Dr. Nicholas J. Maragakis

Arens Taga is a neurologist specializing in neuromuscular diseases, with a particular focus on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other motor neuron diseases. His clinical work aims to improve the quality of care for patients with ALS through biomarker-based, precision medicine approaches that refine disease stratification and facilitate more targeted and efficient enrollment in clinical trials. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Taga uses patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to model ALS, uncover novel disease mechanisms and identify therapeutic targets that are translatable to clinical trials. In recognition of his work in ALS, Dr. Taga was awarded the 2025 Richard Olney Clinician Scientist Development Award, which honors early-career physician-scientists dedicated to advancing ALS research. Dr. Taga earned his medical degree from the School of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Parma, Italy, where he also completed his neurology residency. He subsequently trained at The Johns Hopkins University, completing a postdoctoral research fellowship in the neuromuscular division, an internal medicine internship, a neurology residency and a neuromuscular clinical fellowship. Dr. Taga is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of 15q11.2 Microdeletion. His top areas of expertise are 15q11.2 Microdeletion, Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), and Cluster Headache.

Dr. Habela completed a Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. She received her PhD in Neurobiology in 2008 and her MD in 2010. After medical school, she specialized in child neurology, and completed 2 years of pediatrics residency and 3 years of child neurology residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2015. She then completed another 2 years of training specifically focused on the diagnosis, characterization and medical and surgical management of patients with epilepsy during an Epilepsy Fellowship at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Habela’s clinic specializes in pediatric neurology and epilepsy. Her clinical focus in on the care of patients with severe epilepsy with or without other neurodevelopmental disorders that have not been easily controlled with medications. She is also focused on the genetic causes of epilepsy and other neurodevelopmental disabilities with the hope that increasing our understanding of the genetic causes of epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disabilities will improve treatment. Dr. Habela’s basic science research is focused on the genetic mechanisms regulating appropriate proliferation, migration and integration of neurons and glial cells in both the prenatal and postnatal developing brain and how aberrations in these processes result in neurodevelopmental disabilities. Her hypothesis is that deregulation of pre and postnatal neurogenesis and synaptogenesis contributes to the behavioral phenotypes observed in many forms of intellectual disability, epilepsy and autism. Her research applies what we know from human genetic studies to basic science studies examining how specific genetic changes alter neurogenesis, synaptogenesis and overall excitation / inhibition balance in laboratory model systems. Her goal is to provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these processes and, in turn, possibly identify specific targets for disease modifying treatments for epilepsy. Contact for Research Inquiries 600 N. Wolfe Street Meyer 2-147 Baltimore, MD 21287 Phone: (410) 955-9100. Dr. Habela is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of 15q11.2 Microdeletion. Her top areas of expertise are 15q11.2 Microdeletion, Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Epilepsy, and Endovascular Embolization.