Parkinson’s & Movement Disorder Institute

The Parkinson's & Movement Disorder Institute - Fountain Valley, Long Beach, California

Karen P. Frei, M.D.

Professional/Academic Accomplishments and Recognition

  • Neurologist and Director of Clinical Research
    The Parkinson’s and Movement Disorder, Fountain Valley, California
    • General Neurology and Movement Disorders specialty practice
    • Deep Brain Stimulator programmer for tremors, Parkinson’s disease and dystonia
    • Proficient in Botulinum toxin injections for dystonia, hemifacial spasm
    • Clinical research both drug company sponsored and independent research – principal investigator and subinvestigator
    • Director of Clinical Research – supervisor of clinical research coordinators and clinical research studies
  • Neurologist Private Practice
    Neurological Institute of Western Pennsylvania, Greensburg, Pennsylvania (7/98 – 11/99)
  • General Neurology Practice
    Baclofen pump and vagal nerve stimulator programmer for treatment of spasticity and seizures

Additional Professional Activities

  • Allergan - Medical Advisory Board and Speaker 4/07 - present
  • Parkinson’s Study Group - Active Member
  • National Spasmodic Torticollis Association
    Medical Editor and regular contributor to newsletter publication
  • American Parkinson’s Disease Association
    Co-Medical Director, Orange county; Speaker and regular contributor to newsletter publication

Clinical Research Studies

  1. Rotigotine PATCH study - Subinvestigator (1999 – 2001)
  2. Entacopone for treatment of On/Off motor fluctuations - Subinvestigator
  3. Riluzole for treatment of advanced Parkinson’s disease - Subinvestigator
  4. PRESTO Rasagiline study - Principal Investigator (2000 - 2006)
  5. EPO 02  Incidence of Melanoma and PD - Principal Investigator (2002 - 2002)
  6. Ropinirole CR for early PD - Principal Investigator
  7. Mirapex for treatment of Restless Legs Syndrome - Principal Investigator (2004 – 2005)
  8. Rotigotine for treatment of Restless Legs Syndrome -Principal Investigator (2005 – 2007)
  9. PRAMIBID – Low dose Pramipexole in treatment of early Parkinson’s disease Principal Investigator (2006 –2007)
  10. Net-PD –NIH sponsored study creatine as therapeutic agent in early PD Subinvestigator (2006 – ongoing)
  11. Carisepy – novel agent for essential tremor Principal Investigator (2007 – 2008)
  12. ACP – novel agent for hallucinations in PD Principal Investigator (2007 – present)
  13. Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel- Principal Investigator (2008 - present)

Selected Publications

BOOKS

  1. Living Well with Dystonia -Daniel Truong, Mayank Pathak and Karen Frei, 2010 Demos publishers
  2. The Spasmodic Torticollis Handbook - Mayank Pathak, Karen Frei and Daniel Truong, 2003 Demos publishers
  3. Dystonia, Textbook of Clinical Neurology – English and Vietnamese translation, K Frei, Truong DD editor, 2004
  4. R Benecke, K Frei and C L Comella, Treatment of Cervical Dystonia, Manual of Botulinum Toxin Therapy , D D Truong, D Dressler and M Hallett editors, Cambridge publisher, Dec 2008
  5. K Frei and P Roggenkaemper, Treatment of Hemifacial Spasm, Manual of Botulinum Toxin Therapy, D D Truong, D Dressler and M Hallett editors, Cambridge publisher, Dec 2008

