A paper published in the JAMA Neurology by Dr. Brent Fogel, assistant professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was cited in "Best Neurology Advances of 2014" by the editorial advisory board of Neurology Today.
Fogel’s study examined the results of exome sequencing in 76 patients with chronic progressive cerebellar ataxia, primarily sporadic- and adult-onset, and identified clinically relevant genetic information in over 60 percent of these patients. The study was cited along with two others for establishing the value of exome sequencing in the clinical diagnosis of neurological diseases. “These are not trivial academic findings because they have implications for genetic counseling, determinations of prognosis, management issues, and potential entry into treatment trials,” the award citation noted.
Fogel's research lab, in neurology's Program in Neurogenetics, seeks to understand the basic and fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying human neurodevelopment and neurodegenerative disease. Clinically, Fogel treats patients with various disorders of balance and coordination at the UCLA Ataxia Center, and he directs the Ataxia and Neurogenetics Biobank Program using genome-wide methods to identify rare and novel causes of neurodegenerative disease, particularly cerebellar ataxia.
Fogel has authored many research and clinical articles, reviews, and book chapters on spinocerebellar ataxia, clinical neurogenetics and neurodevelopmental disease. His work has been funded by the American Academy of Neurology, the American Brain Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the National Ataxia Foundation. Fogel obtained a Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics as well as an M.D. from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and he completed his residency training in neurology and a fellowship in neurogenetics at UCLA.