Chad R. Heatwole, M.D., M.S.

Chad Heatwole, MD, MS-CI is a neuromuscular clinician and researcher at the University of Rochester. He has an engineering degree from Virginia Tech, a medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia, a master's degree in clinical investigation, and has completed a University of Rochester neurology residency, electrophysiology fellowship, and NIH-funded neuromuscular experimental therapeutics fellowship. He has had continuous grant funding over the last 12 years and has served as the Principal Investigator on over 22 research grants including awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, New York State, and numerous research foundations. Dr. Heatwole's research has led to the development of an internationally recognized network dedicated to improving the quality-of-life of neuromuscular patients through patient-centered clinical research and therapeutic development. His professional interests include providing optimal care to patients with neuromuscular disorders, conducting electrodiagnostic studies, training medical personnel, evaluating novel experimental therapeutics for neurological diseases though clinical trials, and developing an improved infrastructure to utilize disease-specific, patient-relevant endpoint measures for use in clinical trials and patient monitoring.

Professional Background

Dr. Heatwole is board certified in both neurology and neuromuscular disease with sub-specialty fellowship training in neuromuscular medicine, electrophysiology, and experimental therapeutic development. Dr. Heatwole is committed to: 1) providing optimal care to patients with neurological and neuromuscular disease; 2) teaching students, residents, and fellows; and, 3) training faculty in therapeutics and outcome measure development research. His main clinical focus is in the management and diagnosis of patients with muscular dystrophy. Working in a well-established neuromuscular disease clinic at URMC, Dr. Heatwole’s "myotonia clinic" forms a key resource for international patient recruitment and therapeutic care at the University of Rochester. Through this clinic, he provides clinical care and research opportunities to children and adults with dystrophic and non-dystrophic myotonic disorders as well as a diverse group of neuromuscular patients with both rare and common disorders.

Research

Dr. Heatwole’s research laboratory is internationally known for the development, validation, and analysis of highly sensitive patient relevant outcome measures for use in drug labeling trials. Dr. Heatwole has planned and implemented numerous investigator initiated clinical studies and has developed over 60 disease-specific instruments in 10 different languages. These instruments are extensively used globally to measure therapeutic gain during clinical trials and have been used in academic initiated trials, pharmaceutic sponsored trials, government initiated trials, and as clinical markers of disease burden. Through his joint role as associate director of the Center for Health and Technology, Dr. Heatwole also guides an international multi-faceted research and operations center dedicated to harnessing state-of-the-art technologies and advancing research and clinical care through improved clinical trial infrastructure. Diseases that he is currently focusing on include:

Myotonic dystrophy type-1 (DM1)
Myotonic dystrophy type-2 (DM2)
Congenital myotonic dystrophy (CMD)
Juvenile myotonic dystrophy (JMD)
Charcot-Marie Tooth 1a (CMT1a)
Inclusion body myositis (IBM)
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD)
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
Huntington’s disease (HD)
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Friedreich’s ataxia (FA)
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)
Cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM)
Crohn’s disease
Lung cancer

Dr. Heatwole is also committed to the study and development of novel experimental therapeutics. He has conducted numerous clinical studies including ones involving mexiletine, recombinant human insulin-like growth factor, and antisense oligonucleotides. As PI of a NIH U01 longitudinal study of FSHD patients, Dr. Heatwole has evaluated and developed natural history data and novel outcome measures for this population. Currently, Dr. Heatwole is primary investigator of a NIH-funded, investigator-initiated, clinical trial studying two promising endocrine therapies for FSHD patients.

Dr. Heatwole’s other research initiatives seek to better understanding the baseline abnormalities associated with the neuromuscular disease, understand the association between biomarkers and disease severity, and understand how muscular dystrophies progress over time. This work has led to the identification of defining laboratory characteristics in muscular dystrophies, data on the disease progression in FSHD and myotonic dystrophy, biomarker discovery, evidence-based guidelines, and a novel differentiating clinical sign for myotonic dystrophy type-1 and type-2

Credentials

Specialties

Neuromuscular Medicine - American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Neurology - American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Education

2001
MD | The Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

07/01/2005 - 07/01/2006
Fellowship in Neurophysiology at University of Rochester Medical Center

06/01/2002 - 06/30/2005
Residency in Neurology at University of Rochester Medical Center

