Program Director

Richard A. Lewis, MD, is a distinguished professor of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He has an exceptional career spanning over 4 decades and has made significant contributions to the fields of electromyography, peripheral neuropathy, myasthenia gravis, and motor neuron disease. Dr. Lewis has held academic appointments at esteemed institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania, University of Connecticut, Eastern Virginia Medical School, and Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is the current Director of the Electromyography Laboratory, Neuromuscular Clinic, as well as the Centers of Excellence for Inflammatory Neuropathies (GBS-CIDP Foundation International), Inherited Neuropathies (Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association and Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation), and Myasthenia Gravis (MG Foundation of America and MGF of California). He is also the current Director of the ALS Clinic. He has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles and identified the multifocal neuropathy known as the “Lewis-Sumner Syndrome.” Dr. Lewis has also been involved in leading and participating in numerous clinical trials in inflammatory neuropathies and serves on the Medical Advisory Boards of several foundations.

Stanley H. Appel, MD, is an internationally renowned researcher and neurologist, currently serving as the Director of the Johnson Center for Cellular Therapeutics and Peggy and Gary Edwards Distinguished Endowed Chair in ALS Research at Houston Methodist Hospital, as well as Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Previously, he held prestigious positions such as Chief of the Neurology Division and the James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, Chair of the Department of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and Houston Methodist, and Chair of the Stanley H. Appel Department of Neurology at Houston Methodist. Dr. Appel received his medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and is an Emeritus member of the Board of Directors for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Chair of the Research Advisory Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of ALS Therapy Development Institute. He has authored 15 books and over 450 articles, receiving numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to neurology and biochemistry. Dr. Appel’s laboratory focuses on developing new insights into ALS, Parkinson disease, and Alzheimer disease, and was the first to document that regulatory T-lymphocytes modulate disease progression in patients with ALS. His research focus is on enhancing the protective immunity of Treg cells and anti-inflammatory microglia in neurodegeneration.

Srikanth Muppidi, MD, is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University. Prior to his arrival at Stanford Hospital and Clinics in 2013, Dr. Muppidi was an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics at UT Southwestern Medical Center since 2009. Dr. Muppidi is board certified in neurology and in neuromuscular disorders by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is also board certified in autonomic disorders by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties Board of American Autonomic Society. His clinical interests include various types of neuropathies, autonomic disorders, and MG. His research interests include treatment and outcome measures in MG, methods to detect early autonomic impairment in diabetes, and diagnosis and management of immune/neurodegenerative causes of autonomic failure. Dr. Muppidi has made valuable contributions to the development of outcome measures currently used in MG. Additionally, he is actively involved in ongoing MG clinical trials.