UCLA Neurology Dept. wins designation

UCLA Neurology Dept. wins designation

Huntington’s Disease Society calls department

‘a regional Center of Excellence’

The Department of Neurology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine has been designated a regional Center of Excellence by the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA). UCLA was one of four universities across the nation competitively awarded the prestigious designation this year.

The designation includes $50,000 a year in funding to help support a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals with expertise in Huntington’s disease. The team will provide comprehensive medical and social services as well as education, outreach and research opportunities to the HD community.

"The multidisciplinary team approach to treatment of chronic neurologic illness has been widely established as the best model for both health care providers and patients," said Dr. Susan Perlman, clinical professor of neurology, who directs the HDSA Center of Excellence at UCLA. "Patients and families with HD have been relentless in seeking treatment, information and support in dealing with this progressive genetic disorder. We are eager to help them in this quest."

The Huntington’s Disease Society of America currently supports 21 HDSA Centers of Excellence across the country, including two additional University of California facilities in Sacramento and San Diego.

  "The Huntington’s Disease Society of America is committed to identifying and designating 25 HDSA Centers of Excellence by 2006," said Barbara Boyle, HDSA national executive director and chief executive officer. "The addition of UCLA means that our HD families living in the Greater Los Angeles area and Orange County will no longer have to travel to San Diego or Sacramento to receive the exceptional quality of care offered by an HDSA Center of Excellence. We look forward to working with the staff at UCLA to make this an outstanding Center of Excellence, which we will formally dedicate in January 2005."

Huntington’s disease is an inherited degenerative disease that progressively robs patients of the ability to think, judge appropriately, control their emotions and perform coordinated tasks. Huntington’s disease typically begins in mid-life, between the ages of 30 and 50. Each child of a parent with Huntington’s has a 50 percent risk for inheriting the disease. There is no effective treatment or cure for this fatal illness that affects 30,000 Americans and places another 200,000 at risk.

UCLA offers a weekly Huntington’s Disease Clinic and a full spectrum of services, including genetic testing and counseling, psychiatry, physical and occupational therapy, nutrition intervention, caregiver and patient support, education programs, and community outreach. UCLA is also one of the sites designated for ongoing multi-center, placebo-controlled clinical trials for HD. For additional information, please visit the website at http://www.huntington-study-group.org/.