Our Speakers

Fall 2026: Monterey

We have an amazing speaker lineup for "From Genes to Junction: The Nexus of Neuromuscular Disease".

Dr. Christopher Campos is a neurologist, educator, mentor, and advocate who began his career at UC Davis before receiving a diagnosis of ALS. Drawing on his unique perspective as both a physician and a person living with ALS, he is dedicated to advancing awareness of the disease and promoting compassionate, person-centered care. 

George Sarka MD, DrPH, MPH is currently the CME Director at Memorial Care, Saddleback Medical Center; Current Secretary (2018-2024)/Chair of the CNS Medical/Neurological History Section and Past President of the California Neurology Society (2015-2016); Past Governor of the American College of Physicians, Southern California, Chapter Region II (2008-2012); Past President of the LA Neurological Society (2006-2009); and Past President of the Los Angeles County Medical Association-District 1(2006-2008); a former Associate Clinical Professor Medicine at UCLA (2007-2023). 

Dr. Sarka received his Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery (MDCM) from McGill University Faculty of Medicine in 1980; a Master of Public Health (MPH) from UCLA in 2003; and his Doctorate of Public Health (DrPH) from UCLA in 2013. Dr. Sarka did his Internship/Residency in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals (1980-1983); his Fellowship in Rheumatology at Louisiana State University (1983-1985); and a second Residency in Neurology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center (1985-1988). 

He is board certified in 10 subspecialties including the following: Internal Medicine; Rheumatology; Neurology; Geriatrics; Sports Medicine; Headache Medicine; Emergency Medicine; Public Health and General Preventive Medicine via the ABPM; Public Health via the NBPHE and Occupational Medicine. He is also a medical, public health and presidential historian and has given over 1,100 lectures on a plethora of medical topics including medical and public health history in his career. 

He is currently on staff as an Attending Rheumatologist and CoChair of the CME Committee at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Internist and Multispecialist/Public Health Specialist at California State University, Northridge in the Klotz Student Health Center in Northridge, California.

Kenneth Leung is a board-certified neurologist who practices both comprehensive neurology and neuromuscular medicine. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology within the Stanford University School of Medicine. He sees patients at the Stanford Tri-Valley site in Pleasanton and also at the Stanford Palo Alto campus where he is a provider in the multidisciplinary ALS/MDA clinic. He has experience caring for many patients with a variety of chronic neurodegenerative neuromuscular conditions including ALS, and has a particular interest in quality improvement in the care of these patients. He is also an avid clinician educator and serves as the associate program director for the neuromuscular medicine fellowship and neurology clerkship director at Stanford. 

Dr. Swathy Chandrashekhar is a board certified neurologist who provides comprehensive, compassionate care for patients with complex neuromuscular disorders. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. She performs electromyography and nerve conduction studies to diagnose nerve and muscle disorders, and she has advanced training in conducting and analyzing muscle biopsies.Dr. Chandrashekhar has published and presented research on ALS as well as on genetic and immune-related neuropathy. She has been an investigator on clinical trials to evaluate promising treatments for various neuromuscular disorders. She also has a keen interest in medical education and is passionate about training the next generation of neurologists and neuromuscular specialists. She received several awards for teaching excellence during her training. Before joining UCSF, she served as associate fellowship director for the University of Kansas.

Ruby Ali MD, graduated from Neurology Residency at UC Davis and Neurophysiology Fellowship at UC Davis, and worked at Kaiser and then been at Northbay Medical Center for 12 years.

Dr. Amritha Parthasarathy, DO, MS, MPH, is a board-certified neurologist and vascular neurologist based in San Jose, California, affiliated with Good Samaritan Hospital. She completed her neurology training at Desert Regional Medical Center and Loma Linda University, followed by a vascular neurology fellowship at the University at Buffalo.

She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Neurosciences at Good Samaritan Hospital and is an Assistant Professor at Touro University California. Her work is focused on stroke care, with a particular interest in stroke in young and marginalized populations.

Dr. Levy is a dual boarded geneticist and child neurologist who directs the Stanford Pediatric Neurogenomics Clinic. She is also a physician scientist using 3D neural organoid models to understand neurogenetic disorders, including CACNA1C-related disorder. She strives for translational approaches with rare disease treatments.

