In the Crossfire 2010: The State of Disease-Modifying Therapies

Professor of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Director, Wayne State University Multiple Sclerosis Center & Image Analysis Laboratory,
Detroit, MI

Dr. Omar Khan has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers, abstracts, and book chapters. He has received numerous awards, and has served as faculty for the American Academy of Neurology, and the European Charcot Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis Research. Dr. Khan is an elected member of the American Neurological Association and also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).

Dr. Khan has served as principal investigator on several landmark exploratory and multi-center clinical trials. His areas of interest include imaging and the genetics of multiple sclerosis, and developing therapeutic approaches to treat multiple sclerosis. Dr. Khan's research is supported by the NMSS, the NIH, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Director, MS Clinic of Central Texas
Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Texas Medical Branch,
Austin, TX

Dr. Edward Fox is a noted national and international speaker on topics related to neuroimmunology and multiple sclerosis. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, then went on to obtain his MD and PhD degrees as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His doctoral thesis in immunology was entitled "Growth Requirements of Human Suppressor T Lymphocytes." He completed the neurology residency program at Baylor College of Medicine.

In 1992, Dr. Fox started his private practice of neurology in Round Rock, Texas, and with the addition of three partners has formed the group practice Central Texas Neurology Consultants. As Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic of Central Texas, Dr. Fox participates in phase I, II, III, and IV clinical investigations involving the treatment of multiple sclerosis. He is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Academy of Neurology, the Clinical Advisory Committee of the Lone Star Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.

Assistant Professor of Neurology,
The University of California, San Francisco, Multiple Sclerosis Center,
San Francisco, CA

After graduating from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, Dr. Bruce Cree earned his medical degree and his PhD from the University of California, San Francisco. He completed his residency in Neurology at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia University), New York City. He returned to the University of California, San Francisco where he undertook postdoctoral subspecialty training in multiple sclerosis as a Sylvia Lawry fellow. Additionally, he received a Master’s degree in Clinical Research at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Dr. Cree has served as an investigator on numerous clinical studies in multiple sclerosis. Much of his research focuses on trying to understand the genetic contributions to multiple sclerosis susceptibility and disease expression. He is board certified in neurology.

Saunders Family Professor of Neurology,
Director of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis
Mount Sinai Medical Center
New York, NY

Dr. Fred Lublin received his medical degree in 1972 from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA. He completed his internship in Internal Medicine from the Bronx Municipal Hospital, Albert Einstein Medical Center, and his residency at the New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center.

As a neuroimmunologist, Dr. Lublin has a special interest in immune functions and abnormalities affecting the nervous system. He has been involved in both basic science and clinical research. He and his colleagues were among the first in the country involved with studies of Interferon beta-1b, which was approved by the Food & Drug Administration in 1993 to treat the relapsing-remitting form of Multiple Sclerosis. He is currently involved with several new clinical research protocols on promising agents for treating various aspects of MS.

Dr. Lublin was chairman of the National MS Society (USA) advisory committee on clinical trials of new drugs in Multiple Sclerosis and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Research Programs Advisory Committee. He is a member of the National MS Society National Board of Directors and their medical advisory board, and also is Chair of the New York City/Southern New York Chapter of NMSS Clinical Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the executive committee of the International Medical & Scientific Board of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation.

Dr. Lublin and his colleagues at the National MS Society have re-defined the clinical course definitions of MS using data from a survey of the international MS community. He has chaired a task force on the ethics of placebo-controlled trials in MS. Dr. Lublin is also a member of the international panel that periodically redefines the diagnostic criteria for MS.

Dr. Lublin has published numerous scientific articles and belongs to many professional societies and advisory boards. Dr. Lublin has served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and to many pharmaceutical/biotech companies in all phases of new drug development and in preparation for presentation to the FDA and their advisory panels. He is the Principal Investigator of the NIH-sponsored multicenter Combination Therapy study in Multiple Sclerosis.

Professor of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Director, Wayne State University Multiple Sclerosis Center & Image Analysis Laboratory,
Detroit, MI

Dr. Omar Khan has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers, abstracts, and book chapters. He has received numerous awards, and has served as faculty for the American Academy of Neurology, and the European Charcot Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis Research. Dr. Khan is an elected member of the American Neurological Association and also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).

Dr. Khan has served as principal investigator on several landmark exploratory and multi-center clinical trials. His areas of interest include imaging and the genetics of multiple sclerosis, and developing therapeutic approaches to treat multiple sclerosis.

Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Co-Director, RMMSC at Anschutz Medical Center
Medical Director, Rocky Mountain MS Center,
Denver, CO

Widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in multiple sclerosis, Dr. Timothy Vollmer is a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine and a former faculty member at the Yale School of Medicine.

He joined the Rocky Mountain MS Center following six years as the Van Denburgh Professor at Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) where he served as Director of the Neuroimmunology and MS Programs. Dr. Vollmer built BNI’s MS Program to include a large clinic, an active lab investigating antigen-based therapies, a vibrant clinical research program, and an international registry collecting data on over 32,000 patients. Under his leadership, the Institute’s MS Program was honored as a Center of Excellence by the Consortium of MS Centers.

