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Robert C. Griggs, M.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Office: (585) 275-3707

Fax: (585) 276-2056

URMFGA member of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group

groupAn Accountable Health Partner

assignmentNot Accepting New Patients

Faculty Appointments

Patient Care Setting

Neurology

Biography

Dr. Griggs is Professor of Neurology, Medicine, Pathology, Pediatrics Center for Human Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He was Chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurologist-in-Chief at Strong Memorial Hospital from 1986 to 2008. He also held the Edward A. and Alma Vollerstein Rykenboer Chair in Neurophysiology at the University of Rochester. He received his BA from the University of Delaware and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He received training in Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Rochester where he was Chief Resident in Medicine and Fellow in Immunology. He trained in Neurology at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the University of Rochester where he was Chief Resident in Neurology.

Dr. Griggs is an internist/neurologist specializing in neuromuscular diseases with a focus on experimental therapeutics. He has directed an NIH-funded training program in the Experimental Therapeutics of Neurological Disease since 1989. He has published over 350 scientific papers and 24 texts which span the fields of medicine and neurology. He served as President of the Association of University Professor of Neurology (1994-1996). He has served on the Council of the American Neurological Association. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Neurology 1997-2006 and as President of the American Academy of Neurology, 2009-2011. He is neurology Editor of Cecil Textbook of Medicine and an Editor of Cecil Essentials of Medicine. Dr. Griggs has received numerous awards for teaching including the American Academy of Neurology A.B. Baker Award and Lecture for Excellence in Teaching. He directed the educational programs of the AAN from 1992-1997. In 1998 he received the Robert Wartenberg Award and Lectureship of the AAN. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1998.

Since 1998, Dr. Griggs has chaired the Executive Committee of the Muscle Study Group (MSG), an international consortium of investigators focused on developing new treatments for neuromuscular disease. The MSG is supported by grants from the National Institute of Health, Food and Drug Administration, industry, and a number of foundations.

Dr. Griggs currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology Foundation, the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics (ASENT). He Chairs the External Advisory Committee for Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery Queen Square, England and the NEMO Center, Milan, Italy.

Professional Background

Dr. Griggs is Professor of Neurology, Medicine, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics and Center for Human Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He was Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Rochester (1986-2008). He received his BA from the University of Delaware and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He received training in Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Rochester where he was Chief Resident in Medicine and Fellow in Immunology. He trained in Neurology at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the University of Rochester. Dr. Griggs is an internist/neurologist specializing in neuromuscular diseases with a focus on experimental therapeutics. He has directed an NIH-funded training program in the Experimental Therapeutics of Neurological Disease since 1989. He has published over 350 scientific papers and 24 texts which span the fields of medicine and neurology. He served as President of the Association of University Professor of Neurology (1994-1996). He has served on the Council of the American Neurological Association. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Neurology (1997-2007). He is Neurology Editor of Cecil Textbook of Medicine and an Editor of Cecil Essentials of Medicine. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1998. Dr. Griggs was President (2009-2011) of the American Academy of Neurology.

Research

Dr. Griggs is Professor of Neurology, Medicine, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics Center for Human Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He served as Chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurologist-in-Chief at Strong Memorial Hospital 1986-2008. He received his BA from the University of Delaware and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He received training in Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Rochester where he was Chief Resident in Medicine and Fellow in Immunology. He trained in Neurology at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the University of Rochester where he was Chief Resident in Neurology.

Dr. Griggs' research interests are focused on developing new treatments for neuromuscular diseases. He has developed treatments for the periodic paralyses, non-dystrophic myotonia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and inflammatory myopathies. He has directed an NIH-funded (1990-2015) training program in the Experimental Therapeutics of Neurological Disease since 1989.

Since 1998, Dr. Griggs has chaired the Executive Committee of the Muscle Study Group (MSG), an international consortium of investigators focused on developing new treatments for neuromuscular disease. The MSG is supported by grants from the National Institute of Health, Food and Drug Administration, industry, and a number of foundations. Dr. Griggs is currently principal investigator of the NIH-funded studies: "Acetazolamide vs Dichlorphenamide vs Placebo in Periodic Paralysis (HYP HOP), Double-blind Randomized Trial to Optimize Steroid Regimen in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (FOR-DMD) – a 40 center, 5 country study, and a 10 center Rare Disease Consortium: Clinical Investigation of Neurological Channelopathies (CINCH) which focuses on periodic paralysis, non-dystrophic myotonia and episodic ataxia.

Credentials

Education

1964
MD | University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

09/01/1968 - 06/30/1971
Residency in Internal Medicine at University of Rochester Medical Center

09/01/1966 - 06/30/1968
Residency in Neurology at National Institutes of Neurological Diseases and Blindness

09/01/1964 - 06/30/1966
Internship in Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve University Endodontics Residency

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Awards

2007 - Present
Amicus 8, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

2003
Woodward/White, Inc., The Best Doctors in America (listed since 1981)

2000
Honorary Member, French Neurological Society

1998
Rochester Academy of Medicine Award of Merit, Rochester, New York

1998
Elected, Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences

1990 - 1990
Visiting Fellow, Department of Biochemistry, University of Leicester (Training in molecular biology in the laboratory of David Critchley, Ph.D.)

1990
Burroughs Wellcome Traveling Research Fellowship, Leicester, U.K. (Laboratory of D. Critchley, Ph.D.)

1984 - 1985
Mentor Award, University of Rochester

1984
Albert H. Douglas, M.D. Memorial Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching. Medical Society of the State of New York

1981 - 1982
Senior Fellow, Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health

1980 - 1981
Dr. Henry C. and Bertha H. Buswell Distinguished Service Fellow, School of Medicine, University of Rochester

1972
Fellow, Neuroscience Research Program; Boulder, Colorado

1971 - 1974
American College of Physicians Research and Teaching Scholarship

1970 - 1971
Special Research Fellowship, National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke; Bethesda, Maryland

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Publications

Journal Articles

12/22/2022
Reoma LB, Busza A, Mouradian MM, Kaufmann P, Augustine EF, Frank S, Sutula TP, Cole AJ, Fitter HD, Meurer W, Nath A, Griggs RC. "Experimental Neurotherapeutics: Surfing the tidal wave of new opportunities." Annals of neurology.. 2022 Dec 22; Epub 2022 Dec 22.

12/1/2022
Reoma LB, Nath A, Griggs RC. "The Practice of Experimental Neurotherapeutics in Neuromuscular Disease." Continuum : lifelong learning in neurology.. 2022 Dec 1; 28(6):1817-1834.

8/17/2022
Ke Q, Zhao Y, Li Y, Ye J, Tang S, He F, Ji F, Dai X, Ni J, Li Y, Griggs RC, Cheng X. "Clinical comparison and functional study of the L703P: a recurrent mutation in human SCN4A that causes sodium channel myotonia." Neuromuscular disorders : NMD.. 2022 Aug 17; Epub 2022 Aug 17.

Books & Chapters

2015
Book Title: Andreoli and Carpenter's Cecil Essentials of Medicine, 9th Edition
Author List: Benjamin IJ, Fitz G, Wing EJ, Griggs RC
Published By: Elsevier 2015

2015
Book Title: Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 25th Edition
Author List: Goldman L, Levinson W, Schafer A, Crow M, Scheld WM, Griggs RC.
Published By: Saunders 2015

2014
Chapter Title: Channelopathies, Clinical Manifestations
Book Title: Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences, 2nd ed
Author List: Puwanant A; Griggs RC
Published By: Elsevier 2014

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