Dr. Mary Karalius is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at University of California, San Francisco. She completed her child neurology residency at UCSF and Neuroimmunology and MS Research Fellowship under the direction of Dr. Michael Wilson. Her research focuses on using metagenomic next-generation sequencing and host transcriptomics to explore pediatric neuroinflammatory disorders with the goal of improving diagnosis and treatment of these conditions. 

Dr. Keith Van Haren is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he serves as Director of the Pediatric Neuroimmunology and Leukodystrophy Clinic at Stanford Children's. His clinical and research interests center on acquired and inherited neuroinflammatory disorders of childhood, including MS, MOGAD, autoimmune encephalitis, and the leukodystrophies. 

In partnership with the California Department of Public Health and the CDC, Dr. Van Haren has played a central role in identifying and characterizing emerging pediatric neuroinflammatory syndromes in North America. In 2012, he helped establish the first post-polio era surveillance program for what is now known as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), with the initial cohort described in JAMA in 2015. More recently, he co-led the nationwide Influenza-Associated Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy (IA-ANE) Working Group, whose characterization of the 2024–2025 outbreak in U.S. children was published in JAMA in August 2025.

Dr. Sarada Sakamuri is a neurologist who specializes in neuromuscular disorders, nerve injury, diagnostic ultrasound, and EMG testing. She serves as Co-Director of the Center for Peripheral Nerve Surgery, Medical Director of the Neurology Point of Care Ultrasound Program, and Program Director of the Neuromuscular Medicine Fellowship. She also serves as the Neuromuscular Lead for the Pregnancy Neurology Program at Stanford Healthcare. 

Dr. Dana O’Rourke is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Child Neurology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the Associate Program Director for the Child Neurology Residency Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). After earning her MD from Saint Louis University School of Medicine, she completed a categorical residency in Child Neurology at CHLA, where she also served as Chief Resident. She went on to complete a fellowship in Neuromuscular Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. O’Rourke's primary clinical focus is in general pediatric neurology and specialized care for children with neuromuscular disorders. 

Dr. Marie Sweat is a Clinical Professor of Neurosciences at University of California San Diego and Rady's Children's Health, specializing in neuromuscular disorders. She completed her residency and neuromuscular fellowship at the UC San Diego. Her clinical and research interests include Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, and she is involved in multiple research studies in these areas. 

Dr. Alexander Fay

Alex Fay is a pediatric neurologist focused on neuromuscular diseases and rare genetic disorders. He completed his MD and a PhD in Biophysics at UCSF, followed by child neurology residency and neuromuscular fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. He returned to UCSF 10 years ago, where he sees patients in MDA clinics in San Francisco and Oakland, and the Peacock Cerebral Palsy Center in Oakland. His research program is focused on gene therapy for childhood neurological diseases, natural history studies, the genetics of neuromuscular diseases, and cerebral palsy. 

Dr. Kathie Lin

Dr. Kathie Lin is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University. She is board certified in Neurology and Neuromuscular Medicine after completing her residency at Harvard Neurology Program at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Neuromuscular Fellowship training at Stanford. She practices both Neuromuscular Medicine and Comprehensive Neurology in Emeryville and Palo Alto. She has a particular interest in the diagnosis and management of neuromuscular disease including neuromuscular junction disorders, motor neuron disease, and focal neuropathy. Additionally, she is interested in medical education and developing a practical framework for teaching neurology and neurophysiology to medical students and neurology residents. She is the Neuromuscular Division teaching lead, arranging neuromuscular education for neurology residents. She is also an Assistant Program Director of the Stanford Adult Neurology Residency Program and works closely with residents to design their curriculum/didactics. 

Ayushi Chugh, MD, FAAN, is a neuromuscular neurologist in the Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Disease Center and an associate professor in the Department of Neurology at Barrow Neurological Institute. Dr. Chugh specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), muscular dystrophy, neuropathies, and other neuromuscular disorders. She is experienced in electromyography and nerve conduction studies, as well as the administration of Botox to treat various symptoms of neuromuscular disorders. Dr. Chugh feels passionate about teaching neurology, and her interests include resident physician education. She is an avid writer with a keen interest in writing for health education portals to help simplify neurology topics for the public. She also writes poetry and articles highlighting the art, compassion, and science of medicine for physician magazines. Dr. Chugh has presented posters on neurology topics at the annual meetings of the American Academy of Neurology, an organization in which she is passionately involved and where she was selected for and graduated from the coveted Practice Leadership Program.

