2014 Symposium Guest Speakers

Drake Duane, M.D.

Drake D. Duane, M.D. is a behavioral neurologist, who is also interested in focal cervical dystonia, essential tremor and tics; the first two on the basis of an unusual experience with spasmodic torticollis while on the staff of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and the last in association with his work in developmental disorders including Tourette syndrome. Dr. Duane is an Alpha Omega Alpha graduate with distinction of the Wayne State University, College of Medicine, in Detroit, Michigan; having received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota in Psychology as a Regent Alumni scholar. After two years of psychiatry rotation in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, he entered his residency at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, at the completion of which he joined the staff at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, rising to the position of Associate Professor of Neurology at the Mayo Medical School.

In 1987, he moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, to establish the Arizona Dystonia Institute and become Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University. Dr. Duane has published over 100 papers and abstract, 18 book chapters, and has edited four books. He is a member of the Movement Disorder Society, Dystonia Study Group, We Move, and of the Movement Disorders Section of the American Academy of Neurology, of which he is a Fellow.

His presentations include the World of Congress of Movement Disorders, THE second and third International Dystonia Symposia, the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurologic Association, the Tourette Syndrome Association, with movement disorder lecture presentations at the National Institutes of Health, the Mayo Alumni Association, and Ohio State University. His pharmaceutical industry-sponsored research includes Allergan, Athena-Elan, and Ipsen Pharmaceutical companies. However, the major focus of his research is the development of neutralizing antibodies to botulinum toxin A and B—in this regard is the proposing and lead investigator of the use of mycophenolate in the prevention of recurrence of botulinum toxin A antibodies in the initiation of antibodies to the B form of the toxin, as well as the biological characteristics of patients with cervical dystonia, essential tremor and tic disorders, and the implications of these conditions on affected individuals’ risk for comorbid psychiatric states and comorbid conditions such as scoliosis. He has evaluated over 1500 patients with cervical dystonia and more than hundred subjects with essential tremor, and more than 50 subjects with Tourette syndrome. He has assisted at selective denervation surgery and used Botox®, Dysport®, and botulinum toxin B. Dr. Duane has served on the Medical Advisory Board of the National Spasmodic Torticollis Association since 1984, has served as the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board and is the Emeritus Medical Advisor. His Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience, a division of the Arizona Dystonia Institute, has funded biannual international travel awards for the best essay on cervical dystonia. His awards include Teacher of the Year from residents of the Mayo Graduate School of Geschwind Memorial Lectureship. He is a recipient of the Dystonia Doctor of Excellence Neurophysiological Society, the American Academy of Neurology and the American College of Physician.