Martha Nance - MD

 
Martha Nance - MD

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My Areas of Practice

I am a board certified neurologist and clinical geneticist with special interest in movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease Huntington's disease, hereditary ataxias and spastic paraplegias, and other neurogenetic disorders.  I have served as the medical director of the Struthers Parkinson's Center since 2000.

In addition to the care of patients and families with neurologic diseases, I am also involved in clinical research to develop better treatments for Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease, and interested in education for both patients and medical professionals.  I am a Clinical Professor of Neurology at the University of Minnesota.

My other current regional and national professional activities include serving as the Medical Advisor to the Minnesota Chapter of the Huntington's Disease Society of America (1992-), Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation (2003-), Member of the Advisory Board for the Indiana University HD Roster (2008-), Member of the Scientific Review Committee for the Parkinson Study Group (2009-), and Chair of the NIH NINDS NST-1 Study Section (2011-2013).   I serve as a manuscript reviewer for a number of scientific journals, and an ad hoc reviewer for other NIH Study Sections. 

  

General Information

Gender: Female

Practicing Since: 1991

Accepting New Patients: Yes

Services

Practices at

Struthers Parkinsons Center
6701 Country Club Drive
Golden Valley, MN 55427

Meadowbrook
3931 Louisiana Ave. S.
St. Louis Park, MN 55426

Education & Certifications

Neurology: University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic
Minneapolis, MN
1988

BS: Yale University
New Haven, CT
1980

Medical Genetics: Hennepin County Medical Center
Minneapolis, MN
1991

Medical Genetics, Fellowship: Dept. of Peds., University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
1990

Neurology: St. Paul Ramsey Medical Center
St. Paul, MN
1985

Certification: American Board of Medical Genetics
1990

Certification: American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry
1990

Research & Publications

My research in recent years has focused almost exclusively on Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease, and my name has appeared on about 90 research publications between 1985-2011.  I have also written or co-authored three books for families and patients.  Below are a few of my publications:

Nance MA for the National Ataxia Foundation. Living with ataxia: an information and resource guide. National Ataxia Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, 2003.

MA Nance. Juvenile Huntington’s disease—a handbook. Huntington’s Disease Society of America, New York, NY, 2001.  Second Edition, 2008

Nance MA, JS Paulsen, A Rosenblatt, V Wheelock.  A Physician’s Guide to the management of Huntington’s disease. Third Edition. Huntington’s Disease Society of America, New York, NY, 2011.

Alcalay RN, Siderowf A, Ottman R, Caccappolo E, Mejia-Santana H, Tang MX,  Rosado L, Louis ED,  Ruiz D, Waters C,  Fahn S, Cote L,  Frucht S, Ford B, Orbe Reilly M, Ross B, Verbitsky M,  Kisselev S, Comella  C, Colcher C, Jennings D, Nance M, Bressman S, Scott WK, Tanner C, Mickel S,  Rezak M, Novak  KE,  Friedman JH,  Pfeiffer RF, Marsh L, Hiner B,  Clark LN, Marder KS. Olfaction in parkin heterozygotes and compound heterozygotes: the CORE PD study. Neurology 2011, Jan 25; 76(4):319-326. Epub 2010 Dec 29. PMID: 21205674

Nopolous PC, Aylward EH, Ross CA, Johnson HJ, Magnotta VA, Juhl AR, Pierson RK, Langbehn DR, Paulsen JS; PREDICT-HD Investigators and Coordinators of the Huntington Study Group (HSG). Cerebral cortex structure in prodromal Huntington disease.  Neurobiol Dis 2010; 40: 544-554. PMID: 20682340

Paulsen JS, Wang C, Duff K, Barker R, Nance MA, Beglinger L, Moser D. Williams JK, Simpson S, Langbehn D, van Kammen DP; PREDICT-HD Investigators of the Huntington Study Group. Challenges assessing clinical endpoints in early Huntington disease. Mov Disord 2010; 25: 2595-2603. PMID: 20623772

Smaller intracranial volume in prodromal Huntington’s disease: evidence for abnormal neurodevelopment. Nopoulos PC, Aylward EH, Ross CA, Mills JA, Langbehn DR, Johnson HJ, Magnotta VA, Pierson RK, Beglinger LJ, Nance MA, Barker RA, Paulsen JS; PREDICT-HD Investigators and Coordinators of the Huntington Study Group. Brain. 2011 Jan;134(Pt 1):137-42. Epub 2010 Oct 4. PMID: 20923788

Impulsive behavior and associated clinical variables in Parkinson’s disease. Abosch A, Gupte A, Eberly LE, Tuite PJ, Nance M, Grant JE.Psychosomatics. 2011 Jan-Feb;52(1):41-7. PMID: 21300194

 

 

Professional Associations & Awards

Awards:

1998     The Ruby and Joseph Horansky Award for Family Services (Huntington’s Disease Society of America)

1999     Giving a Voice to Huntington’s Disease Award (Huntington’s Disease Society of America)

2002     Best Educational Presentation, 2001-2002 (Huntington’s Disease Society of America)

2002     Distinguished Leadership Award (MN Chapter, Huntington Disease Society of America)

2005     Park Nicollet Institute 2004 Researcher of the Year Award

2010     Park Nicollet Foundation Community Service Award

2010     Park Nicollet Institute 2009 Educator of the Year Award

 

Professional Associations:

 

American Academy of Neurology

American Society of Human Genetics

Hennepin County Medical Society

Minnesota Medical Association

Movement Disorders Society

 

 

Personal

Outside of work, I  spent 20 years raising two (wonderful) boys who have now escaped to opposite coasts, leaving my husband and me with an empty nest.  To fill the void, I raise vegetables and flowers in the summer (March-November), and hibernate, play the piano, read, and dream of my next garden, during the winter.