Back to Main

Faculty Detail    
Name DAVID GEORGE STANDAERT
John N. Whitaker Professor and Chair of Neurology		  
Campus Address CIRC 516 Zip 0021
Phone  (205) 996-6329
E-mail  dstandaert@uab.edu
Other websites UAB Neurology
Standaert Lab
     

Education
Undergraduate  Harvard College    1982  AB magna cum laude 
Graduate  Washington University in St. Louis    1988  MD 
Graduate  Washington University in St. Louis    1988  PhD (Pharmacology) 
Residency  University of Pennsylvania    1992  Neurology Residency 
Fellowship  Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School    1995  Movement Disorders Fellowship 

Certifications
Neurology, ABPN  1993 


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Neurology Chair Office  Neurology Chair Office Professor
Secondary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Professor
Secondary  Neurobiology  Neurobiology Professor
Secondary  Pharmacology/Toxicology Chair's Office  Pharmacology/Toxicology Chair's Office Professor
Center  Alzheimer's Disease Center  Alzheimer's Disease Center Professor
Center  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr Professor
Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Professor
Center  Comprehensive Stroke Research Center  Comprehensive Stroke Research Center Professor
Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor
Center  Ctr for Exercise Medicine (Org Ret)  Ctr for Exercise Medicine (Org Ret) Professor
Center  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med Professor
Center  Ctr Neurodegeneration & Exp Ther (CNET)  Ctr Neurodegeneration & Exp Ther (CNET) Professor
Center  Epilepsy Center  Epilepsy Center Professor
Center  Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute  Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute Professor
Center  Multiple Sclerosis Center  Multiple Sclerosis Center Professor
Center  UAB Immunology Institute  UAB Immunology Institute Professor
Center  UWIRC Microbiome Center  UWIRC Microbiome Center Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Cellular and Molecular Biology Program 
Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics 
Integrative Genetics Graduate Program 
Medical Scientist Training Program 
Neuroscience 
Neuroscience Graduate Program 
Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine 

