Biography

Half way through his medical education in Dublin Ireland, Padraig O’Suilleabhain came to Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota for an elective rotation in neurology. Hugely impressed with the training program, he returned 1992-1998 for neurology residency and for fellowships in movement disorders and clinical research. He then joined the faculty of UT Southwestern Medical Center, where in due course he was promoted to Professor. His duties encompass teaching, administration, patient care, and research. Some high points of each are noted here:

  • Dr. O’Suilleabhain is a mentor within UT Southwestern’s colleges program. He is assigned a group of 6 incoming medical students most years, and meets with them frequently during the course of their 4 years of study, training them in clinical skills and professional ethical behaviors.
  • Elected to Executive Committee of the Board of the UT Southwestern Medical Group - which is the faculty practice plan – he participates in strategic planning for the Group.
  • Caring for patients remains the primary identity and passion of Dr. O’Suilleabhain. He has particular focus on treatment of Parkinson disease, dystonia, and more recently normal pressure hydrocephalus. Most of his time is face to face with someone struggling with a brain disease, trying to help the person and the caregivers get the best treatment and outcomes currently available.
  • There is need and opportunity for better treatments in the future. One of his research projects currently involves sifting through the magnetoencephalographic signals generated during skilled activities such as writing, and how this is altered in dystonia and movement disorders. Another project aims to identify factors to guide treatment of normal pressure hydrocephalus He also investigates new treatments for parkinsonism and other diseases of the basal ganglia.

Dr. O’Suilleabhain is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association, the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society among others.

Education

Medical School
University of Dublin (1991)
Internship
St. James's Hospital (1992), Medicine
Internship
Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education (1993), Medicine
Residency
Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education (1996), Neurology
Fellowship
Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education (1997), Movement Disorders
Research Fellowship
Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education (1998), Neurology
Other Post Graduate Training
The University of Texas at Dallas (2015), Health Sector Management

Research Interest

  • Deep brain stimulation for treatment of tremor
  • Huntington disease disease modification
  • Magnetoencephalography investigating motor control in normal writing and dystonic writing
  • Neuroprotection / disease modification in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
  • Parkinson disease pharmacotherapy

Publications

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Books

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Honors & Awards

  • Dystonia Doctors of Excellence Award
    from US Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (2004)
  • Teaching award
    Voted by 1st year medical students (2001)
  • Trephined skull
    Voted teacher of the year by neurology residents (1999)
  • Upjohn Prize
    First place in medical school microbiology finals (1988)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

  • American Association of Neurologists
  • American Medical Association
  • Dallas County Medical Society
  • Movement Disorder Society
  • Texas Neurological Association