Dr. Mark Lew, director of the Division of Movement Disorders at the Keck School of Medicine of USC is advancing research in new pharmacologic therapies for Parkinson's disease. For the last two decades, the Division of Movement Disorders in the department of Neurology at the Keck/USC School of Medicine has participated in clinical trials for all FDA approved medications to treat Parkinson's disease. This has allowed hundreds of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients to receive new treatments years before they were commercially available. These patients are provided lifelong care through the Center well after the end of their participation in clinical trials. This comprehensive treatment approach positively and effectively changes the patient's lives. Other clinical projects include development of novel potential biomarkers for Parkinson's disease.

• A vital component of the program's success is a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach to PD therapy.  Every patient is evaluated to assess their individual need for therapy by speech, occupational, and physical therapists as well as clinical psychologists. Developing individualized disease-specific treatment programs for each patient is a unique approach to care that affords all patients regardless of financial  capacity a successful outcome.  As the World Health Organization estimates that the number of individuals with Parkinson's disease will double over the next 15 years, it is of tantamount importance that such programs are in place with a developed infrastructure to provide this high level of comprehensive care. 

The Division of Movement Disorders at USC has devoted energy and resources to organize Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs for community physicians to better allow them to diagnose and treat Parkinson's disease in an up-to-date fashion. Residents, medical students and post-graduate fellows are all educated extensively on the evaluation and treatment of patients with various movement disorders. Similarly, there is a long standing history of educating patients and family members with yearly symposia.