Dr. Ellen Hess
Ellen J. Hess is a Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Neurology at Emory University School of Medicine. Her laboratory’s research focuses on understanding the neurobiological basis of dystonia, the third most common movement disorders after tremor and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Hess’s recent work focuses on the role of abnormal dopamine signaling in dystonia.
Dr. Hess received her B.A. in Psychobiology from Wellesley College and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of California at San Diego with postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute. Before joining the faculty at Emory University in 2008, she held academic appointments at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Dr. Hess’ laboratory works on understanding the pathophysiology of dystonia by understanding the specific dysfunctional neuronal signals. Additionally, Dr. Hess has created and uses many different animal models of dystonia. Her laboratory uses these models in an effort to discover and develop new treatments for dystonia. This work forms the basis of the Antidystonia Drug Discovery Program, which serves as a resource for preclinical antidystonia drug testing for the academic scientific community and the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Hess has published over 100 scientific papers, chaired numerous scientific review panels and is invited to speak on her work throughout the world.