Multidisciplinary and Subspecialty Neurology Clinics

The Neurology department at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center strives to provide innovative and customized care. As part of this mission, the department has developed several multi-disciplinary and sub-specialty clinics to support unique populations and enhance patient outcomes.

Evidence has shown that sleep apnea is a risk factor for stroke, and treatment helps prevent diseases such as hypertension and atrial fibrillation which are leading causes of stroke. The clinic is designed to help stroke patients with sleep disturbances follow with one doctor instead of visiting multiple clinics for these conditions, and is the first of its kind in central Ohio. In this clinic, a neurologist with both stroke and sleep expertise will provide accurate assessment and diagnosis of patients with a TIA or stroke, along with sleep apnea. The neurologist will identify through physical exam and questionnaires if you meet criteria for sleep apnea. This will eventually lead to an at home or in-lab sleep study depending on the patient’s risk factors and disease severity.

Stroke can also cause other sleep disturbances. This clinic will help address those conditions such as insomnia and restless legs syndrome. Some rare diseases classified as parasomnias (sleep talking and walking, sleep aggression) can also be identified and treated. Treatments for sleep apnea include CPAP, oral mandibular devices and the newly implanted hypoglossal nerve stimulator called Inspire. Your physician will determine which treatment is right for you based on your sleep study and severity of sleep apnea. Treatments for insomnia include various medications as well as gold standard CBTi treatment for insomnia.

Sushil Lakhani
Lead Physician 

Clinical profile

The Huntington's Disease Society Center of Excellence at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is a multidisciplinary team composed of Huntington's disease experts including a neurologist, genetics counselor, nurse coordinator, social worker, physical, occupational and speech therapists, dietician and neuropsychologists. The clinic is held on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and offers coordinated care and support to those affected by HD and their families.  Ohio State is a Huntington Study Group accredited research site and the clinic team is supported by an active clinical trial group effort offering opportunities to participate in observational and interventional research trials.

Sandra Kostyk, MD, PhD
Lead Physician

Our Young Onset Dementia clinic treats patients with dementia who happen to be younger than the typical dementia population. For these individuals, they may require extra care and attention that may help with quality of life. We service their needs by providing access to a speech therapist, genetic counselor, nurse practitioner, social worker and cognitive physician. Our speech therapist assess cognition and function, while our genetic counselor explores genetic components of disease. Our nurse practitioners help with caregiver needs and our social worker helps with advanced care planning needs. Finally, our cognitive physician helps to evaluate the patient and explain the diagnosis. Our team ensures that each patient and caregiver(s) receive high quality care to help them deal with dementia.

Arun Ramamurthy, MD
Lead Provider

Renee Kovesci, APRN-CNP
Lead APP

In this clinic, the Epilepsy team works closely with the Maternal Fetal Medicine group to monitor epilepsy patients who are pregnant. During this time, anti-seizure medication serum levels are monitored on a monthly basis and counselling is given to the patient during each trimester of pregnancy. There is extensive discussion on postpartum safety, breastfeeding, and postpartum anxiety/depression. After the final visit (at 3 months postpartum), the patient goes back to their original epilepsy provider for their long-term care.

Sarita Maturu, DO
Lead Physician

Danielle Becker, MD
Epilepsy Specialist

This multidisciplinary clinic works in collaboration with Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH). Adolescents and young adults are assessed for transition "readiness" and once felt appropriate, they are referred to the adult epileptologist in this clinic. Both the pediatric and adult epileptologist are present during this appointment, which takes place at NCH, to ensure a smooth transition. This team includes an epileptologist, social worker, pharmacist, neuropsychologist and nutritionist. NCH referrals only.

Sarita Maturu, DO
Lead Physician

In this clinic, patients diagnosed with PNEE meet with both an epileptologist and psychologist to go over their diagnosis. Once established with the psychologist, they are enrolled in a 6- to 8-week group therapy process to help identify symptom triggers and learn both cognitive and behavioral strategies to help decrease and eliminate spells. If the patient requires more targeted therapy after this period of time, then they will be referred for further individual counselling. There will also be a monthly support group held by an APP for those enrolled in this clinic.

