Ira Shoulson, MD

Ira Shoulson, MD

Professor, Neurology, Pharmacology & Human Science
Director, Program for Regulatory Science & Medicine (PRSM)
Principal Investigator, Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science & Innovation (CERSI)

2115 Wisconsin Ave NW, Suite 603
Washington, DC 20007
Office Number: 202-687-5210

Website: http://regulatoryscience.georgetown.edu  

  • B.A., Psychology (with Distinction) from University of Pennsylvania, 1967
  • MD (with Honors), University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 1971

Ira Shoulson, MD is Professor of Neurology, Pharmacology and Human Science and Director of the Program for Regulatory Science and Medicine (PRSM) at Georgetown University, Washington, DC.  From 1990 until 2011, Dr Shoulson was the Louis C. Lasagna Professor of Experimental Therapeutics and Professor of Neurology, Pharmacology and Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry in Rochester, New York, where he currently holds adjunct appointments as Professor of Neurology, Pharmacology & Physiology.

Dr. Shoulson founded the Parkinson Study Group in 1985 and the Huntington Study Group in 1994 — international academic consortia devoted to research and development of treatments for Parkinson disease, Huntington disease and related neurodegenerative and neurogenetic disorders.  He was a key investigator in the US-Venezuela Collaborative Huntington Disease Project, which identified the gene responsible for this fatal hereditary disorder.  Dr Shoulson has served as principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health-sponsored trials “Deprenyl and Tocopherol Antioxidative Therapy of Parkinsonism” (DATATOP), the “Prospective Huntington At Risk Observational Study” (PHAROS), and in the leadership of more than 35 other multi-center clinical research studies. He played an instrumental role in the development of 10 new drugs for neurological disorders, including seven for Parkinson disease (selegiline, lazabemide, pramipexole, entacapone, clozapine, rasagiline, rotigitine), two for Huntington disease (tetrabenazine, dutetetrabenazine) and one for attention deficit disorder (Concerta). He was formerly a health policy fellow in the US Senate, a member of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council, and president of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics (ASENT).  He is currently principal investigator of the FDA-Georgetown University Collaborating Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI – FD004319), associate editor of JAMA Neurology and an active elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.  He has authored more than 310 scientific reports.