DEAN P. SUTHERLAND, MD, PhD, OUR MEDICAL DIRECTOR
Dear Friend, If you are reading this, it’s probably because you or someone close to you is experiencing a life challenge associated with Parkinson Disease or its allied syndromes. You have come to the right place!
My name is Dr. Dean P. Sutherland and I am the Founder and Director of the Southeastern Center for Parkinson Disease in Sarasota, Florida. I have extensive and uniquely specialized knowledge in the areas of brain motor systems and its related disorders stemming from years of training and hands-on study of the brain and its functioning under the direction of one of the preeminent brain anatomists of our time, Dr. R. Bruce Masterton, Ph.D. I was awarded both a Masters Degree (1991) and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience (1994) from Florida State University under Dr. Masterton. While teaching and directing the Human Neuroanatomy Laboratory at FSU, I became fascinated with the clinical aspects of neurological disease, which prompted me to attend medical school at the University of Florida College of Medicine (M.D., 1998).
After graduating from medical school, I was employed as a resident in Neurology and eventually Chief Resident at the University of Florida. I am a board-certified Neurologist and a well-published author with articles appearing in peer-reviewed publications on topics including the motor cortex, movement disorders, the auditory system and the visual system. Hundreds of medical students have benefited from my tutelage over the years and I am the recipient of numerous teaching awards. During all of that time, my wife and I cared for a once vigorous and later very challenged but dear father-in-law in our home for 17 years. I am an avid runner, weightlifter, and guitarist with four very active children in Sarasota. I know first hand that life can provide challenges, some for which you ask and others for which you do not ask.
The Southeastern Center for Parkinson Disease in Sarasota, Florida is designed specifically to meet the many needs of you or your loved one. We believe that excellent treatment of Parkinson Disease is not just about medications; rather, it is about treating the whole patient, maximizing quality-of-life, and providing ongoing support for years to come. This requires specific training, from the Medical Director to the clinical staff and the support staff, which we have focused on intensively. We have tailored our center to reflect the actual needs of Parkinson patients, based on our combined years of experience in the field. After starting out years ago as a monthly Parkinson Disease clinic, we have developed a refined and forward-looking vision of comprehensive, up-to-date Parkinson Disease care that includes all currently available medically-accepted options for treatment, drawing from local, national, and international resources.
We have world-class clinicians to support these options. For example, I have worked with Dr. Kelly Foote, a neurosurgeon and Dr. Michael Okun, Medical Director of the National Parkinson Foundation, both of the University of Florida NPF Center of Excellence and the UF Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, in the surgical treatment of Parkinson Disease and Essential Tremor for many years. Both are known internationally for their outstanding knowledge and skill. As a result, we have patients who currently come from local, national, and international locations to visit our Center. Perhaps as a testament to our excellent patient care, this large demographic pool has developed over the years almost entirely by word of mouth.
Our mission is multifold: Excellent Patient Care, Community Education, and Clinical Research. As a result, we have a wide range of opportuniities for patients in Sarasota to learn about their own problems and even to participate in advancing knowledge for other people with similar problems.
Sincerely,
Dean P. Sutherland, MD, PhD
My name is Dr. Dean P. Sutherland and I am the Founder and Director of the Southeastern Center for Parkinson Disease in Sarasota, Florida. I have extensive and uniquely specialized knowledge in the areas of brain motor systems and its related disorders stemming from years of training and hands-on study of the brain and its functioning under the direction of one of the preeminent brain anatomists of our time, Dr. R. Bruce Masterton, Ph.D. I was awarded both a Masters Degree (1991) and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience (1994) from Florida State University under Dr. Masterton. While teaching and directing the Human Neuroanatomy Laboratory at FSU, I became fascinated with the clinical aspects of neurological disease, which prompted me to attend medical school at the University of Florida College of Medicine (M.D., 1998).
After graduating from medical school, I was employed as a resident in Neurology and eventually Chief Resident at the University of Florida. I am a board-certified Neurologist and a well-published author with articles appearing in peer-reviewed publications on topics including the motor cortex, movement disorders, the auditory system and the visual system. Hundreds of medical students have benefited from my tutelage over the years and I am the recipient of numerous teaching awards. During all of that time, my wife and I cared for a once vigorous and later very challenged but dear father-in-law in our home for 17 years. I am an avid runner, weightlifter, and guitarist with four very active children in Sarasota. I know first hand that life can provide challenges, some for which you ask and others for which you do not ask.
The Southeastern Center for Parkinson Disease in Sarasota, Florida is designed specifically to meet the many needs of you or your loved one. We believe that excellent treatment of Parkinson Disease is not just about medications; rather, it is about treating the whole patient, maximizing quality-of-life, and providing ongoing support for years to come. This requires specific training, from the Medical Director to the clinical staff and the support staff, which we have focused on intensively. We have tailored our center to reflect the actual needs of Parkinson patients, based on our combined years of experience in the field. After starting out years ago as a monthly Parkinson Disease clinic, we have developed a refined and forward-looking vision of comprehensive, up-to-date Parkinson Disease care that includes all currently available medically-accepted options for treatment, drawing from local, national, and international resources.
We have world-class clinicians to support these options. For example, I have worked with Dr. Kelly Foote, a neurosurgeon and Dr. Michael Okun, Medical Director of the National Parkinson Foundation, both of the University of Florida NPF Center of Excellence and the UF Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, in the surgical treatment of Parkinson Disease and Essential Tremor for many years. Both are known internationally for their outstanding knowledge and skill. As a result, we have patients who currently come from local, national, and international locations to visit our Center. Perhaps as a testament to our excellent patient care, this large demographic pool has developed over the years almost entirely by word of mouth.
Our mission is multifold: Excellent Patient Care, Community Education, and Clinical Research. As a result, we have a wide range of opportuniities for patients in Sarasota to learn about their own problems and even to participate in advancing knowledge for other people with similar problems.
Sincerely,
Dean P. Sutherland, MD, PhD