Sarita Maturu, DO
Lead Physician

Emily Webster, LISW
Lead Social Worker

The Aging with MS clinic provides comprehensive care for older adults with MS who are uniquely affected by overlapping symptoms of aging and MS. Our multidisciplinary team of specialists manages issues related to functional capacity, gait and balance, bladder function, nutrition, cognition, mood, social support and medications. Our goal is to improve quality of life and prevent disability in older adults with MS through multidisciplinary care in geriatric neurology.

Yinan Zhang, MD
Lead Physician

Kristi Epstein, APRN-CNP
Lead Advanced Practice Provider

In this clinic, we offer pre-pregnancy counseling, monitoring during pregnancy, and guidance with symptomatic management during pregnancy and the post-partum period. Our preconception clinic focuses on preparing the patient for pregnancy. This includes a review of current medications and plans for continuation or change in disease modifying therapy (if indicated). During pregnancy, we monitored for possible relapse, discuss current symptoms and/or concerns. Last, we discuss breastfeeding goals and medication options available while breastfeeding. In the postpartum clinic, we focus on breastfeeding and symptomatic management following delivery. After the final visit, the patient goes back to their original neurologist for long-term care.

Allison Jordan, DO
Lead Physician

Adjusting to life with a chronic illness can be difficult. In this clinic, patients with MS will receive evidence-based psychotherapy with a clinical psychologist to address a wide range of issues, including adjustment to chronic illness/disability, depression/anxiety symptoms and fatigue. Treatment will be individualized to fit each patient’s unique needs, but will broadly focus on learning new coping strategies for addressing symptoms and enhancing quality of life. Evidence-based treatment approaches used include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and behavioral activation (BA).

Tirisham Gyang, MD
Lead Physician

Rochelle O'Neil, PhD
Lead Neuropsychologist

This is a multidisciplinary clinic between Neuroimmunology and Rheumatology to provide care for patients with neurological manifestations of systemic inflammatory/rheumatologic disorders. Disorders seen include neuro-psychiatric lupus, neurologic manifestation of Sjogren’s syndrome, vasculitis, connective tissue disorder, etc.

Tirisham Gyang, MD
Lead Physician

This is a multidisciplinary clinic between Neuroimmunology and the Sarcoidosis specialists within Pulmonary Medicine in the management and care of patients with Neurosarcoidosis. The team works together to provide clinical care and innovative research to better understand and treat this rare disorder. Patients will be seen by specialist from both teams and a unified plan of care will be discussed between specialists.

Tirisham Gyang, MD
Lead Physician

Arindam Singha, MD

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has developed a Quality of Life clinic for patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Patients can address concurrent issues including disease education, disease modifying therapy education, diet, exercise and supplement education, and are provided referrals to visits with specialists to address associated symptomatic conditions. The plan set forth in this clinic will be implemented in the MS Multidisciplinary Symptom Management Clinic (see below).

Tirisham Gyang, MD
Lead Physician

Kristi Epstein, APRN-CNP
Lead Advanced Practice Provider

This multidisciplinary clinic is staffed by a team of specialists who evaluate and treat a range of MS related symptoms, including fatigue, mood disorders/depression, cognitive and memory issues, spasticity, imbalance and unsteady or labored gait, weakness, incoordination, speech and swallowing difficulties, pain, and bladder dysfunction. Addressing these symptoms and providing education about lifestyle changes can positively affect quality of life.

Tirisham Gyang, MD
Lead Physician

Kristi Epstein, APRN-CNP
Lead Advanced Practice Provider

This is a specialty clinic for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) to manage fatigue and sleep disorders. Fatigue is the most common symptom reported by patients with MS and sleep disorders are more prevalent in MS patients than the general population. This clinic will identify patients who need a polysomnography or further investigation and create a customized treatment plan for these patients.

Meena Khan, MD
Lead Sleep Physician

Tirisham Gyang, MD
Lead Neurology Physician

This clinic is supported by a multidisciplinary team, including physicians, genetic counselors, and physical, speech and occupational therapists, that’s focused on further defining underlying causes of ataxia and managing a range of challenging symptoms associated with ataxia, including gait/balance difficulties, loss of dexterity, tremors, speech/swallowing difficulties. We will also investigate the genetic causes of ataxia through comprehensive pre- and post-test genetic counseling with genetic (DNA) test submission.