In 2008, Dr. Vollmer joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Denver as a Professor of Neurology. Dr. Vollmer is currently involved as Principle Investigator or Sub Investigator in 18 clinical studies at the University of Colorado, with participation in additional studies in the near future.

To date, Dr. Vollmer has completed over 70 clinical studies in MS. He remains active in the international community conducting research in MS, lecturing frequently in the United States and Europe.

Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology,
The University of California, San Francisco, Multiple Sclerosis Center,
San Francisco, CA

After graduating from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, Dr. Bruce Cree earned his medical degree and his PhD from the University of California San Francisco. He completed his residency in Neurology at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia University), New York City. He returned to the University of California, San Francisco where he undertook postdoctoral subspecialty training in multiple sclerosis as a Sylvia Lawry fellow. Additionally, he received a Master’s degree in Clinical Research at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Dr. Cree is board certified in neurology, and has served as an investigator on numerous clinical studies in multiple sclerosis. Much of his research focuses on trying to understand the genetic contributions to multiple sclerosis susceptibility and disease expression.

Director, Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research Center,
Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology, Golden Valley, Minnesota
Adjunct Professor of Neurology, University of Minnesota School of Medicine,
Minneapolis, MN

Following his graduation from Hobart College, Geneva, New York, Dr. Gary Birnbaum earned his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, and completed a medicine internship and a neurology residency at Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York. Additionally, he was a research associate in neurovirology at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland and completed a fellowship in neuroimmunology at Cornell University Medical College. Dr. Birnbaum is board certified in psychiatry and neurology.

As an invited lecturer and visiting professor, Dr. Birnbaum has spoken throughout the United States, Europe, and India on topics including heat shock proteins, plasmapheresis as treatment for MS, biotechnology in medicine, and neuroimmmunology. He has served as principal investigator on numerous MS clinical trials, and has published extensively in periodicals such as Journal of Pediatrics, Annals of Neurology, Neurology, Journal of Experimental Medicine, and Journal of Clinical Investigation. Dr. Birnbaum recently completed a book on MS, and was one of the editors of the book “Clinical Neuroimmunology.” He served on the Institutional Review Board of the University of Minnesota and on multiple NIH Advisory Sections.

Dr. Birnbaum is a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the National MS Society, and is a member of the American Neurological Association, the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Medical Association.

Professor of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Director, Wayne State University Multiple Sclerosis Center & Image Analysis Laboratory,
Detroit, MI

Dr. Omar Khan has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers, abstracts, and book chapters. He has received numerous awards, and has served as faculty for the American Academy of Neurology, and the European Charcot Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis Research. Dr. Khan is an elected member of the American Neurological Association and also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).

Dr. Khan has served as principal investigator on several landmark exploratory and multi-center clinical trials. His areas of interest include imaging and the genetics of multiple sclerosis, and developing therapeutic approaches to treat multiple sclerosis.

Director, MS Clinic of Central Texas
Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Texas Medical Branch,
Austin, TX

Dr. Edward Fox is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch and is Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic of Central Texas, located outside of Austin in Round Rock, Texas. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, then went on to obtain his MD and PhD degrees as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His doctoral thesis in immunology was entitled “Growth Requirements of Human Suppressor T Lymphocytes.” He completed the neurology residency program at Baylor College of Medicine.

In 1992, Dr. Fox started his private practice of neurology in Round Rock, Texas, and with the addition of three partners has formed the group practice Central Texas Neurology Consultants. As Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic of Central Texas, Dr. Fox participates in phase I, II, III, and IV clinical investigations involving the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Dr. Fox is a noted national and international speaker on topics related to neuroimmunology and multiple sclerosis. He is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Academy of Neurology, the Clinical Advisory Committee of the Lone Star Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.

Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology,
The University of California, San Francisco, Multiple Sclerosis Center,
San Francisco, CA

After graduating from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, Dr. Bruce Cree earned his medical degree and his PhD from the University of California San Francisco. He completed his residency in Neurology at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia University), New York City. He returned to the University of California, San Francisco where he undertook postdoctoral subspecialty training in multiple sclerosis as a Sylvia Lawry fellow. Additionally, he received a Master’s degree in Clinical Research at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Dr. Cree is board certified in neurology, and has served as an investigator on numerous clinical studies in multiple sclerosis. Much of his research focuses on trying to understand the genetic contributions to multiple sclerosis susceptibility and disease expression.

Director, Multiple Sclerosis Center at University of Pennsylvania
Associate Professor of Neurology,
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,
Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Clyde Markowitz is Director of the MS Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and is an associate professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He earned his MD at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed his residency, postdoctoral research and clinical fellowship at the Neurological Institute at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. His expertise is in the field of Multiple Sclerosis and is involved with many clinical trials developing new compounds for the treatment of MS.

Dr. Markowitz’s research interests include utilization of new MRI techniques to study the pathogenesis of MS and he also has a great interest in the immunology of MS. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Clinical Advisory Committee for the Delaware Valley chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Dr. Markowitz is the author or co-author of a number of publications, and he serves as an ad hoc reviewer for Multiple Sclerosis, Annals of Neurology, Archives of Neurology, Journal of the Neurological Sciences, Neuro-Rehabilitation, Neural Repair, Journal of Clinical Immunology, and The Consultant. Dr. Markowitz is a member of the American Academy of Neurology.