Leadership
Dr. Holloway has served as mPI since 2020. He has been Chair of the Department of Neurology since 2013 and has prioritized academic career development and diversity and inclusion in the Department’s overall strategic plan. He provides strong leadership, direction, and management of the ExNT Program. He has published extensively across many disease areas within neurology, including stroke, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, dementia, and neuropalliative care. He has held leadership positions in clinical trials and research training, has served as PI of the UR Clinical Site within the NeuroNEXT Network of Clinical Trials, and was the mPI of the NINDS-funded STEADY PD3 trial, which investigated the efficacy of isradipine to slow progression of PD. These experiences provide insight into both the emerging areas of clinical trial research and conduct as well as approaches to training fellowship-stage clinicians in experimental neurotherapeutics. He is committed to mentoring and was awarded the URMC Junior Faculty Mentoring Award in 2008 and in 2023, a lectureship was established in his honor, The Annual Robert Holloway KL2 Lectureship, given his longstanding commitment to research career development.
Dr. McDermott has served as Lead Biostatistician since 2020. He has more than 35 years of experience as a biostatistician in collaborative studies, mostly in neurological diseases. He is Associate Chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, served as Director of the Statistics PhD program from 2000-2022, and is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. Dr. McDermott will oversee the quality and rigor of program activities designed to reinforce principles of experimental design, to ensure trainees understand the practices and methods required for robust testing of scientific hypotheses. He has been heavily involved in assisting trainees in the design and statistical analysis of their research projects and in educational activities related to this training grant. Dr. McDermott has been a member of national and international collaborative groups conducting basic and clinical research in Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, epilepsy, various neuromuscular diseases, HIV dementia, multiple sclerosis, pain, and idiopathic intracranial hypertension. He has immense clinical trial experience and has served as Principal Investigator for coordination, data management, and biostatistics centers for multiple NINDS-funded clinical trials.
Dr. Ania Busza, Associate Program Director
Dr. Busza serves as the Associate Director of the fellowship, as well as an Emerging Mentor. She is a 2018 graduate of the program and an NIH-funded researcher who’s lab focuses on translating recent developments in human-computer interfaces into new medical tools for improving stroke patient function and quality of life. She is passionate about research education and training and has integrated her ExNT Program role within her research career development plans. Dr. Busza runs an annual Career Development Plan workshop with the trainees as well as a career development award grant-writing workshop series. She meets 1-2 times per year with individual trainees to provide guidance or course selection and research project planning, as well as lunching with the fellows group informally once a month to discuss any matters they may bring up. She also meets with residents and other applicants to the program.
Dr. Robert Griggs, ExNT Program Founder, Emeritus Professor
Dr. Griggs originated the Experimental Neurotherapeutics T32 training program back in 1990. He has overseen and been a vital part of the successful renewal of the program for the last 35 years. For 40 years, he has been continuously funded as principal investigator on federally-funded multicenter, randomized, controlled trials in neuromuscular disease, including: periodic paralysis, episodic ataxias, nondystrophic myotonia, inclusion body myositis, and Duchenne, facioscapulohumeral, and myotonic dystrophies. His clinical trials were the pivotal studies for FDA approval of dichlorphenamide for periodic paralysis and deflazacort for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Dr. Griggs has supervised the training of over 90 fellows in clinical investigation. While now no longer acting as director, Dr. Griggs continues to be involved in the ExNT program by providing mentorship and grant writing feedback to trainees, as well as serving on the advisory board.