Dr. Brett Morrison

Dr. Ricardo Roda earned a combined MD/PhD degree from University of Rochester and completed an adult neurology residency, followed by a clinical neuromuscular fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During residency, Dr. Roda developed a special interest in both auto-immune disorders and genetic disorders. Following residency, he spent three years in neurogenetics branch of National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) working with Dr. Craig Blackstone, focusing on the use of the newer DNA sequencing techniques in genetic diagnosis, and in establishing genotype/phenotype correlations neuromuscular disorders. His current clinical interests include developing testing strategies for undiagnosed genetic disorders and myasthenia gravis. Dr. Roda is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Paramyotonia Congenita. His top areas of expertise are Spastic Paraplegia Type 7, Hereditary Spastic Paraparesis, Myasthenia Gravis, and Spastic Paraplegia Type 2.

Dr. Charlotte Sumner is a Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Sumner cares for patients with genetically-mediated neuromuscular diseases. Her practice is notable for a focus on individuals with inherited neuromuscular disorders of peripheral nerves and motor neurons, including spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. She co-directs the Johns Hopkins Muscular Dystrophy Association Care Center, the Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and the Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) clinics, which deliver multidisciplinary clinical care, engage in international natural history studies, and provide cutting edge therapeutics. Dr. Sumner’s research focuses on developing treatments for degenerative disorders of motor neurons and peripheral nerves. Her laboratory uses human tissues and induced pluripotent cell lines, mouse models and cultured cells to characterize disease mechanisms and develop treatments. Dr. Charlotte Sumner received her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine following undergraduate studies at Princeton University. She completed internal medicine internship and neurology residency at the University of California San Francisco, after which she returned to the east coast for a neuromuscular fellowship at Johns Hopkins and a neurogenetics fellowship in the Neurogenetics Branch at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She joined the neurology faculty at Johns Hopkins in 2006. Dr. Sumner is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Paramyotonia Congenita. Her top areas of expertise are Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, and Gastrostomy.

Neurologist Payam Mohassel specializes in myopathies, muscular dystrophies, and other hereditary neuromuscular disorders and is the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center. Dr. Mohassel obtained his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he remained for a medical internship, residency training in neurology, and clinical fellowship training in neuromuscular medicine. He then joined the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Neurogenetics branch as a clinical research fellow. Dr. Mohassel’s research focuses on translational studies on neuromuscular disorders, and it spans gene discovery efforts, mechanistic studies to identify therapeutic targets, and early phase interventional clinical trials. Dr. Mohassel is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Paramyotonia Congenita. His top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Hereditary Sensory Neuropathy Type 1 (HSN1), and Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy Type 2.