Elan Louis, M.D., M.S.

Elan Louis, M.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in disorders of involuntary movement and is considered the world’s leading scholar in essential tremor (ET).

Dr. Louis earned his medical degree at Yale University and a master’s degree in epidemiology at Columbia University. He completed a residency in neurology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and then received advanced training in movement disorders and neuroepidemiology through fellowships at Columbia University.

Dr. Louis served in Yale University’s Department of Neurology from 2015 to 2020 as a tenured Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology, Chief of the Movement Disorders Division, Associate Chair of Outpatient Clinical Research, and Co-Director of the Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research. Prior to that, he was a tenured Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he was also the Associate Chairman for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development.

Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Dr. Louis joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2020.

Dr. Louis’s research focuses on the genetics, epidemiology, and pathophysiology of tremor disorders. His work on essential tremors has been cited in the New York Times as “pioneering,” and, in fact, his research has challenged many of the prevailing notions about ET and has substantially recreated the dialogue in the ET field. He collaborates with investigators in Spain, Turkey, Mexico, and other countries, examining the epidemiology of ET in these populations.

Dr. Louis established the Essential Tremor Centralized Brain Repository – a national centralized brain bank for the study of ET. He has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1995 and continuous R01 funding since 2000, 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 has authored more than 700 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters and written invited editorials and reviews for Annals of Neurology, New England Journal of Medicine, and Lancet Neurology. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements, and he serves on the editorial board of more than 10 other scholarly journals  He is also the editor of Merritt’s Textbook of Neurology, one of the premier general neurology textbooks in the country.

Dr. Louis has served on multiple medical advisory boards, including the boards of the International Essential Tremor Foundation, the Tremor Action Network, and HopeNET, and he is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association, and the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

He is committed to the care of patients with involuntary movements and has been listed by Castle Connolly as one of the Top Doctors in the field of Neurology.

Medical School

Yale University School of Medicine (1989)

Internship

Yale University School of Medicine (1990), Internal Medicine

Residency

Columbia University, New York Presbyterian Hospital (1993), Neurology

Fellowship

Columbia University, New York Presbyterian Hospital (1995), Movement Disorders

Other Post Graduate Training

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (1995), Epidemiology

Fellowship

Columbia University, New York Presbyterian Hospital (1995), Neuro-epidemiology

• Disorders of involuntary movement
• History of Science
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Tremor disorders - associated comorbidities
• Tremor disorders - clinical features
• Tremor disorders - cohort studies
• Tremor disorders - environmental determinants
• Tremor disorders - epidemiology
• Tremor disorders - genetic determinants
• Tremor disorders - neuropathological and molecular basis
• Tremor disorders - rating scales

Synaptic loss and its association with symptom severity in Parkinson’s disease

Holmes SE, Honhar P, Tinaz S, Naganawa M, Hilmer AT, Gallezot JD, Dias M, Yang Y, Toyonaga T, Esterlis I, Mecca A, Van Dyck C, Henry S, Ropchan J, Nabulsi N, Louis E, Comley R, Finnema SJ, Carson RE, Matuskey D npj Parkinson's Disease 2024 Dec 10

Author Correction: Synaptic loss and its association with symptom severity in Parkinson’s disease (npj Parkinson's Disease, (2024), 10, 1, (42), 10.1038/s41531-024-00655-9)

Holmes SE, Honhar P, Tinaz S, Naganawa M, Hilmer AT, Gallezot JD, Dias M, Yang Y, Toyonaga T, Esterlis I, Mecca A, Van Dyck C, Henry S, Ropchan J, Nabulsi N, Louis ED, Comley R, Finnema SJ, Carson RE, Matuskey D npj Parkinson's Disease 2024 Dec 10

Prevalence of and Annual Conversion Rates to Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Prospective, Longitudinal Study of an Essential Tremor Cohort

Ghanem A, Berry DS, Burkes A, Grill N, Hall TM, Hart KA, Hernandez NC, Chapman S, Sharma VD, Huey ED, Cosentino SA, Louis ED Annals of Neurology 2024 Jun 95 1193-1204

