Elan Louis, MD, MS

A graduate of University of Pennsylvania (BA, 1984), Yale Medical School (MD, 1989), and Columbia University School of Public Health (MS, Epidemiology, 1995), Dr. Louis joined the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University faculty in 1995 and was for many years a Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology before being recruited to Yale University in 2015 to be Chief of the Movement Disorders Division in the Department of Neurology. Dr. Louis’ principal academic interest is in degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, focusing on disorders of involuntary movement. He has a particular interest in essential tremor (ET), one of the most common neurological disorders, and his research efforts have focused on a broad spectrum of issues including its epidemiology, genetics, and underlying pathology. His work on ET has been cited in the New York Times as “pioneering” and he is considered to be the leading ET scholar in the world. Through his research, Dr. Louis has challenged many of the prevailing notions about ET and has substantially re-created the dialogue in the ET field. Dr. Louis established and currently leads the Essential Tremor Centralized Brain Repository, which is a national centralized brain bank for the study of ET, and has established a large DNA bank for patients with the disorder. He collaborates with investigators in Spain, Turkey, and Mexico examining the epidemiology of ET in these populations. He has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1995, as well as funding from the International Essential Tremor Foundation, the Charles A. Dana Foundation, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, and a Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholars Award from the American Federation for Aging Research. He serves on the medical advisory board of the International Essential Tremor Foundation, the Tremor Action Network, and HopeNET. Dr. Louis is the author of over 600 peer-reviewed scientific publications and book chapters and has been invited to write editorials and reviews for Annals of Neurology, New England Journal of Medicine, and Lancet Neurology. He serves on the editorial board of more than ten scholarly peer-reviewed scientific journals and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements. He is also the current editor of Merritt’s Textbook of Neurology (13th Edition), the most longstanding textbook in the field of neurology. Dr. Louis is committed to the care of his patients with involuntary movements and he has been listed by Castle Connolly as one of the Top Doctors in the field of Neurology.