Yasushi Kisanuki, MD
Lead Physician

This clinic provides comprehensive clinical care to patients with ALS and related motor neuron diseases. The multidisciplinary care team is led by a physician-scientist and includes neuromuscular neurologists, nurse practitioners, a registered nurse, physical therapist, respiratory therapist, genetic counselor, social worker, dietitian, speech and language pathologist and clinical research coordinator. This allows patients to receive the highly specialized care they need on the same visit day. A major focus of our program is to connect the individuals that we serve in clinic to the critical research efforts that are happening in our laboratories and those throughout the world.

Stephen Kolb, MD, PhD
Lead Physician

The Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) clinic offers comprehensive care for patients with chemotherapy induced and associated neuropathies. We aim to evaluate neuropathies and treat associated symptoms using a multidisciplinary approach including a team of neuromuscular neurologists, physical therapists and a clinical pharmacist. Additionally, this clinic will provide opportunities to get involved with CIPN research.

Michael Isfort, MD

Matthew Burford, MD

As one of the MDA Care Centers Network, we provide comprehensive clinical care to patients with muscular dystrophies and other neuromuscular disorders. The multidisciplinary care team at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center includes neuromuscular neurologists, nurse practitioners, a registered nurse, physical therapist, respiratory therapist, genetic counselor, social worker, dietitian, speech and language pathologist. This allows patients to receive the highly specialized care they need on the same visit day. It also provides patient’s opportunities to access newly approved therapies and take part in cutting-edge research studies.

Bakri Elsheikh, MBBS
Lead Physician

This clinic is supported by a multidisciplinary team of myasthenia gravis experts. Our team includes three neurologists, a nurse, a respiratory therapist, a dietitian and a pharmacist. We work closely with a social worker, physical and speech therapists, and a genetics counselor. The clinic is held primarily on Tuesdays with extensions to Mondays as needed and offers coordinated care and support to those affected by MG and other diseases affecting the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) such as Lambert-Eaton syndrome (LEMS) and hereditary myasthenic syndromes. We are active participants in national and international research trials in an effort to develop new and innovative approaches to the treatment of MG, LEMS and other disorders of the NMJ.

Miriam Freimer, MD
Lead Physician

This is a multidisciplinary clinic focused on the evaluation and treatment of patients with autoimmune inflammatory muscle diseases including dermatomyositis, polymyositis, inclusion body myositis and immune mediated necrotizing myopathies. The clinic team includes a neuromuscular neurologist, rheumatologist, physical therapist, respiratory therapist, dietitian, and clinical pharmacist. We collaborate with a dermatologist and pulmonologist. The clinic provides patients with comprehensive care and access to the latest treatment as well as opportunities to participate in clinical trials.

Bakri Elsheikh, MBBS
Lead Neurology Physician

Jisna Paul, MBBS
Lead Rheumatology Physician

Ohio State's Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Multidisciplinary Clinic offers comprehensive care to individuals with SMA by bringing together specialists from various medical fields. The clinic team includes a neuromuscular neurologist, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, physical therapist, respiratory therapist, genetic counselor, dietitian, social worker and clinical pharmacist. We offer high-level comprehensive care as well as the latest gene-modifying therapies to our patients. Additionally, our patients have the chance to participate in cutting-edge advancements in the field through clinical trials and research.

Bakri Elsheikh, MBBS
Lead Physician

In this clinic, the movement disorders neurologists, nurse practitioners and clinical psychologist work together to provide accurate assessment and diagnosis of functional movement disorders, symptom monitoring over time, and evidence-based psychotherapy to treat movement symptoms. Evidence-based treatment includes biweekly cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to assist patients with understanding their movements, identifying symptom triggers, and learning cognitive and behavioral strategies that have been proven to reduce and/or eliminate symptoms. Patients will typically undergo 6 to 8 sessions of focused CBT, or until treatment goals are met. Concurrent intervention with physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy may be incorporated if appropriate.

Pietro Mazzoni, MD
Lead Physician

Sarah Grim, LISW
Lead Social Worker

In this clinic, a team composed of a movement disorder neurologist, advanced practice provider (APP), nurse and medical assistants work closely with physical, occupational and speech therapists, psychologists and a social worker to best meet the various needs of Parkinson’s disease patients. This “one stop shop” makes it easy for patients to receive the care they need, in a timely fashion, all in one location. There is an extensive discussion regarding motor and non-motor features of Parkinson’s disease with a focus on individualizing patient care.

Ariane Park, MD, MPH
Lead Physician

Clarisse Goas, APRN-CNP
Lead Advanced Practice Provider