My mission, along with the St. Joseph Medical Group, is to focus on innovative clinical care and the pursuit of excellence through scholarly activities. This allows me to provide patients with state-of-the-art patient services and exceptional patient experiences. Dr. Ladha is highly rated in 24 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Pompe Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Primary Lateral Sclerosis, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

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 highly rated in 23 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, and Gastrostomy.

Loutfi Aboussouan is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Aboussouan has been practicing medicine for over 45 years is highly rated in 15 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome (OHS), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Emphysema, and Thymectomy.

Andrew Mammen is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine specialist and a Neurologist in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Mammen is highly rated in 10 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Myositis, Dermatomyositis, Polymyositis, and Necrotizing Myopathy (NM).

Nicholas Maragakis treats patients with motor neuron diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This care is coordinated with the Johns Hopkins Center for ALS Specialty Care, a multidisciplinary clinic with expertise in treating patients with ALS and providing support to their caregivers. He serves as medical director of the ALS Clinical Trials Unit, an extension of the multidisciplinary clinic that seeks to facilitate opportunities for patients with ALS to participate in clinical trials that could advance the treatment of this disease. Dr. Maragakis is interested in the basic science of understanding neurodegenerative diseases, as well as the translational potential of therapeutic compounds developed in the laboratory. His fundamental research interest is in using stem cells — more specifically, stem cell-derived motor neurons and glia — for understanding the development and propagation of ALS. His laboratory has been involved in creating and characterizing lines of stem cells from patients with ALS using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) methodologies. The laboratory has a large library of iPSCs from patients with familial ALS and from patients with sporadic ALS. The utilization of this library of iPSCs has facilitated the development of a spinal cord-specific iPSC-astrocyte/motor neuron co-culture system, which has been leveraged for the development of assays that can be used for both the basic understanding of ALS astrocyte and motor neuron biology as well as, eventually, drug screening for ALS therapeutics. His laboratory has taken its long-standing interests in astrocyte biology, as it relates to ALS, to develop a program that investigates astrocyte-specific mechanisms as contributors to the progression (both temporally and anatomically) of disease in ALS. In this vein, there is an interest in astrocytic glutamate transporters and, more recently, astrocyte hemichannels and gap junctions. Dr. Maragakis is highly rated in 7 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Primary Lateral Sclerosis, 15q11.2 Microdeletion, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

Benjamin Claytor is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Claytor is highly rated in 17 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Myasthenia Gravis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Chronic Polyradiculoneuritis, and Miller-Fisher Syndrome.

David Lacomis, MD, is a neurologist and is certified in neurology, clinical neurophysiology, and neuromusculoskeletal medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is chief of the Division of Neuromuscular Diseases and director of clinical research for the Live Like Lou Center of ALS Research. He is also a professor of Neurology and Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from Penn State College of Medicine and completed his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, followed by his fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Dr. Lacomis is highly rated in 16 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Myasthenia Gravis, Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Lambert-Eaton Syndrome, and Thymectomy.

Michael Weiss is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Weiss is highly rated in 64 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Myasthenia Gravis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3, and Gastrostomy.

Matthew Harms, MD is an Associate Professor of Neurology. Dr. Harms received his A.B. in Biology summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1997, and his medical doctorate from the University of California San Francisco in 2003. He remained at San Francisco for neurology residency and served as Chief Resident in his final year. Dr. Harms completed neuromuscular medicine and clinical neurophysiology fellowships under the mentorship of Dr. Alan Pestronk at Washington University in St. Louis. His clinical training in neuromuscular diseases led him into the laboratory of Dr. Robert Baloh, where his post-doctoral research identified the genes responsible for two orphan human diseases- dominant spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 1D.Dr. Harms joined the neuromuscular medicine faculty at Washington University in 2009 with board certifications in neurology, clinical neurophysiology, and neuromuscular medicine. In 2011, Dr. Harms assumed leadership of the Washington University Neuromuscular Genetics Project and established his research laboratory to continue harnessing emerging genetic technologies to understand the causes of inherited neuromuscular diseases. The lab focuses on diseases of the motor neuron, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, and the hereditary motor neuropathies, and where his efforts have helped identify more than 5 novel disease genes. Here at Columbia, he will continue these efforts, directing an international multi-site effort using whole genome and transcriptome sequencing to bring precision medicine to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. His laboratory efforts will occur in both the Motor Neuron Center and the Institute for Genomic Medicine. Dr. Harms is highly rated in 11 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3.

