Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Fellowship Training Program
The KU ADRC’s Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Fellowship is accredited by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS), the premier organization in the U.S. committed to promoting high-quality patient-centered care across neurologic subspecialties.
The program director, Dr. Ryan Townley, received UCNS training at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, and has created a training program that focuses on establishing strong clinical training. Dr. Townley directly mentors the allocated clinical training in the first year of the fellowship. Being the only tertiary academic center within a 250-mile radius, we see all variations of neurodegenerative diseases: dementia with Lewy bodies, variants of primary progressive aphasias, posterior cortical atrophy, young-onset dysexecutive Alzheimer’s disease, amnestic predominant Alzheimer’s disease, hippocampal sclerosis, normal pressure hydrocephalus, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal syndrome. Case-based lectures are offered monthly and trainees become proficient in recognizing and managing these diseases throughout the fellowship.
Cognitive and behavioral neurology is a rapidly evolving field with new biomarkers assisting with diagnosis and improving our clinical trial enrollment process. Currently, we think of these cases as putting a puzzle together and coming up with the most accurate diagnosis. The clinical history and the ability to ask the right questions in the right manner make up an essential piece of that puzzle and are the backbone of clinical training. The clinical examination, from basic cognitive screening tools to more advanced testing tools, i.e. simultanagnosia testing for posterior cortical atrophy, is another essential piece of that puzzle. Being able to evaluate and interpret neuroimaging (i.e. MRI and FDG-PET) represents another important piece that is often overlooked. Molecular neuroimaging is the future in helping confirm difficult diagnoses and to help understand the neuroanatomy and pathophysiology underlying these diseases. This will be an additional focus of this fellowship.
The fellowship is flexible with a one-year track focused on clinical training and a two-year track allowing more time for gaining research experience. Drs. Jeffrey Burns, Russell Swerdlow, and Eric Vidoni are assistant program directors of the fellowship and have built a world-class Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center with a large body of NIH-funded projects. The KU ADRC offers diverse research experience (e.g. clinical research, lab/bench research, exercise physiology, drug trials, and grant writing) to help train fellows interested in all aspects of a career in academic neurology. We will offer flexible time for any statistical classes or grant writing classes/workshops as well.