06/24/2001 - 5/31/2002
Internship in at University of Rochester Medical Center

VIEW ALL

Awards

2016
University of Rochester Master Mentors Program.

2015
Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation (MDF) Travel Award to Facilitate Myotonic Dystrophy Health Index (MDHI) Translational Research

2013
Chairman of Ethical-Legal-Social Issues in Myotonic Dystrophy Session. IDMC-9
Location: . San Sebastian Spain

2013
Chairman of DM1 Clinical Trials & Biomarkers Session. IDMC-
Location: San Sebastian Spain.

2013
Chairman of Patient Reported Outcome Measures for Myotonic Dystrophy; OMMYD Meeting
Location: San Sebastian Spain

2012 - 2014
Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation Research Grant (Supervising Mentor for Dr. Nick Johnson)
Sponsor: Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation

2011 - 2015
FDA Research Grant: Mexiletine Treatment in Myotonic Dystrophy Type-1 (Co-Investigator)
Sponsor: FDA

2010 - 2012
NIH Clinical Research Loan REpayment Grant REnewal Recipient
Sponsor: NIH

2010
Clinical Research Loan Repayment Grant Renewal Recipient
Sponsor: NIH

2008 - 2013
NIH K23 Career Development Grant Award Winner (NIAMS)
Sponsor: NIH

2008 - 2011
2008 Muscular Dystrophy Association Translational Research Infrastructure Grant Award Winner (Funding from 2008-2011)

2008 - 2010
NIH Clinical Research Loan Repayment Grant Recipient
Sponsor: NIH

2008 - 2010
ECRIP (Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program) Grant Award Winner (

2008
Paul Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center Umbrella Center
Sponsor: MDCRC

2008
Clinical Research Loan Repayment Grant Renewal Recipient
Sponsor: NIH

2007
NIH Clinical and Translational Science Institute K12 Award Recipient
Sponsor: NIH

2006 - 2008
NIH Clinical Research Loan Repayment Grant Recipient
Sponsor: NIH

2006 - 2007
NIH Experimental Therapeutics Grant Recipient for
Sponsor: NIH

2005 - Present
Ad Hoc editor for Neurology

2004
American Neurology Association Scholarship Winner, Toronto 2004
Sponsor: American Neurology Association

2003
UCB Pharma, Inc. Neurology Resident Scholar. 2003

2003
UCB Pharma, Inc. Neurology Resident Scholar

1999
Student Elective Term Scholarship Winner (MMA) 1999

1998 - 1999
S.O.M. State Discretionary Scholarship Winner 1998, 1999

1998 - 1999
S.O.M. State Discretionary Scholarship Winner

1997
Awarded Virginia Tech's Best ESM 1997 Ind. Senior Project Presentation

Dean's List (General Engineering, and in ESM)

Student Elective Term Scholarship Winner (MMA) 1999

Strong Star Award for Exceptional Service and Displaying Compassion and Respect to Patients, Families and Co-workers

Patient and Family Centered Care Award
Sponsor: University of Rochester

Awarded Virginia Tech's Best ESM Ind. Senior Project Presentation 1997
Sponsor: Virginia Tech

Patient and Family-Centered Care award (2011)
Location: The University of Rochester

Golden Key Member

Board of Supervisors Academic Excellence Award

Dean's List (General Engineering, and in ESM)

Golden Key Member

American Neurology Association Scholarship Winner 2004
Location: Toronto

Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society

VIEW ALL

Patents

Patent Title: The Myotonic Dystrophy Type-2 Health Index (MD2HI)
Patent #: TXu 2-124-841
Issue Date: Nov 19, 2018
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole

Patent Title: The Myotonic Dystrophy Health Index (MDHI)
Patent #: TXu 1-859-815
Issue Date: Mar 26, 2013
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole

Patent Title: The Huntington Disease Health Index (HD-HI)
Patent #: TXu 2-124-913
Issue Date: Nov 19, 2018
Country: United States
Invented By: Earl Ray Dorsey, Chad R Heatwole

Patent Title: The FSHD-Health Index
Patent #: TXu 1-867-274
Issue Date: May 08, 2013
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole

Patent Title: The CMT-Health Index (CMT-HI)
Patent #: TXu 2-181-521
Issue Date: Feb 28, 2020
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole, David N Herrmann, Nicholas E Johnson