Biographical Sketch 
Dr. Standaert graduated from Harvard College and received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. Following Neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, he was appointed a Howard Hughes Fellow and completed a three-year research and clinical fellowship in Movement Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School from 1995 to 2006 and then relocated to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Currently, Dr. Standaert is the John N. Whitaker Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology and a senior member of the faculty of the Division of Movement Disorders. He directs the NIH-funded Alabama Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson’s Disease Research. He is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the American Parkinson Disease Association, an Associate Editor of the journal Movement Disorders, a Fellow of both the American Neurological Association and the American Academy of Neurology, a Councilor of the Association of University Professors of Neurology, and a member of the NIH/NINDS Board of Scientific Counselors.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Neurological Association  Fellow   
Parkinson Study Group  Member   
Movement Disorders Society  Member   
American Academy of Neurology  Fellow   
Society for Neuroscience  Member   
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases
Description
My laboratory is working on understanding both the root causes of Parkinson disease (PD) as well as the origin of the disabling symptoms that appear after long term treatment of the disease. The lab has a strong translational orientation – our goal is to accelerate the delivery of new therapies for Parkinson disease to the patients who desperately need them. A central interest is the role of neuroinflammation in PD. In human PD, there is a marked brain inflammatory response. Recent work in the Standaert lab using mouse models has led to the idea that this inflammation may be triggered directly by the presence of excess alpha-synuclein. The response involves both microglia as well as the adaptive immune system, and both components may be targets of therapies to prevent or retard the disease. We are also exploring the effect of levodopa on brain function in PD. Levodopa remains the most effective existing treatment, but long-term therapy leads to many unwanted side effects (“wearing off” and “dyskinesia”). The Standaert lab has shown that many of the effects result from abnormal synaptic plasticity in the basal ganglia, and mislocalization of glutamate receptor systems. Recently, we found that the mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of this aberrant plasticity are likely the result of levodopa-induced epigenetic modifications.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Wong SS, DiMicco JA, Standaert DG, Dretchen KL. Beneficial effect of fluorocarbon emulsion media on the function of neuromuscular preparations in vitro. J Gen Physiol. 1977; 69(5):655-66.   864433 
Standaert DG, Cechetto DF, Needleman P, Saper CB. Inhibition of the firing of vasopressin neurons by atriopeptin. Nature. 1987;329(6135):151-3.   2957595 
Qiao L, Hamamichi S, Caldwell KA, Caldwell GA, Yacoubian TA, Wilson S, Xie ZL, Speake LD, Parks R, Crabtree D, Liang Q, Crimmins S, Schneider L, Uchiyama Y, Iwatsubo T, Zhou Y, Peng L, Lu Y, Standaert DG, Walls KC, Shacka JJ, Roth KA, Zhang J. Lysosomal enzyme cathepsin D protects against alpha-synuclein aggregation and toxicity. Mol Brain. 2008 Nov 21;1(1):17   2600785 
Eskow Jaunarajs KL, Standaert DG. Removing the blinkers: moving beyond striatal dopamine in Parkinson’s disease. J. Neurochem. 2013 June;125(5):639-41.   23682629 
Steidinger TU, Slone SR, Ding H, Standaert DG, Yacoubian TA. Angiogenin in Parkinson Disease Models: Role of Akt Phosphorylation and Evaluation of AAV-Mediated Angiogenin Expression in MPTP Treated Mice. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e56092.   23409128 
Fernandez HH, Vanagunas A, Odin P, Espay AJ, Hauser RA, Standaert DG, Chatamra K, Benesh J, Pritchett Y, Hass SL, Lenz RA. Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel in advanced Parkinson's disease open-label study: Interim results. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2013 Jan 1.   23287001 
Cao S, Standaert DG, Harms AS. The gamma chain subunit of Fc receptors is required for alpha-synuclein-induced pro-inflammatory signaling in microglia. J Neuroinflammation. 2012 Nov 27;9:259.   23186369 
Li X, Lee J, Parsons D, Janaurajs K, Standaert DG. Evaluation of TorsinA as a target for Parkinson disease therapy in mouse models. PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e50063. Epub 2012 Nov 21.   23185535 
Saunders JA, Estes KA, Kosloski LM, Allen HE, Dempsey KM, Torres-Russotto DR, Meza JL, Santamaria PM, Bertoni JM, Murman DL, Ali HH, Standaert DG, Mosley RL, Gendelman HE. CD4+ Regulatory and Effector/Memory T Cell Subsets Profile Motor Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2012 Dec;7(4):927-38.   23054369 
Sciamanna G, Tassone A, Mandolesi G, Puglisi F, Ponterio G, Martella G, Madeo G, Bernardi G, Standaert DG, Bonsi P, Pisani A. Cholinergic Dysfunction Alters Synaptic Integration between Thalamostriatal and Corticostriatal Inputs in DYT1 Dystonia. J Neurosci. 2012 Aug 29;32(35):11991-2004. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0041-12.2012.   22933784 
Sciamanna G, Hollis R, Ball C, Martella G, Tassone A, Marshall A, Parsons D, Li X, Yokoi F, Zhang L, Li Y, Pisani A, Standaert DG. Cholinergic dysregulation produced by selective inactivation of the dystonia-associated protein torsinA. Neurobiol Dis. 2012 May 3.   22579992 
Moehle MS, Webber PJ, Tse T, Sukar N, Standaert DG, DeSilva TM, Cowell RM, West AB. LRRK2 Inhibition Attenuates Microglial Inflammatory Responses. J Neurosci. 2012 Feb 1;32(5):1602-11.  223802802 
Amara AW, Standaert DG, Guthrie S, Cutter G, Watts RL, Walker HC. Unilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation improves sleep quality in Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2012 Jan;18(1):63-8.   21924664 
Hoglinger, GU, et. al. Identification of common variants influencing risk of the tauopathy progressive supranuclear palsy. Nat Genet. 2011 Jun 19;43(7):699-705. doi: 10.1038/ng.859.   21685912 
Cantuti-Castelvetri I, Hernandez LF, Keller-McGandy CE, Kett LR, Landy A, Hollingsworth ZR, Saka E, Crittenden JR, Nillni EA, Young AB, Standaert DG, Graybiel AM. Levodopa-induced dyskinesia is associated with increased thyrotropin releasing hormone in the dorsal striatum of hemi-parkinsonian rats. PLoS One. 2010 Nov 10;5(11):e13861.   21085660 
Cao S, Theodore S, Standaert DG. Fcγ receptors are required for NF-κB signaling, microglial activation and dopaminergic neurodegeneration in an AAV-synuclein mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Mol Neurodegener. 2010 Oct 26;5:42.   20977765 
Lewis TB, Glasgow JN, Glandon AM, Curiel DT, Standaert DG. Transduction of brain dopamine neurons by adenoviral vectors is modulated by CAR expression: rationale for tropism modified vectors in PD gene therapy. PLoS One. 2010 Sep 17;5(9). 3.


