About Our FacultyJonathan W. Mink, M.D., Ph.D.
Throughout the division, dozens of research projects are underway as Rochester pediatric neuroscientists work--often collaboratively with faculty from other departments and other universities--on aspects of neurological diseases that affect children, including Tourette syndrome, dystonia, chorea, epilepsy, HIV infection, Batten disease, the effect of low-level mercury exposure, neonatal seizures, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). The unit has been highly successful in obtaining funding for this work and in providing research opportunities for students, residents, and fellows. The unit prides itself on an outstanding teaching program. Upon his arrival in 2001, Dr. Mink reactivated Rochester’s residency training program in Pediatric Neurology, and his award-winning classroom skills are helping recruit young physicians into a field that is desperately underserved. Over the past five years, eleven Rochester medical students have opted for careers in Pediatric Neurology, an exceptionally high proportion from classes that number one hundred per year. Five residents are currently enrolled in the University of Rochester Pediatric Neurology training program. Pediatric neurologists are an endangered species,” says Dr. Mink. “This is a complex specialty that requires long training, but those of us who are devoted to the field welcome the challenge. The time we spend with our patients has very rich rewards,” says Dr. Mink. “We are pleased that we have been so successful in attracted some of our outstanding medical students to our field.” For those being trained in the field, there are advantages. In short, it’s a buyer’s market. All of Rochester’s recent medical school graduates have been accepted into top-notch pediatric neurology residency programs. Communities across the country will be grateful for the skills they bring to hopeful families. The unit’s clinical operation serves thousands of young patients and their families throughout Western New York and beyond. In addition to consultation for general neurological problems, the unit has special expertise in several areas including epilepsy, movement disorders, neurogenetic disorders, ADHD, neonatal neurology, headache, and neurodegenerative disorders. Jon Mink was only a youngster when he was introduced to the brain’s mysteries. His father, a professor of psychology at Macalester College, was among the first to study neural activity in the brains of awake, freely moving animals. In his lab, young Jon earned pennies for counting sleep spindle on the EEG and neuronal action potentials on the oscilloscope. If Walter Mink was his son’s earliest mentor, it was Philip Dodge (UR SMD ’48), dean of Pediatric Neurology at Children’s Hospital, St. Louis, who fixed Jon’s career course. “As a medical student at Wash. U., I knew Dr. Dodge’s reputation as an outstanding practitioner and researcher in this sub-specialty. Then one day I watched him at work in the clinic. Here was this grandfatherly man sitting down on the floor with a bag of toys, singing and playing with the kids as though he really was their grandfather. As he engaged the children in play, I saw that actually he was doing comprehensive neurological evaluations. Wow! I thought. That’s great! I could make a career out of playing with children.” After finishing his training, Dr. Mink began his own post-doctoral research at Washington University on the basic physiology of basal ganglia, the part of the brain that degenerates in PD and many forms of cerebral palsy. After joining the faculty, he developed and directed Washington University’s Deep-Brain Stimulation [DBS] program, a technology that delivers electrical stimulation to the brains of patients with severe motor disorders, a therapy often effective in tremor control and Parkinson’s disease. In 2001, Dr. Mink was asked by Robert (Berch) Griggs, MD, Chair of Neurology at the University of Rochester, to accept the post as head of Pediatric Neurology. Under his leadership, the division currently brings together seven full-time faculty, five residents, a fellow, and four pediatric nurse practitioners. Further growth is expected in the next year. Dr. Mink, who received the University of Rochester’s 2005 Neurology Faculty Teaching Award, now holds appointments in Neurology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Pediatrics, and Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Dr. Mink’s research program includes his own three NIH grants and three NIH grants on which he is a co investigator. One of the things that makes Rochester such an attractive place is its relatively small size and its collegial, open-door attitude,” he says. “That makes it possible to build collaborative relationships that might not otherwise happen.” He cites the example of Rochester’s new Batten’s Disease Center, the result of a drop-in visit by David Pearce, PhD, a University of Rochester scientist interested in developing a clinical rating scale for Batten’s Disease. The Center is now the nation’s primary resource for patients and families coping with the rare, devastating disease. Despite running the Child Neurology residency program and directing major research programs Dr. Mink is a busy, accessible clinician. He specializes in childhood movement disorders including Tourette syndrome, chorea, dystonia, tremor, myoclonus, and other disorders characterized by abnormal movements.
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