UCLA Neurology at AAN 2025

Presentations and Awards

Name: Charles C. Flippen II, MD
Institution: UCLA Neurology
Award: Dr. Charles Flippen II is the 2025 AAN Changemaker Award recipient. This recognition is for an AAN member who has made a meaningful contribution within their academic institution by increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within their neurology department. Dr. Flippen will deliver an address entitled, "DEI or Not, the way forward" on Sunday, April 6, 2025 at 1 pm.

Name: Adys Mendizabal, MD
Institution: UCLA Neurology
Award: Dr. Adys Mendizabal will receive the 2025 Health Equity Research Award. She will give a presentation titled, "Ethical Considerations and Multimethod Approaches to the Study of Health Equity in Rare Neurologic Diseases" at the Health Care Equity Symposium On Monday, April 7, 2025. The presentation will discuss the ethical underpinnings behind the study of healthcare disparities in rare neurological conditions, and how various research methods and datasets can be used to understand healthcare disparities in conditions such as Huntington's Disease.

Name: Adys Mendizabal, MD
Institution: UCLA Neurology
Presentation: Political Determinants of Brain Health
Session: Social Determinants of Brain Health, Monday, April 7th, 7:00 AM-9:00AM 
Summary: This talk will review the impact of housing, education, healthcare, and reproductive health policies in neurologic disease outcomes. It will also discuss the impact of current federal policies in brain health and brain health research, while engaging in a discussion of potential areas of intervention at a local, state, and federal level. 

Posters

Name(s): Hyeon Min An; Alice Hsu, PhD; Rida Ismail; Kevin Bickart, MD, PhD
Institution(s): UCLA 
Poster Title: Personalized TMS to the Frontal Pole Modulates Connectivity Within a Specific Amygdala Circuit in a Patient with Persistent Post-concussion Symptoms
Summary: In concussion patients, fear avoidance—avoiding symptom-triggering activities—can perpetuate PPCS. Fear avoidance relies on dynamic interactions between the amygdala and FP, which show increased resting-state fMRI (rfMRI) connectivity in patients with PPCS. Our previous research suggests this hyperconnectivity may be specific to a medial amygdala subregion rather than its more lateral and dorsal subregions, which support distinct affective functions. In this study, we investigated whether rfMRI connectivity in the medial frontoamygdala circuit could be specifically decreased using a traditionally inhibitory form of TMS called continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS). This study aims to explore changes in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between three subregions of the amygdala and the frontal pole (FP) after personalized FP neuromodulation, as a novel treatment approach for fear avoidance in patients with persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS).

Name(s): Jennifer Adrissi, MD, MS
Institution(s): UCLA Neurology
Poster Presentation: Understanding the Impact of Parkinson's Disease in Zambia: An Assessment of Patient and Caregiver Needs
Oral Presentation: The Global Burden of Neurologic Diseases - Movement Disorders

Name(s): Al-alya Alsabah, MD; Yigit Karasozen, MD; Negar Khanlou, MD; Perry Shieh, MD, PhD; Payam Soltanzadeh, MD
Institution(s): UCLA
Poster Title: Clinical Features of Myotonic Dystrophy Type 2: A Single Center Case Series
Summary: Myotonic Dystrophy Type 2 (DM2) is an autosomal dominant, multisystem disease with highly variable clinical presentation. This study aims to examine the clinical characteristics, diagnostic delays, and associated comorbidities of DM2 patients treated at a single center.

Name(s): Kevin Bickart, MD, PhD
Institution(s): UCLA
Moderator: The Scientific Platform Session S26 Neuro Trauma and Sports Neurology on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Pacific Time.

Name(s): Dawn Eliashiv, MD; Barbara Jobst, MD; Martha Morrell, MD
Institution(s): UCLA Neurology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Med Ctr, NeuroPace
Poster Title: Multicenter Post-approval Study of the RNS System in Focal Epilepsy
Summary: Multicenter study to describe effectiveness of a direct brain responsive neurostimulator (RNS System) in adults with antiseizure medication (ASM)-resistant focal onset seizures (FOS).

