwanted side effects (“wearing off” and “dyskinesia”). The Standaert lab has shown that many of the effects result from abnormal synaptic plasticity in the basal ganglia, and mislocalization of glutamate receptor systems. Recently, we found that the mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of this aberrant plasticity are likely the result of levodopa-induced epigenetic modifications.

Selected Publications  Publication PUBMEDID Moehle MS, Webber PJ, Tse T, Sukar N, Standaert DG, DeSilva TM, Cowell RM, West AB. LRRK2 Inhibition Attenuates Microglial Inflammatory Responses. J Neurosci. 2012 Feb 1;32(5):1602-11.  223802802  Eskow Jaunarajs KL, Standaert DG. Removing the blinkers: moving beyond striatal dopamine in Parkinson’s disease. J. Neurochem. 2013 June;125(5):639-41.   23682629  Steidinger TU, Slone SR, Ding H, Standaert DG, Yacoubian TA. Angiogenin in Parkinson Disease Models: Role of Akt Phosphorylation and Evaluation of AAV-Mediated Angiogenin Expression in MPTP Treated Mice. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e56092.   23409128  Fernandez HH, Vanagunas A, Odin P, Espay AJ, Hauser RA, Standaert DG, Chatamra K, Benesh J, Pritchett Y, Hass SL, Lenz RA. Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel in advanced Parkinson's disease open-label study: Interim results. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2013 Jan 1.   23287001  Cao S, Standaert DG, Harms AS. The gamma chain subunit of Fc receptors is required for alpha-synuclein-induced pro-inflammatory signaling in microglia. J Neuroinflammation. 2012 Nov 27;9:259.   23186369  Li X, Lee J, Parsons D, Janaurajs K, Standaert DG. Evaluation of TorsinA as a target for Parkinson disease therapy in mouse models. PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e50063. Epub 2012 Nov 21.   23185535  Saunders JA, Estes KA, Kosloski LM, Allen HE, Dempsey KM, Torres-Russotto DR, Meza JL, Santamaria PM, Bertoni JM, Murman DL, Ali HH, Standaert DG, Mosley RL, Gendelman HE. CD4+ Regulatory and Effector/Memory T Cell Subsets Profile Motor Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2012 Dec;7(4):927-38.   23054369  Sciamanna G, Tassone A, Mandolesi G, Puglisi F, Ponterio G, Martella G, Madeo G, Bernardi G, Standaert DG, Bonsi P, Pisani A. Cholinergic Dysfunction Alters Synaptic Integration between Thalamostriatal and Corticostriatal Inputs in DYT1 Dystonia. J Neurosci. 2012 Aug 29;32(35):11991-2004. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0041-12.2012.   22933784  Sciamanna G, Hollis R, Ball C, Martella G, Tassone A, Marshall A, Parsons D, Li X, Yokoi F, Zhang L, Li Y, Pisani A, Standaert DG. Cholinergic dysregulation produced by selective inactivation of the dystonia-associated protein torsinA. Neurobiol Dis. 2012 May 3.   22579992  Amara AW, Standaert DG, Guthrie S, Cutter G, Watts RL, Walker HC. Unilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation improves sleep quality in Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2012 Jan;18(1):63-8.   21924664  First Prev   1 2 3 of  3  Next Last

Keywords Parkinsons Disease, Dystonia, Movement Disorders

© 2008 University of Alabama at Birmingham. All rights reserved. DisclaimerAbout this SiteGraphic Design Created by UAB Web Communications.
Calendar Designed by Medical Education Information Services. To report problems with the site, email us at meis@uab.edu. Last Revision: February 15, 2012.
The UAB School of Medicine Mailing Address: 1530 3rd Avenue South, FOT 1203, Birmingham AL 35294-3412