Dr. Ge Xiong is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis. She is a neurologist who specializes in neuromuscular disorders. Her research interests include neuromuscular complications of cancer immune checkpoint inhibitors and health outcomes in patients with multifocal motor neuropathy. She is involved in medical education of the residents, serving as the course director for the ACCME credited Neuromuscular Case Conference at UC Davis. She was the recipient of the “Electrifying Excellence” resident teaching award in 2025. 

Dr. Philip Tarzi is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology, Surgery, and Neurosurgery at the USC Keck School of Medicine and Associate Program Director of the Neurocritical Care Fellowship. He practices in Neurocritical Care, Surgical Critical Care, Transplant Critical Care and Tele-Stroke. 

Olivia Kingsford is an assistant professor of neurology at the University of California San Francisco. She completed her residency in adult neurology and fellowship in headache medicine at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

Dr. Asmar is an epileptologist at the University of California, Davis. She completed neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania and a two-year epilepsy/neurophysiology fellowship at Emory University. Dr. Asmar is a specialist in medically refractory epilepsy, with expertise in advanced techniques such as responsive neurostimulation, deep brains stimulation, and minimally invasive stereo-EEG. She works with a passionate multidisciplinary group to diagnose and treat epilepsy, including neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, neuroradiologists, and EEG technologists. Her research focuses on translational neuroscience, with an emphasis on intracranial EEG. 

Dr. Hart is a Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor in Neurology at UC Davis, currently serving as the section chief for the Movement Disorder Section. She specializes in movement disorders treating conditions such as Parkinson Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Multiple Systems Atrophy, Tremor, and Dystonia. She has a special interest in Huntington Disease and Parkinson Disease including the evaluation for and management of Deep Brain Stimulators. She also has an interest in community engagement and serves as a board member for the Parkinson’s Association of Northern California. She finds joy in teaching medical student and residents about movement disorders. She enjoys building long term relationships with her patients and their families to help guide them through the challenges of living with a complex disease.

Michelle Apperson, MD, PhD, is the Neuromuscular / Neuroimmunology Section Chief and HS Clinical Professor of Neurology at the University of California Davis. Dr. Apperson has been at UC Davis for since neurology residency, stayed on for an MS fellowship, and now as faculty. She was directly involved in the early clinical trials for multiple sclerosis therapies, resulting in FDA approval of our current highly effective treatments. She currently leads the neuromuscular and neuroimmunology section and has developed an interest in the immune and other causes of small fiber neuropathy. The goals of her talk are a) to demystify the pathophysiology of small fiber neuropathy and b) to provide a framework for diagnosis and management.

Dr. Michael Erkkinen, is a board certified in neurology, graduating from Dartmouth Medical School, completing his residency at Mass General Brigham, and fellowship at UCSF and Brigham and Women’s College. Dr. Erkkinen lead the development of the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Program at Mass General Brigham before joining the UC-Davis neurology faculty in April 2026. He is the department’s section chief of cognitive and behavioral neurology and the medical director of ambulatory care. 

Srikanth Muppidi, MD, is a clinical 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.

Dr. Madina Tugizova is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. She is board-certified in neurology and neuromuscular medicine. She is the director of UCSF's Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Care Center and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association (CMTA) Center of Excellence. She completed medical school and neurology residency at Stanford and neuromuscular fellowship at UCSF. She enjoys taking care of patients with neuromuscular diseases, especially genetic and autoimmune conditions. She is currently leading clinical trials for multifocal motor neuropathy.

Dr. Natasha Sosa is a child neurologist and neuromuscular specialist who practices general child neurology, pediatric neuromuscular medicine, and adult neuromuscular medicine. She completed medical school at UCSF, pediatric neurology residence at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), and neuromuscular fellowship at UCSF.

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