Name(s): Katherine Fu, MD; HS Assistant Professor of Neurology at UCLA, Neurology(R) Resident & Fellow Section Editor
Institution(s): UCLA Neurology
Poster Title: Leading the Way in Medical Student Exploration of Neurology: How Neurology SIGNposts Promotes Diversity throughout the Pipeline
Summary: In August 2022, the Neurology® Resident & Fellow Section (RFS) launched a blog series called SIGNposts to encourage greater medical student interest in and exploration of neurology. We aimed to evaluate the impact of SIGNposts on the involvement of underrepresented groups with neurology experiences. We performed an analysis of author demographics, thematic content, and metrics of engagement for blogs accepted and published on the Neurology® RFS website. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics. From 2022-2024, 12 manuscripts were submitted and 9 blogs were published on the Neurology® RFS website. A total of 13/14 authors were trainees. Of those, over half (54%) were fourth-year medical students, 15% were third-year medical students, and 31% were international medical graduates. Over half of the blogs (56%) discussed the importance of mentorship, 33% mentioned global neurology, and 22% highlighted leadership or community outreach. Other topics included experiences in neurology with end-of-life care and exposure to neurology procedures such as EEG, EMG, and transcranial doppler. The SIGNposts blog series received 67,765 total impressions (number of content displays to users) in a 2-year period and 1,585 total engagements (number of content interactions) on “X” social media platform. This 2-year initiative demonstrated continued interest and involvement from female medical students from the United States and international medical graduates, suggesting its potential to diversify the neurology pipeline.

Name(s): Alice Hsu, PhD; Hyeon Min An; Rida Ismail; Kevin Bickart, MD, PhD
Institution(s): UCLA
Poster Title: Autonomics Predict Outcomes in Concussion Patients in the Brain Recovery and Individualized Neurostimulation (BRAIN) Trial
Summary: Currently concussion science lacks objective biomarkers to evaluate treatment. Autonomic measures, such as HRV remain abnormal in a significant portion of concussed patients. Wearable devices, such as the Oura Ring, that measure nocturnal HRV remotely will drastically expand longitudinal monitoring in concussion. Our objective is to determine how heart rate variability (HRV) can predict outcomes, such as fear avoidance behaviors, in persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS).

Name(s): Adnan Husein, MD; Alvin Singh, MD
Institution(s): UCLA Neurology
Poster Title: Optimizing Transitions 2.0: Feedback-Driven Revisions to a Neurology Bootcamp to Enhance Resident Competence Through a Milestone-driven Curriculum
Summary: The 2024 UCLA Neurology Residency Boot Camp was designed to enhance PGY-2 residents' confidence and clinical competence while aligning with ACGME Neurology Milestones 2.0 and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. The curriculum incorporated didactics, case-based discussions, and simulations focused on neurological emergencies, with new additions such as neuropalliative care sessions and a status epilepticus simulation. Post-program surveys indicated that all participants found the boot camp beneficial, particularly in reducing transition-related stress and improved emergency preparedness. Residents identified a need for more site-specific training, including EMR access and workflow orientation. Future iterations may incorporate asynchronous materials and interactive sessions to address these concerns, ensuring continued refinement of the curriculum to support neurology residents effectively.

Name(s): Rida Ismail; Kevin Bickart, MD, PhD
Institution(s): UCLA Neurology
Poster Title: Comprehensive Literature Review on the Use of Heart Rate Variability as a Biomarker for Concussion Recovery
Summary: HRV is an index of parasympathetic activity, quantifying the variance between successive heart beats. HRV is often abnormal after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), but has not been widely studied after concussion until recently. Studies have begun testing the hypothesis that HRV can serve as a biomarker of recovery because the regions vulnerable to concussional forces (e.g., limbic cortex, hypothalamus, and midbrain nuclei) are also key structures in the central autonomic network. In this comprehensive review, we will determine whether heart rate variability (HRV) can serve as a biomarker of incomplete concussion recovery.

Name(s): Elizabeth Joe, MD; Adys Mendizabal, MD
Institution(s): Neurology, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine; UCLA
Poster Title: Demographics and Healthcare Utilization Among Individuals with Huntington’s Disease With and Without Dementia Who Receive Healthcare in a Safety Net Health System in the US
Summary: Cognitive impairment is a leading cause of disability in patients with HD. Specialty multidisciplinary HD care is provided at Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) Centers of Excellence (COE), yet only 10% of HD patients receive care at a COE. Furthermore, HD disease onset and disability often occur in mid-life, and patients may experience limited insurance coverage as they wait to become Medicare-eligible. These patients may receive care at safety net health systems, yet little is known about HD care and outcomes in these settings. Our objective is to describe the demographic characteristics and healthcare utilization among individuals with Huntington’s Disease (HD) with and without dementia who receive healthcare in a large safety net health system.

