Medpedia

Melanie Marie Brandabur MD

Clinic Director

Sunnyvale, CA

Professional summary

Melanie Brandabur, MD received her BA degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana and her MD degree from Rush Medical College in Chicago. She completed her neurology residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. While there, she completed a Fellowship in Movement Disorders and Pharmacology under the direction of Doctors Harold Klawans and Christopher Goetz. This was followed by a post-doctoral basic sciences Fellowship in Neurodegenerative Diseases with Dr. Elliott Mufson to examine changes in nitric oxide synthase in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. She also studied at the Hospital de la Salpetriere in Paris, France under Dr. Yves Agid. In Chicago, she served as the medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence Movement Disorders Center, first at the University of Illinois and then at Alexian Neurosciences Institute. In July of 2006, she joined the distinguished faculty at The Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale, California as the director of the outpatient clinic for Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. The Parkinson’s Institute is dedicated to research into the cause and treatment of PD and related disorders. The research done at the PI includes basic science, epidemiology and clinical trials. Dr Brandabur’s interests include multidisciplinary care, patient education, underserved populations and caregiver support. She lectures frequently on these and other aspects of PD including complementary therapies, cognitive issues and nonmotor symptoms.