Dr. Boyd A. Dwyer

Neurologist Scott Newsome specializes in the care of patients with neuroimmunological and neuroinflammatory disorders of the central nervous system. He works within the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and has special interest in evaluating and treating patients with multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, neuromyelitis optica and stiff person syndrome. After completing fellowship training, Dr. Newsome joined the Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis and Transverse Myelitis Centers, and he is the director of the Johns Hopkins Neurosciences Consultation and Infusion Center and the Stiff Person Syndrome Center. He is also director of the Johns Hopkins Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infectious Disease Fellowship Program and co-director of the Multiple Sclerosis Experimental Therapeutics Program. Dr. Newsome received his medical degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, with honors. During his neurology residency, he was awarded the Golden Apple Outstanding Resident Teaching Award, and later was chosen to be chief resident. He subsequently completed a fellowship in neuroimmunology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital with the support of a Sylvia Lawry Physician Fellowship Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Identifying and testing novel therapies and therapeutic strategies for multiple sclerosis and other neuroimmunological disorders is Dr. Newsome’s main research focus. Other research endeavors include validating the use of new quantitative clinical outcome measures and imaging techniques in multiple sclerosis and identifying risk factors of disease onset and severity, response to treatment and long-term outcomes in neuroimmunological disorders. An adviser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and a member of the Miller-Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence, Dr. Newsome has also served as president of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers. Dr. Newsome is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (RMS). His top areas of expertise are Stiff Person Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Transverse Myelitis, and Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (RMS).

Dr. Mowry became interested in multiple sclerosis (MS) prior to beginning college and first performed MS research as an undergraduate biology major at Georgetown University. As a neurology resident at the University of Pennsylvania, she began her multiple sclerosis clinical research activities in conducting a study of visual dysfunction and quality of life in multiple sclerosis. During her fellowship at UCSF, Dr. Mowry evaluated prognostic factors in multiple sclerosis and examined health-related quality of life in multiple sclerosis, particularly as a marker of disease burden. She also earned a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at UCSF. Dr. Mowry continued as a member of the faculty there before joining the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurology as an Assistant Professor in July, 2011; she received a joint appointment in Epidemiology in 2013. She was appointed as the inaugural Richard T. and Frances W. Johnson Professor in 2022. Over the past several years, Dr. Mowry has worked primarily to perform epidemiologic investigations of multiple sclerosis (MS) risk and prognostic factors and has evaluated both genetic and environmental contributors. While she has had a major role in several such studies, her most significant work led to the identification of the association of vitamin D status with relapse and brain lesion risk in patients with MS (Annals of Neurology 2010, Annals of Neurology 2012, European Journal of Neurology 2015). She also conducted the first pilot study comparing gut bacterial populations in patients with MS and healthy individuals (Journal of Investigative Medicine 2014). She was recently funded to investigate the impact of vitamin D supplementation on the metabolomics profile in patients with MS compared to healthy controls. She enjoys designing and conducting clinical trials in MS and is the Principal Investigator of the Vitamin D to Ameliorate Multiple Sclerosis (VIDAMS) multicenter vitamin D trial (NCT01490502), which is sponsored by the National MS Society and a smaller multicenter pilot study investigating vitamin D pharmacokinetics in MS patients and healthy controls (NCT01667796). She is also the recipient of a Harry Weaver Award from the National MS Society, in which she is investigating the impact of intermittent calorie restriction in MS. Finally, as Director of the MS Experimental Therapeutics Program at Johns Hopkins, she assists colleagues with study design and helps oversee the conduct of MS clinical trials. Dr. Mowry is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (RMS). Her top areas of expertise are Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (RMS), Optic Neuritis, and Neuromyelitis Optica.

Bardia Nourbakhsh, M.D., M.A.S., is an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He practices out of The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Nourbakhsh has expertise in multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuroimmunology. Dr. Nourbakhsh earned his medical degree from the Tehran University School of Medical Sciences and completed a residency in neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He studied epidemiology, study design, and biostatistics, obtaining a Master of Advanced Studies degree in clinical research from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, where he also completed a fellowship in MS and neuroimmunology. In 2014, Dr. Nourbakhsh earned the American Brain Foundation Clinical Research Training Fellowship in MS, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Sylvia Lawry Clinical Research Fellowship, the Fred Baskin Young Investigator Award, and the Teva Neuroscience Award for Academic Excellence. In 2022, he was named a Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Dr. Nourbakhsh's research training focused on the design and execution of clinical trials and the use of biomarkers in MS. His current research interests include the comparative effectiveness studies of symptomatic and disease-modifying therapies in MS, as well as identifying new pathophysiologic mechanisms and therapeutic targets for MS-related fatigue. Dr. Nourbakhsh is the principal investigator of a randomized, double-blind clinical trial funded by the Department of Defense, which tests whether ketamine could be a treatment for MS fatigue. He has contributed to numerous publications, journal articles, abstracts and posters, and lectures. He is an ad hoc reviewer for Lancet Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Neurology, Neurology: Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation, Multiple Sclerosis Journal, and other journals. Dr. Nourbakhsh is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (RMS). His top areas of expertise are Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (RMS), Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Disease, and Meningocele.