Clinical Neurocardiology Section
David S. Goldstein, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Investigator
Dr. Goldstein graduated from Yale College and received an M.D.-Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences from Johns Hopkins. After medical internship and residency at the University of Washington, he came to the NIH as a Clinical Associate in the NHLBI, obtaining tenure as a Senior Investigator in 1984.
He joined the NINDS in 1990 to head the Clinical Neurochemistry Section and founded and directs the Clinical Neurocardiology Section, an independent Section. He has received Yale's Angier Prize for Research in Psychology, the Laufberger Medal of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 2 NIH Merit Awards, the Founders Award of the Bakken Heart-Brain Institute, and the NIH Distinguished Clinical Teacher Award. He is author of more than 450 research articles and several books, including "Adrenaline and the Inner World: An Introduction to Scientific Integrative Medicine," the "NDRF Handbook for Patients with Dysautonomias," "Stress, Catecholamines, and Cardiovascular Disease," and "The Autonomic Nervous System in Health and Disease.
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Staff:
- Courtney Holmes, C.M.T., Biologist, 301-496-7832 holmesc@ninds.nih.gov
- Tereza Jenkins, Secretary/Patient Care Coordinator, 301-496-1115 jenkinst@ninds.nih.gov
- Irwin J. Kopin, M.D., Scientist Emeritus, 301-496-4297 kopini@ninds.nih.gov
- Sandra Pechnik, R.N., Research Nurse, 301-435-5166 pechniks@ninds.nih.gov
- LaToya Sewell, Nurse Practitioner, 301-451-1670 sewelll@ninds.nih.gov
- Patti Sullivan, Biologist, 301-402-2052 psullivan1@ninds.nih.gov
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Research Interests:
Dr. Goldstein's research interests are in catecholamine systems, clinical
autonomic disorders, and scientific integrative medicine. The Clinical
Neurocardiology Section, which he founded and directs, carries out mainly
patient-oriented research about disorders of brain regulation of the
cardiovascular system. The research emphasizes diseases of the autonomic
nervous system in which the sympathetic nervous system or catecholamines play
prominent roles, such as autonomic failure syndromes and neurogenetic
conditions featuring abnormal catecholamine synthesis or metabolism. The
Section operates a renowned Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory for assays of
levels of catecholamines and their metabolites. Current research of the Section
focuses on biomarkers and mechanisms of central and peripheral
catecholaminergic denervation in Parkinson disease and related disorders.
A major new study by the Clinical Neurocardiology Section is on biomarkers of risk of Parkinson disease (PD). We call this the PDRisk study (NIH Protocol 09-N-0010). There are two main purposes of this study. The first purpose is to determine whether people who have characteristics that may be risk factors for PD have objective evidence—“biomarkers”—that the disease process is actually going on. The evidence we are looking for is loss of nerves and nerve cells that use particular chemicals, called catecholamines. PD patients typically have a loss of nerves and nerve cells that use the catecholamines dopamine and norepinephrine as chemical messengers. The second purpose is to determine whether people who have abnormal “biomarkers” actually develop PD during several years of follow-up.
For more information about our PDRisk study please visit our Protocol-specific website, https://pdrisk.ninds.nih.gov.
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Clinical Protocols:
- Clinical Laboratory Evaluation of Primary Chronic Autonomic Failure 03-N-0004
- Biomarkers of Risk of Parkinson Disease 09-N-0010
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Selected Publications:
- Goldstein DS. (2006) Adrenaline and the Inner World: An Introduction to Scientific Integrative Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Press .
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Contact Information:
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David S. Goldstein, M.D., Ph.D. |
Please direct clinical inquiries to - |
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