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

Featured Publications

Silas Weir Mitchell on the Cerebellum: Rich Neurophysiological Concepts and a Modern Perspective.

Louis ED, Cerebellum 2021 Oct

Features of "ET plus" correlate with age and tremor duration: "ET plus" may be a disease stage rather than a subtype of essential tremor.

Louis ED, Huey ED, Cosentino S, Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2021 Sep 91 42-47

Mild cognitive impairment, dementia and risk of mortality in essential tremor: A longitudinal prospective study of elders.

Delgado N, Hernandez DI, Radler K, Huey ED, Cosentino S, Louis E, J Neurol Sci 2021 09 428 117563

Tau Isoform Profile in Essential Tremor Diverges From Other Tauopathies.

Kim SH, Farrell K, Cosentino S, Vonsattel JG, Faust PL, Cortes EP, Bennet DA, Louis ED, Crary JF, J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2021 Aug

Brain donation in the era of COVID 19: challenges to the harvest in the face of a pandemic.

Iglesias-Hernandez D, Radler KH, Hernandez N, Faust PL, Louis ED, Cell Tissue Bank 2021 Jun 22 2 241-247

Increased Climbing Fiber Lateral Crossings on Purkinje Cell Dendrites in the Cerebellar Hemisphere in Essential Tremor.

Wu YC, Louis ED, Gionco J, Pan MK, Faust PL, Kuo SH, Mov Disord 2021 06 36 6 1440-1445

Baseline Infection Burden and Cognitive Function in Elders with Essential Tremor.

Iglesias-Hernandez D, Chapman S, Radler K, Dowd H, Huey ED, Cosentino S, Louis ED, Tremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y) 2021 May 11 16

The Neurological Study Unit: "A Combined Attack on a Single Problem from Many Angles".

Louis ED, Can Bull Med Hist 2021 Apr e463082020

Dentate Nucleus Neuronal Density: A Postmortem Study of Essential Tremor Versus Control Brains.

Hartstone WG, Brown MH, Kelly GC, Tate WJ, Kuo SH, Dwork AJ, Louis ED, Faust PL, Mov Disord 2021 04 36 4 995-999

Essential Tremor versus "ET-plus": A Detailed Postmortem Study of Cerebellar Pathology.

Gionco JT, Hartstone WG, Martuscello RT, Kuo SH, Faust PL, Louis ED, Cerebellum 2021 Mar

 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)