Joseph Jankovic, M.D., Professor of Neurology, Distinguished Chair in Movement Disorders, and Founder and Director of the Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic, is an American neurologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Jankovic has served as the principal investigator in hundreds of clinical trials and his pioneering research in etiology, pathogenesis, and classification of various movement disorders and on experimental therapeutics. Jankovic has contributed to classifications, characterization, and therapeutic guidelines of various movement disorders. He has served as the principal investigator in hundreds of clinical trials and his research on drugs for parkinsonian disorders and hyperkinetic movement disorders, including botulinum toxin and tetrabenazine, has led to their approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Medical career
After receiving his MD degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in 1973, Jankovic completed a medicine internship at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and residency in Neurology at the Neurological Institute, Columbia University, New York City. At Columbia University, Jankovic was selected as the Chief Resident and obtained additional training in movement disorders with Stanley Fahn, MD. In 1977 Jankovic joined the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Neurology. Promoted to a full professor of Neurology in 1988, Jankovic holds the endowed Baylor College of Medicine Distinguished Chair in Movement Disorders. Under his leadership the Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic has been recognized as a "Center of Excellence" by the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Huntington's Disease Society of America, the Tourette Association of America, and the Wilson Disease Association. Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Jankovic is an active member of many other professional organizations. He has served on the editorial boards of Neurology, Movement Disorders, Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, Journal of the Neurological Sciences, Medlink, Neurotherapeutics, Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements, Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, Faculty of 1000, Toxins, Drugs, Frontiers in Neurology, and other journals. He is the editor-in-chief for Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. He is a current or past member of the scientific and medical advisory boards of the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, International Essential Tremor Foundation, and Tourette Association of America, and has served on the executive scientific advisory boards of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. He has published over 1,200 original articles and over 50 books, including several standard textbooks such as Neurology in Clinical Practice and Principles and Practice of Movement Disorders. Since 2001, he has been listed among “Highly Cited Researchers” earning him an H-Index of 144.
Honorary Member of the American Neurological Association, Australian Association of Neurologists, French Neurological Society, and the International Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Society