Name(s): Ramin Karimi, MD; Kevin Bickart, MD, PhD
Institution(s): UCLA
Poster Title: Gender Differences of Concussions in Professional Boxing
Summary: Due to concerns around safety, female boxers have shorter rounds (2min vs 3min) and less championship rounds (10 vs 12) than male boxers. This may affect the earning potential for female boxers. There is however a concern about increasing female risk of head injury with longer matches. At this point, it is unclear whether the current rules and regulations are equitable, or whether females and males have the same rates of KO/TKOs. In this study, we aim to determine whether the rates of knockouts (KO) and technical knockouts (TKO) differ between male and female boxers.

Name(s): Ramita D. Karra, MD
Institution(s): UCLA Neurology
Poster Title: Applying Design-based Research Principles to a Multi-Pronged Neurology Residency Wellness Intervention
Summary: This research aimed to characterize factors contributing to neurology resident burnout and implemented design-based research (DBR) principles to determine the effectiveness of a multi-pronged wellness intervention, including longitudinal didactics, bimonthly resident social events, weekly emails highlighting spaced repetition of pertinent topics, among other elements. Overall, the impact of these interventions as assessed by the Physican Well Being Index (PWBI) was statistically significant towards an improvement in burnout, and our results continue to inform our iterative efforts towards improving neurology resident wellness. 

Name(s): Kyle Kern, MD, MS
Institution(s): UCLA Neurology
Poster Title: Successful Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant for Adult Sickle Cell Disease is Associated with Reduced Brain Atrophy
Summary: In this study we used quantitative neuroimaging to evaluate trajectories of brain health in the years after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) for adult patients with severe sickle cell disease. Patients with sickle cell disease have a high risk of stroke and vascular brain injury due to inadequate oxygen delivery to brain tissue and progressive narrowing of brain arteries. These changes manifest on MRI as accelerated white matter injury and brain atrophy, which are markers of overall brain health. HSCT is potentially curative, and other groups have previously shown brain recovery after HSCT in children with sickle cell disease. We used serial MRI to measure white matter hyperintensity volume (WMH) as a marker of vascular-mediated white matter injury, and total brain volume as a measure of brain atrophy. For 80 patients, there was an overall decline in brain atrophy and increase in white matter injury over median 4.9 years. However, for 67 with successful HSCT, brain atrophy was slower compared to 13 patients who had graft failure. While an increase in hemoglobin from pre- to post-transplant is expected as a marker of successful transplant, patients with a smaller hemoglobin increase had steeper decline in brain atrophy. On the other hand, the accumulation of white matter injury was similar between patients with successful HSCT vs graft failure, and there was no association between the change in hemoglobin and progressive white matter injury. In summary, we found that successful HSCT in adults with sickle cell was associated with slowing of brain atrophy, but no association with progressive white matter injury. Future studies will investigate whether these imaging results translate into reduced cognitive decline. As markers of brain health, brain atrophy may be more dynamic than white matter injury.

Name(s): Brianna Miranda
Institution(s): UCLA 
Poster title: Case Report of a Patient With Multiple Spinal Neurofibromas but without Nf1 Mutation
Research Summary: We are presenting a rare case of a patient with multiple spinal neurofibromas with KRAS mutation but no reportable NF1 variations.

Name(s): Amir Molaie, MD
Institution(s): UCLA
Poster Title: Efficacy of Using 3-D Printed Neurovascular Models to Teach Intracranial Arterial Anatomy
Summary: We are investigating the effectiveness of 3D-printed models of the intracranial arterial vasculature in enhancing medical students' and Neurology/Radiology residents' ability to interpret intracranial arterial imaging and improve their 3D spatial understanding of the neurovasculature. In this small pilot study, we found no differences in neuroanatomy quiz scores between control and experimental groups. Nevertheless, the models were rated highly, and based on our results, we are actively refining both the physical models and the educational framework in which they are utilized. Our goal is to optimize these tools to better support learning outcomes in neurovascular anatomy education.
Credits: Naoki Kaneko, MD, PhD (PI for the project); Katherine Fu, MD (Neurology Education advisor); Eisuke Tsukagoshi, MD (Printed the models); Jason Hinman, MD, PhD (Vascular Neurology mentor); and Noriko Salamon, MD, PhD (Neuroradiology advisor). 

Name(s): Kathie Ngo
Institution(s): UCLA
Poster Title: A Disease-specific Transcriptional Biomarker to Functionally Validate Rare Pathogenic Variants in SETX
Summary: The objective of this study is to demonstrate proof-of-concept for the utility of transcriptional profiling as a disease biomarker by functionally validating SETX mutations in patients clinically suspected of having Ataxia with Oculomotor Apraxia Type 2 (AOA2).

