Members of the Foundation’s Research Board (RAB) play an integral role in fulfilling that mission. As internationally acclaimed experts in their respective fields, RAB members are responsible for evaluating research proposals and making funding recommendations to the Davis Phinney Foundation (DPF) Board of Directors that will increase our understanding of the challenges associated with living with Parkinson’s disease. RAB members participate in the selection and monitor the progress of all grants awarded by the DPF. The diverse knowledge of RAB members, their deep personal commitment, their ability to foster high-level scientific investigation and their independent judgment are what make the DPF research program highly effective. Every member of the RAB serves on a voluntary basis and are personally ineligible to receive research funding from DPF. Members of the RAB serve a two-year renewable term. The DPF thanks each of them for their time, energy and the critical expertise they provide.
Members of the Davis Phinney Foundation Scientific Advisory Board:
Timothy J. Collier, Ph.D. – Chair
Professor and Edwin A. Brophy Endowed Chair of Central Nervous System Disorders, Division of Translational Science and Molecular Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, and Director of the Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson’s Disease Research at Michigan State University.
P. David Charles, M.D.
Associate Professor of Neurology, Vice-Chairman for Education and Development, Assistant Dean for Admissions at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is the Director of the Neurology Residency Program and the Movement Disorders Clinic and serves as an attending physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Charles’ research interests include the treatment of spasticity and cervical dystonia and he is currently leading the only clinical trial approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to test deep brain stimulation in people with early stage Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Charles is a member of the American Neurological Association, Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, Board member of the United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties, Chair of the Alliance for Patient Access, and Past-President of the Tennessee Academy of Neurology. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society and in 2007 received the CANDLE Award. Recipients are chosen based upon their positive impact on the lives of physicians-in-training, and are recognized by their students as examples of excellence in medical education. In 2007 and 2008 Dr. Charles received the Five Star Service Award placing him in the top 10% in the U.S. for overall quality of specialty medical care.
From 1997-98, Dr. Charles served as a Health Policy Fellow in the United States Senate on the staff of the Labor Subcommittee for Public Health and Safety. In 1998 he studied deep brain stimulation for the treatment of movement disorders as a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the Universitaire de Grenoble in Grenoble, France. In 2000 Dr. Charles was a nominee for the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District.
Dr. Charles graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering in 1986 with a B.S. cum laude in Computer Science and Mathematics, and earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1990. He did his internship in the department of Medicine and his residency in the department of Neurology at Vanderbilt. From 1993-94 he was Chief Resident in Neurology, and from 1994-95 he was a Fellow in Movement Disorders and Clinical Neurophysiology at Vanderbilt. In 1996, he completed a Health Care Management course at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and in 1997 he completed the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Physician Educators at Harvard Medical School.
Beth Fisher, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Physical Therapy in the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine at USC.
Dr. Fisher is the director of the Neuroplasticity and Imaging Laboratory primarily using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to investigate brain-behavior relationships during motor skill learning and motor control in both non-diRABled individuals and individuals with neurologic disorders. Additionally, Dr. Fisher is the director of the University of Southern California/Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (USC/RLANRC) Residency Program in Neurologic Physical Therapy. She previously worked at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center on the Adult Neurology and Brain Injury Services and continues to consult and teach nationally and internationally on current concepts for the treatment of adults with neurological disorders. During her years as a clinician and rehabilitation specialist, it was her greatest ambition to be a part of developing physical therapy interventions that would maximize neural and behavioral recovery in individuals suffering from pathological conditions affecting the nervous system. Towards this goal she is currently studying the effects of high-intensity exercise on functional recovery and brain repair in Parkinson’s disease using TMS and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) as markers of neuroplasticity.
John R. Sladek Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Amy Howard 
Amy Howard brings her background in marketing management for two of the world’s leaders in medical devices and as a founding partner in a nationally-known consultancy to the Davis Phinney Foundation. Amy’s background includes experience in business and product development and in managing patient and clinical advisory boards and has worked across a range of companies – from Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Wyeth BioPharma to smaller start-ups in oncology and breast cancer detection. Amy started her work with the Davis Phinney Foundation by facilitating the Science Advisory Board and making recommendations on funding and partnerships. Most recently, she served for four years as the Foundation’s Executive Director. She lives in Boulder with her husband Scott and her twin boys Jack and Will.