Patent Title: Facioscapulohumeral Dystrophy Composite Outcome Measure (FSHD-COM)
Patent #: TXu 2-056-221
Issue Date: Aug 17, 2017
Country: United States
Invented By: Katy J Eichinger, Chad R Heatwole, Jeffery Statland, Al-Rabi N Tawil

Patent Title: Congenital and Childhood Myotonic Dystrophy Research Survey: Instrument for Children Ages 5 to 7
Patent #: TXu 1-933-072
Issue Date: Dec 08, 2014
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole, Joanna Heatwole, Nicholas E Johnson

Patent Title: Congenital and Childhood Myotonic Dystrophy Health Index: Parent Proxy Instrument
Patent #: TXu 1-939-207
Issue Date: Sep 09, 2014
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole, Nicholas E Johnson

Patent Title: Congenital and Childhood Myotonic Dystrophy Health Index: Instrument for Children Ages 8 to 11
Patent #: TXu 1-920-539
Issue Date: Sep 09, 2014
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole, Nicholas E Johnson

Patent Title: Congenital and Childhood Myotonic Dystrophy Health Index: Instrument for Children Ages 12 to 17
Patent #: TXu 1-920-540
Issue Date: Sep 09, 2014
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole, Nicholas E Johnson

Patent Title: Congenital and Childhood Myotonic Dystrophy Health Index Clinician Assessment
Patent #: TXu 2-209-015
Issue Date: Jun 29, 2020
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole, Nicholas E Johnson

Patent Title: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Health Index (ALS-HI)
Patent #: TXu 2-227-966
Issue Date: Nov 09, 2020
Country: United States
Invented By: Chad R Heatwole

VIEW ALL

Publications

Journal Articles

7/12/2019
Hunter M, Ekstrom AB, Campbell C, Hung M, Bounsanga J, Bates K, Adams HR, Luebbe E, Moxley RT, Heatwole C, Johnson NE. "Patient-reported study of the impact of pediatric-onset myotonic dystrophy." Muscle & nerve.. 2019 Jul 12; Epub 2019 Jul 12.

3/2019
Wolfe GI, Kaminski HJ, Aban IB, Minisman G, Kuo HC, Marx A, Ströbel P, Mazia C, Oger J, Cea JG, Heckmann JM, Evoli A, Nix W, Ciafaloni E, Antonini G, Witoonpanich R, King JO, Beydoun SR, Chalk CH, Barboi AC, Amato AA, Shaibani AI, Katirji B, Lecky BRF, Buckley C, Vincent A, Dias-Tosta E, Yoshikawa H, Waddington-Cruz M, Pulley MT, Rivner MH, Kostera-Pruszczyk A, Pascuzzi RM, Jackson CE, Verschuuren JJGM, Massey JM, Kissel JT, Werneck LC, Benatar M, Barohn RJ, Tandan R, Mozaffar T, Silvestri NJ, Conwit R, Sonett JR, Jaretzki A, Newsom-Davis J, Cutter GR, . "Long-term effect of thymectomy plus prednisone versus prednisone alone in patients with non-thymomatous myasthenia gravis: 2-year extension of the MGTX randomised trial." The Lancet. Neurology.. 2019 Mar; 18(3):259-268. Epub 2019 Jan 25.

1/25/2019
Mori I, Fujino H, Matsumura T, Takada H, Ogata K, Nakamori M, Innami K, Shingaki H, Imura O, Takahashi MP, Heatwole C. "The myotonic dystrophy health index: Japanese adaption and validity testing." Muscle & nerve.. 2019 Jan 25; Epub 2019 Jan 25.

Books & Chapters

2017
Chapter Title: Channelopathies: Myotonic Disorders and Periodic Paralysis
Book Title: Swaiman's Pediatric Neurology Principles and Practice Sixth Edition
Author List: Heatwole, C; Moxley, R.
Published By: Elsevier 2017

2014
Chapter Title: Myotonic Dystrophy Health Index: Initial Evaluation of a Disease-Specific Outcome Measure
Book Title: AANEM
Author List: Heatwole, C
Published By: AANEM podcast 2014

2012
Chapter Title: Channelopathies: Myotonic Disorders and Periodic Paralysis
Book Title: Swaiman's Pediatric Principles and Practice 5th edition
Author List: Heatwole, C; Moxley, R.
Published By: Elsevier Saunders 2012

VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS