The North American Cysticercosis Consortium is a working group of physicians and scientists interested in furthering the study and rational treatment of neurocysticercosis in North America. The establishment of this consortium is supported by the National Institutes of Health Office of Rare Diseases and NIAID, with an overarching goal of determining the feasibility of conducting collaborative, multicenter studies of neurocysticercosis and to pool the experience of practitioners in North America who are involved in the management of this disease.
Members of this consortium are a select group of infectious disease physicians, neurologists, and scientists who have a strong interest in neurocysticercosis. The participants’ interests and expertise attract a variety of patients with complex and difficult-to-treat disease, which mostly consists of subarachnoid neurocysticercosis. This is not only the most severe and morbid manifestation but also is the form of disease that is least studied. There are no randomized treatment trials, and it is unclear how treatments in the few reported series of subarachnoid cysticercosis apply to most patients. There was general agreement that study of subarachnoid disease is worthwhile and had potential to yield new information. Researchers initiated a retrospective review of subarachnoid disease and related studies.
Members
Theodore E. Nash, M.D.
Chief, Gastrointestinal Parasites Section
Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Building 4, Room 126
4 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
Email: tnash@niaid.nih.gov
Phone: 301-496-6920
Siddhartha Mahanty, M.D.
Staff Physician, Helminth Immunology Section
Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Building 4, Room 426
4 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
Email: smahanty@niaid.nih.gov
Phone: 301-496-5398
Elizabeth S. Higgs, M.D., M.I.A., D.T.M.&H.
Deputy, Collaborative Clinical Research Branch
Division of Clinical Research
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
5601 Fishers Lane, Room 4D58
Rockville, MD 20892-9820
Email: ehiggs@niaid.nih.gov
Phone: 301-402-8372
Christina Coyle, M.D.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
1600 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx, NY 10461
Email: christina.coyle@einstein.yu.edu
Phone: 718-918-4456
Mitchell T. Wallin, M.D., M.P.H.
Clinical Associate Director, VA MS Center of Excellence-East
Associate Professor, Neurology
Georgetown University & University of Maryland
Email: mitchell.wallin@va.gov
Phone: 202-745-8148
Fax: 202-745-8231
Paul M. Southern Jr., M.D., D.T.M.&H.
Professor, Pathology and Internal Medicine
Clinical Microbiology, Infectious Diseases, Tropical Medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dallas, TX 75390-9073
Email: paul.southern@utsouthwestern.edu
Phone: 214-648-3587
Joseph R. Zunt, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor of Neurology and Global Health
Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and Epidemiology
Departments of Neurology and Global Health
University of Washington, Seattle
Email: jzunt@u.washington.edu
Phone: 206-744-3251
Seth O'Neal, M.D., M.P.H.
Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
Oregon Health & Sciences University
3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, CSB 669
Portland, OR 97239
Email: oneals@ohsu.edu
Phone: 503-494-0300
Jose Serpa-Alvarez, M.D.
Section of Infectious Diseases
Department of Medicine, BCM 286, Room N1319
Baylor College of Medicine
One Baylor Plaza
Houston, TX 77030
Email: jaserpaa@bcm.edu
Phone: 713-798-4211
A. Clinton White, M.D.
Infectious Disease Division
Department of Internal Medicine
University of Texas Medical Branch
301 University Boulevard Route 0435
Galveston, TX 77555
Email: acwhite@utmb.edu
Phone: 409-747-1910
Anne McCarthy, M.D.
Department of Medicine
Ottawa General Hospital
501 Smyth Road
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L6
Canada
Patricia Wilkins, Ph.D.
Parasitic Diseases Branch
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CLFT Building 23, Room 9-161 MS D64
Atlanta, GA 30333
Email: pwilkins@cdc.gov
Phone: 404-718-4101