 		 20862245 
Martella G, Tassone A, Sciamanna G, Platania P, Cuomo D, Viscomi MT, Bonsi P, Cacci E, Biagioni S, Usiello A, Bernardi G, Sharma N, Standaert DG, Pisani A. Impairment of bidirectional synaptic plasticity in the striatum of a mouse model of DYT1 dystonia: role of endogenous acetylcholine. Brain. 2009 Sep;132(Pt 9):2336-49. Epub 2009 Jul 29.   19641103 
Sciamanna G, Bonsi P, Tassone A, Cuomo D, Tscherter A, Viscomi MT, Martella G, Sharma N, Bernardi G, Standaert DG, Pisani A. Impaired striatal D2 receptor function leads to enhanced GABA transmission in a mouse model of DYT1 dystonia. Neurobiol Dis. 2009 Apr;34(1):133-45.   19187797 
Crittenden JR, Cantuti-Castelvetri I, Saka E, Keller-McGandy CE, Hernandez LF, Kett LR, Young AB, Standaert DG, Graybiel AM. Dysregulation of CalDAG-GEFI and CalDAG-GEFII predicts the severity of motor side-effects induced by anti-parkinsonian therapy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Feb 24;106(8):2892-6.   19171906 
Patel S, Hughes R, Huggins N, Standaert D, Growdon J, Dy J, Bonato P. Using wearable sensors to predict the severity of symptoms and motor complications in late stage Parkinson's Disease. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2008;2008:3686-9  19163512 
Theodore S, Cao S, McLean PJ, Standaert DG. Targeted overexpression of human alpha-synuclein triggers microglial activation and an adaptive immune response in a mouse model of Parkinson disease. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2008 Dec; 67(12): 1149-58.   19018246 
Yacoubian TA, Standaert DG. Targets for neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2009 Jul;1792(7):676-87. Epub 2008 Oct 1. Review.   18930814 
Schifitto G, Friedman JH, Oakes D, Shulman L, Comella CL, Marek K, Fahn S; Parkinson Study Group ELLDOPA Investigators. Fatigue in levodopa-naive subjects with Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2008 Aug 12;71(7):481-5  18695158 
Nicholas AP, Lubin FD, Hallett PJ, Vattem P, Ravenscroft P, Bezard E, Zhou S, Fox SH, Brotchie JM, Sweatt JD, Standaert DG. Striatal histone modifications in models of levodopa-induced dyskinesia. J Neurochem. 2008 Jul;106(1):486-94.   18410512  
Raju DV, Ahern TH, Shah DJ, Wright TM, Standaert DG, Hall RA, Smith Y. Differential synaptic plasticity of the corticostriatal and thalamostriatal systems in an MPTP-treated monkey model of parkinsonism. Eur J Neurosci. 2008 Apr;27(7);1647-58.   18380666 
Breakefield XO, Blood AJ, Li Y, Hallett M, Hanson PI, Standaert DG. The pathophysiological basis of dystonias. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008 Mar;9(3):222-34.   18285800 
Lewis TB, Standaert DG. Commentary: Design of clinical trials of gene therapy in Parkinson disease. Exp Neurol. 2008 Jan; 209(1):41-7.  17920590 
Dunah AW, Jeong H, Griffin A, Kim YM, Standaert DG, Hersch SM, Mouradian MM, Young AB, Tanese N, Krainc D. Sp1 and TAFII130 transcriptional activity disrupted in early Huntington's disease. Science. 2002;296(5576):2238-43.   11988536 
Harms AS, Cao S, Rowse AL, Thome AD, Li X, Mangieri LR, Cron RQ, Shacka JJ, Raman C, Standaert DG. MHCII is Required for Alpha-Synuclein Induced Activation of Microglia, CD4 T Cell Proliferation and Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration. J Neuroscience, In press.   
 

Keywords
Parkinsons Disease, Dystonia, Movement Disorders