Mario Masellis

Research Synopsis

Dr. Masellis has training in four main research areas: cognitive and movement disorders, neurology, pharmacology, and genomics and neuroimaging. His current research focus is on the characterization of the genetics, neuropsychological, neuroimaging and pathological features of atypical neurodegenerative dementias. He is also studying the pharmacogenomics of cholinesterase inhibitors in patients who have dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy bodies. He is also looking at the use of anti-parkinsonian medications to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. He has established an “omics” research platform using longitudinal clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging data to define biomarkers of drug responses, and of neurodegenerative disease.

Other research interests include discovery of genomic and epigenomic factors contributing to the complex etiology of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body disease, as well as frontotemporal dementia spectrum disorders. He is also actively involved in clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents in Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body disease.

Dr. Masellis is a clinician-scientist and assistant professor within the division of neurology. Clinically, he is a neurologist with expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of early-onset dementias and those dementias associated with movement disorders.