Name(s): Alvin Nyaboga, MD; Delany Thrasher, PhD; Sabine Kunrath; Christine Chang; Christopher Giza, MD; Kevin Bickart, MD, PhD
Institution(s): UCLA, UCLA Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Jane & Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA Health Operation Mend, Jane & Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA Health Operation Mend, UCLA Depts of Pediatrics and Neurosurgery
Poster Title: TBI and Post-concussion Symptoms in a Sample of Post-9/11 Veterans
Summary: The long-term risks of TBI and repeated non-concussive head impacts have received increasing attention in the last twenty years. At this time, there is still a controversy around the relationship between exposure to TBI and other head impacts as a risk factor for chronic symptoms. Recent case studies have implicated even low-level blast exposure as a potential risk for neurological decline in life and a distinct neuropathology on autopsy, interface astroglial scarring. The aim of this study is to quantify the relationship between exposure to traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS) in a large group of post-9/11 veterans.

Name(s): Leila Parand, MD; Golnoush Akhlaghipour, MD
Institution(s): UCLA
Poster Title: Fibrous Dysplasia of the Right Cranium Orbit and Frontosubcortical Deficits
Summary: A case of a 59-year-old, right-handed woman with past medical history of fibrous dysplasia, bilateral frontoparietal and right orbitozygomatic craniectomy for subtotal resection, external/epidural hydrocephalus, and left ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery presenting with memory complaints, persistent depression, and migraines. 

Name(s): Melissa Reider-Demer, DNP
Institution(s): UCLA
Poster Title: Filling the Gaps in Medical care: A Transition Model for Neurology Inpatient Services
Summary: This study aims to avoid gaps in transitions of care when patients move from the inpatient setting to another care setting. This study evaluates how inpatient throughput and emergency room avoidance can improve by implementing a nurse practitioner (NP) transition of model among inpatient neurology services that include: stroke, general neurology, and an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU).

Name(s): Raman Sankar, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at UCLA, Emeritus
Institution(s): UCLA
Poster Title: Clarification of the Mechanism of Action of Cenobamate
Summary: The presentation will discuss the first-in-class mechanism of selective inhibition of persistent Na currents in principal neurons, sparing the transient Na currents critical for the activation of fast-spiking, parvalbumin colocalizing GABAergic interneurons, thereby preserving network inhibition.  The contribution of extrasynaptic GABA-R mediated tonic currents further supports the selective effect on persistent Na currents, lowering the likelihood of the development of a paroxysmal depolarization shift (PDS) which forms the basis of epileptiform activity in certain acquired epilepsies as well as genetic epilepsies such as gain of function in genes encoding for SCN2A or SCN8A genes.

Name(s): Lina Shammas; Amy Ogilvie, PhD; Mariann Tobar, BS; Karla Luna, BS; Derrick Okine, BA; Adys Mendizabal, MD,MS
Institution(s): UCLA; University of Colorado, Denver
Poster Title: Disparities in Access and Outcomes for Hospitalized California Patients with Huntington's Disease (HD)
Summary: Huntington's Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative condition with a US prevalence of 13-15 per 100,000. The Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) designates Center of Excellence (COE) status to clinics that offer specialized multidisciplinary HD care. Yet, quality of care based on COE status has not been rigorously studied. The objective of this study is to describe HD patient demographics and healthcare utilization based on HDSA COE status using the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) datasets.

Name(s): Hannah A. Stevens, Genetic Counseling Assistant
Institution(s): UCLA Neurogenetics Clinic
Poster Title: Cross-sectional Analysis of Exome Sequencing Diagnosis in Patients with Neurologic Phenotypes Facing Barriers to Clinical Testing
Summary: This study set out to assess the efficacy of ES in patients with primary neurologic phenotypes who were appropriate candidates for testing but had been unable to pursue clinical testing. Our study found that in this population of mostly adult patients with primary neurologic phenotypes that were unable to pursue exome sequencing clinically, 47 (15.8%) had diagnostic results while an additional 24 patients (8.1%) had uncertain results. Of the 297 patients, 206 were initially recommended for clinical exome but 88 (42.7%) could not pursue ES because of insurance barriers, of whom 14 (15.9%) had diagnostic findings, representing 29.8% of all patients with diagnostic findings. In addition, the incorporation of bioinformatic repeat expansion testing was valuable, identifying a total of 8 pathogenic repeat expansions (17.0% of all diagnostic findings) including 3 of the common spinocerebellar ataxias and 2 patients with Huntington disease. These findings underscore the importance and value of clinical ES as a diagnostic tool for neurogenetic disease and highlight key barriers that prevent patients from receiving important clinical information with potential treatment and psychosocial implications for patients and family members.