Movement Disorders Fellowship

Overview

The Mass General Brigham Movement Disorders Fellowship is an intensive 1-2 year training program that cultivates expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of movement disorders. This fellowship is a collaboration between two prestigious institutions: Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Together, Mass General and Brigham form one of the world's largest clinical and research programs for movement disorders, with 1,800 inpatient beds and 1.5 million outpatient visits annually. They serve diverse patients from the Boston area and beyond. Both institutions are affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

Our goal is to train physicians who will not only be excellent clinicians but accomplished academic physicians as well.

Requirements

Fellows typicially choose activities that fall into one of three main training tracks. The tracks can be modified based on individual interests and career goals.

Curriculum

Research Track (10-20% clinical time): This track focuses on a dedicated project mentored by a faculty member, usually a Harvard affiliate, or a non-medical Boston institution (e.g., MIT, Broad Institute). Research fellows typically spend one half-day per week seeing movement disorder patients in the clinical setting. Funding for this track usually comes from training grants or from the laboratory supervising the fellow's work. Prior fellows have a strong track record of securing funding from sources such as the NIH (R25 and K08 awards), Burroughs-Wellcome, the AAN, the APDA, the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Mission MSA, Cure PSP, Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation (Edmond J. Safra Foundation Fellowship in Movement Disorders). Prospective research track applicants are encouraged to reach out early to specific lab heads to discuss research opportunities before applying.

Clinical Track (60-100% clinical time): This track is structured to expose fellows to a wide variety of clinical experiences while allowing for protected time to pursue specific research or academic projects. Since 2024, the Department of Neurology have fully committed funding for the clinical track.

Clinical Research Track (30-40% clinical time): This track focuses on clinical research and includes clinical trial design, implementation, and analysis, as well as biomarker studies and genetic research. Fellows gain hands-on experience in multicenter clinical trials. Some clinical research fellows have completed the Clinical Effectiveness program at the Harvard School of Public Health. Departmental support is available for junior faculty at Mass General Brigham who have pursued this track in fellowship to undertake Master’s in Public Health programs at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Funding for the Clinical Research Track may come from existing NIH funding , as well as industry and philanthropic support such as the MyTrial program and the Harvard Biomarkers Study.

Research Experience

Over 30 faculty members with varied research interests contribute to the fellowship. The research encompasses a wide range of topics including Parkinson’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), dystonia, ataxia, deep brain stimulation (DBS), dementia with Lewy bodies, sleep-related movement disorders, Huntington’s disease, and neurogenetics.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply through the SF Match program. For more details on the application process and deadlines, please visit our fellowship page or contact the program coordinator.

Applications must include the following:

• Current curriculum vitae (CV)

• Three (3) letters of recommendation

• A statement (one-page maximum) of your goals for the fellowship, which addresses the following issues:

  1. What mix of clinical and research training interests you?
  2. If you have research interests, which research groups here have you contacted?
  3. What drew you to movement disorders?
  4. How many years would you like to stay here (include plans after fellowship)?
  5. What are your plans after your fellowship?

• Your visa status, if applicable. As you may be aware, movement disorders fellowships do not count as specialty training programs for J1 visa purposes.

Fellowship and Faculty Contacts

Program Director
Alice Flaherty, MD, PhD

John Growdon, MD

Albert Hung, MD, PhD

Todd Herrington, MD, PhD

Nutan Sharma, MD, PhD

Anne Marie Wills, MD