Articles

  1. Frei K, Wolters E. XVIII WFN World Congres on Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders Synopsis. Expert Rev Neurother. 2010, 10(3): 377-380.
  2. Frei, K. M.D., Truong D.D. M.D. and Wolters E. M. D. PhD. Expert Review Suplement: Case studies in the advancement of Parkinson’s disease. CNS Spectrums. 2008, 13:12(Suppl 18): 1 -6.
  3. Pham P, Frei KP, Woo W and Truong DD. Molecular defects of the dystonia-causing torsin A mutation. NeuroReport. 2006 Nov6;17(16):1725 – 1728.
  4. Frei KP, Truong DD and Dressler D. Botulinum toxin therapy of hemifacial spasm: comparing different therapeutic preparations. Eur J Neurol. 2006 13(Suppl 1):30 – 35.
  5. Frei KP. The genetics of dystonia –2004. World Neurology, The Newsletter of the World Federation of Neurology. 2005 20(3):8 – 10.
  6. Frei KP, Pathak M, Jenkins S, Truong DD. Natural history of posttraumatic cervical dystonia. Mov Disord. 2004 Dec;19(12):1492-1498.
  7. Altarescu G, Sun M, Moore DF, Smith JA, Wiggs EA, Solomon BI, Patronas NJ, Frei KP, Gupta S, Keneski CR, Quarrell OW, Slaugenhaupt SA, Goldin E, Schiffman R. The neurogenetics of mucolipidosis type IV. Neurology. 2002 Aug 13;59(3):306-313.
  8. Frei KP, Schiffmann R. Myoclonus in Gaucher disease. Adv Neurol. 2002;89:41-48.
    Moore DF, Altarescu G, Ling GS, Jeffries N, Frei KP, Weibel T, Charria-Oriz G, Ferri R, Arai AE, Brady RO, Schiffmann R. Elevated cerebral blood flow velocities in Fabry disease with reversal after enzyme replacement. Stroke. 2002 Feb;33(2):525-531.
  9. Bonavita S, Schiffmann R, Moore DF, Frei K, Choi B, Patronas NJ, Virta A, Boespflug-Tanguy O, Tedeschi G. Evidence for neuroaxonal injury in patients with proteolipid protein gene mutations. Neurology. 2001 Mar 27;56(6):785-788.
  10. Schiffmann R, Murray GJ, Treco D, Daniel P, Sellos-Moura M, Myers M, Quirk JM, Zirzow GC, Borowsik M, Loveday K, Anderson T, Gillespie F, Oliver KL, Jeffries NO, Doo E, Liang TJ, Kreps C, Gunter K, Frei K, Crutchfield K, Selden RF, Brady RO. Infusion of alpha-galactosidase A reduces tissue globotriaosylceramide storage in patients with Fabry disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Jan 4;97(1):365-370.
  11. Frei KP, Patronas NJ, Crutchfield KE, Altarescu G, Schiffmann R. Mucolipidosis type IV: Characteristic MRI findings. Neurology. 1998 Aug;51(2):565-569.
  12. Siegel H, Frei K, Greenfield J, Schiffmann R, Sato S. Electroencephalographic findings in patients with mucolipidosis type IV. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1998 May;106(5):400-403.
  13. Crutchfield KE, Patronas NJ, Dambrosia JM, Frei KP, Banerjee TK, Barton NW, Schiffmann R. Quantitative analysis of cerebral vasculopathy in patients with Fabry disease. Neurology. 1998 Jun;50(6):1746-1749.
  14. Schiffmann R, Dwyer NK, Lubensky IA, Tsokos M, Sutliff VE, Latimer JHS, Frei KP, Brady RO, Barton NW, Blanchette-Mackie EJ, Goldin E. Constitutive achlorhydria in mucolipidoisi type IV. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Feb 3;95(3):1207-1212.
  15. Fluharty Al, Katona Z, Meek WE, Frei K, Fowler AV. The cerebroside sulfate activator from pig kidney: purification and molecular structure. Biochem Med Metab Biol. 1992 Feb;47 (1):66-85.

Professional Memberships

  • Movement Disorders Society
  • American Academy of Neurology
  • Parkinson’s Study Group

Professional Awards and Honors

  • Speaker, INFO 2004 Recognition - 2004
  • The National Spasmodic Torticollis Association Recognition – Medical Editor, 2005
  • CME Speaker of the Year, Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center - 2006

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November 6, 2010 | Salvador, Brazil
Dr. Karen Frei - Speaker at the Summer Movement Disorder Symposium in Salvador, Brazil - Nov 6, 2010


About UsOur Physicians

The Parkinson's & Movement Disorder Institute is made up of the following members:

NEUROLOGISTS:

Daniel D. Truong, M.D.

Mayank Pathak, M.D.

Mindy K. Bixby, D.O.

Thong Nguyen, M.D.

NEUROSURGEON:

Devin K. Binder, M.D., Ph.D.


Mission Statement

Foremost, the physicians, research scientists and staff at the Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Institute all share the common goal of providing superior care to our patients in the treatment of neurological disorders affecting movement. It is our belief that people who must cope with symptoms or illness have enhanced quality of life when they understand their diagnosis and treatment plan,...
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