UF Health Progressive Supranuclear Palsy & Atypical Parkinsonism Center of Care Clinic

In response to a critical need for care and research in this area our group decided in 2010 to pull together existing resources and to push forward toward a Center of Excellence for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy & Atypical Parkinsonian Disorders. The Center is now recognized as a CurePSP Center of Care.

CurePSP Center of Care Logo

About the center of care

Doctors examining gait

This interdisciplinary clinic is Directed by Dr. Nikolaus McFarland, Associate Professor of Neurology, and is run as a partnership between the University of Florida’s Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases: Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration Program and the College of Health and Human Performance (Dr. Chris Hass). These two world-class doctors and scientists co-direct the PSP/Atypical Parkinson disease initiative at UF.

In response to a critical need for care and research in this area our group decided in 2010 to pull together existing resources and to push forward toward a Center of Excellence for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) & Atypical Parkinsonian Disorders. These disorders include not only PSP, but also Corticobasal Syndrome (CBS), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), among other rare disorders that share features with Parkinson disease yet progress more rapidly and often respond poorly to typical treatments. The Center is now nationally recognized as a CurePSP Center of Care.

The identified needs in this area are:

  • Increased awareness and knowledge of PSP and Atypical Parkinson disorders to promote early diagnosis, care, support and access to research and the latest treatments.
  • Centers that provide comprehensive, multi- or interdisciplinary care, support, education and research opportunities for patients and families suffering from PSP/Atypical Parkinson disorders.
  • Develop needed partnerships between clinical, basic science, and pharmaceuticals to find and develop new treatments and eventual cures for PSP and Atypical Parkinson disorders.
  • Work to attract more high level scientists and clinicians from other fields to tackle PSP and Atypical Parkinson disorders to solve research and care challenges – there is a critical mass problem.
  • Develop a support and information network for patients, families, caregivers, and other providers (primary care and general neurologists).

As part of our mission, for the past several years UF has sponsored a PSP/Atypical Parkinsonism Think Tank symposium for researchers, clinicians and students. The aim of these Think Tanks is to bring together the best and brightest minds to tackle these disorders and to focus efforts new ideas and discoveries, aimed at advances in therapies and an eventual cure.

PSP Think Tank 2019
Participants of the 2019 PSP/Lewy body disease Think Tank at UF.

In 2018 we also held the first of hopefully more patient/caregiver symposium here at UF for PSP and Lewy body disorders.

Our Interdisciplinary Approach to PSP and Atypical Parkinsonism

We have created a model of excellence in care, research, and education for PSP atypical parkinsonism. To accomplish our goals we have established an interdisciplinary, world-class, “concierge service” for every new and return patient seen at our Center with PSP or an Atypical Parkinson disorder. Patients are evaluated on a digital gait and balance mat that helps clinicians follow their disease and researchers learn more about gait issues leading to falls in these disorders.

The patient and family will have access to all interdisciplinary services in one place:

  • Physical therapy
  • Occupational therapy
  • Speech/swallow evaluations
  • Neuropsychology
  • Psychiatry
  • Social work/case management
  • Palliative services

We aim to provide these multiple services (as needed) during your clinic visit, thus providing true comprehensive, interdisciplinary care.

The UF CurePSP Center of Care (PSP/Atypical Parkinson clinic) is fully integrated with the new Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases and partners with the UF Center Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Clinical Trials Research Center to bring research from “the bench to the bedside.” This partnership is critical and provides the research infrastructure to work toward discoveries and eventual cures for PSP and atypical Parkinsonism disorders. We aim to provide opportunities for patients to participate in clinical research and trials that we hope will lead breakthroughs in diagnostics and treatment for these devastating disorders. Our aim is to offer patients the best possible clinical and research experience.

Fixel Institute Exterior
UF Health Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases

The PSP and Atypical Parkinsonism program is also working on a training program to train new scientists for the field.

*Support for this program is provided by the Wright/Falls/Simmons Professorship

Appointments at the center of care