Serum Neurofilament Light-Chain Concentrations in Essential Tremor: a Case–Control Study

Salinas M, Salinas VH, McGurn M, Hernandez N, Louis ED Cerebellum 2024 Jun 23 951-956

Decreased Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein 2A Binding in the Human Postmortem Essential Tremor Cerebellum: Evidence of Reduction in Synaptic Density

Yang Y, Zheng C, Chen B, Hernandez NC, Faust PL, Cai Z, Louis ED, Matuskey D Cerebellum 2024 Jun 23 1053-1060

Sleep problems as predictors of cognitive decline in essential tremor: A prospective longitudinal cohort study

Tsapanou A, Ghanem A, Chapman S, Stern Y, Huey ED, Cosentino S, Louis ED Sleep Medicine 2024 Apr 116 13-18

Reduced Bergmann glial process terminations and lateral appendages in essential tremor

Ruff DS, Balbo I, Lai RY, Dieng D, Hennessey C, Vennam K, Dwork AJ, McCreary M, Louis ED, Faust PL, Kuo SH Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology 2024 Feb 11 377-388

WHIGET and TETRAS Ratings of Action Tremor in Patients with Essential Tremor: Substantial Association and Agreement

Hernandez AB, Berr DS, Grill N, Hall TM, Burkes A, Ghanem A, Sharma VD, Louis ED Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements 2024 14

Pathologically based criteria to distinguish essential tremor from controls: analyses of the human cerebellum

Faust PL, McCreary M, Musacchio JB, Kuo SH, Vonsattel JP, Louis ED Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology 2024

Vestibular reflexes in essential tremor: abnormalities of ocular and cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials are associated with the cerebellum and brainstem involvement

Bal N, Şengül Y, Behmen MB, Powell A, Louis ED Journal of Neural Transmission 2023 Dec 130 1553-1559

 Featured Books

Merritt's Textbook of Neurology

(Ed.) (2013). Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

• H. Richard Tyler Award historical research
  American Academy of Neurology (2010)
• Lawrence C. McHenry Award for excellence in research in neurological history
  American Academy of Neurology (2010)
• Dorothy Dillon Eweson Lectureship on Advances in Aging Research
  American Federation for Aging Research (2000-2005)
• Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar
  American Federation for Aging Research (1997-2000)
• Lawrence C. McHenry Award for excellence in research in neurological history
  American Academy of Neurology (1994)
• Outstanding Houseofficer and Teacher
  College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University (1992)
• Cum Laude
  Yale University School of Medicine (1989)
• Harold Lamport Biomedical Research Prize
  Yale University School of Medicine (1989)
• Merck Research Award
  Yale University School of Medicine (1989)
• Magna Cum Laude
  University of Pennsylvania (1984)
• Phi Beta Kappa
  University of Pennsylvania (1984)

• American Academy of Neurology (Scientific Program Subcomittee) (2002-2005)
• Basal Ganglia (editorial board) (2017-2019)
• Cerebellum and Ataxias (editorial board) (2014-2020)
• Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (Medical Advisory Board) (2004-2006)
• Frontiers in Movement Disorders (editorial board) (2010-2020)
• HopeNET (Medical Advisory Board) (2014-2020)
• Institute of Medicine (Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans Exposed to Herbicides - Tenth Biennial Update) (2014-2015)
• International Essential Tremor Foundation (Advisor) (2005-2020)
• Journal of Clinical Movement Disorders (editorial board) (2013-2020)
• Journal of the History of the Neurosciences (editorial board) (2001-2020)
• Movement Disorders (editorial board) (2000-2005)
• National Institutes of Health (Clinical Neuroscience and Disease Study Section Member) (2003-2008)
• Neuroepidemiology (editorial board) (2008-2020)
• Parkinson's Disease (editorial board) (2009-2020)
• Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements (Editor in Chief) (2010-2020)