Dr. Nicholas J. Maragakis

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 Primary Lateral Sclerosis. 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 Primary Lateral Sclerosis. 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.

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 Primary Lateral Sclerosis. His top areas of expertise are 15q11.2 Microdeletion, Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), and Cluster Headache.