Dr. Brett Morrison specializes in neuromuscular disorders in adults including peripheral neuropathies, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, myasthenia gravis and muscle diseases. Dr. Morrison is currently the site principal investigator for clinical trials investigating new treatments for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Dr. Morrison's research interests include investigations into the mechanisms of nerve regeneration and common peripheral neuropathies. Current research focuses on better understanding the role of the immune system in peripheral nerves and targeting these pathways for the development of new treatments. Dr. Brett Morrison received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Mount Sinai Medical School in New York City. He completed his medical internship at the University of Maryland and residency in neurology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He then completed a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Morrison is highly rated in 10 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

Danielle Richards is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Richards has been practicing medicine for over 18 years is highly rated in 10 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

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 highly rated in 10 conditions, according to our data. 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.

Jonathan Glass is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Glass has been practicing medicine for over 41 years is highly rated in 8 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, and Gastrostomy.

Paula Clemens, MD, is a neurologist certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is chief of the Division of Veterans Affairs and a professor of Neurology, Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Human Genetics, and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed her residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, followed by a neuromuscular fellowship at Mayo Clinic and a molecular genetics fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Clemens is highly rated in 7 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Becker Muscular Dystrophy, Pompe Disease, and Myotonic Dystrophy.

I am a member of AANEM (American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine)I enjoy hiking, reading and practicing speaking Spanish. Dr. Chrisman is highly rated in 7 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, Spinal Muscular Atrophy with Arthrogryposis, X-Linked Infantile Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3.

My mission, along with the Dignity Health Medical Group, is to focus on innovative clinical care and the pursuit of excellence through scholarly activities. This allows me to provide patients with state-of-the-art patient services and exceptional patient experiences. Dr. Shefner is highly rated in 6 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3, and Gastrostomy.

Dr. Neil Shneider is a physician-scientist with expertise in neuromuscular development and disease. He is a graduate of Harvard College and of the MD-PhD program of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and he was Chief Resident of the Harvard Longwood Neurology Training Program. Dr. Shneider completed his graduate work in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Axel and his postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Jessell. After several years in the Intramural Program of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Dr. Shneider returned to Columbia University as Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Neuromuscular Division. He is a member of the Center for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease and of the H. Houston Merritt Clinical Research Center. Dr. Shneider has clinical expertise in the diagnosis and care of patients with ALS and related motor neuron diseases. Dr. Shneider is highly rated in 6 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3.

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 highly rated in 6 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are 15q11.2 Microdeletion, Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), and Cluster Headache.

Cory Kogelschatz is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine specialist and a Neurologist in Murray, Utah. Dr. Kogelschatz has been practicing medicine for over 14 years is highly rated in 6 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, Peripheral Neuropathy, Myasthenia Gravis, and Miller-Fisher Syndrome.

Christina Fournier is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Fournier has been practicing medicine for over 19 years is highly rated in 5 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Primary Lateral Sclerosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, and Gastrostomy.

Eduardo Cortez is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Greenville, South Carolina. Dr. Cortez is highly rated in 2 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Myasthenia Gravis, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3, and Gastrostomy. Dr. Cortez is currently accepting new patients.

Erika Finanger is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Finanger is highly rated in 29 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Becker Muscular Dystrophy, Monomelic Amyotrophy, and Dysferlinopathy.

Vamshi Rao is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Rao is highly rated in 22 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Becker Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1, and Thymectomy.

Hans Katzberg is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in San Francisco, California. Dr. Katzberg is highly rated in 13 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Myasthenia Gravis, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, Multifocal Motor Neuropathy, Sensorimotor Polyneuropathy, and Thymectomy.

Jinny Tavee is a Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine provider in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Tavee is highly rated in 13 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Neurosarcoidosis, Peripheral Neuropathy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and Chronic Polyradiculoneuritis.