Dr. Cheryl Waters Named First Glickman Professor At Columbias Center For Parkinsons Disease

New York, NY – November 2002 – Dr. Cheryl Waters, professor of clinical neurology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons (P&S) and chief of patient clinical services at the Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Other Movement Disorders at the Neurological Institute of New York, last month was named the first Albert B. and Judith L. Glickman Professor of Clinical Neurology at P&S. Dr. Waters’ nomination, which was submitted by Timothy A. Pedley, M.D., chairman of the Department of Neurology at P&S, was approved by the Columbia University Board of Trustees in October and takes effect immediately. The Albert B. and Judith L. Glickman Professorship was established with a $1.1 million lead gift by Albert and Judith Glickman, honoring Dr. Waters for her excellent work in treating Mr. Glickman for Parkinson’s disease. Other patients of Dr. Waters contributed the remainder of the $1.5 million needed to establish the professorship (including Seymour Jacoby, who provided a second major gift of $225,000 with his wife). Over the course of her career, Dr. Waters has built a national reputation as a clinician-educator, author, and Parkinson’s disease researcher. Since 1988, Dr. Waters has been actively involved with the testing and promotion of virtually every new Parkinson’s drug in Phase III trials and on the market. She is currently directing numerous clinical trials at the Parkinson’s disease center, participating in a genetic linkage study of Parkinson’s disease, and conducting investigations into the use of coenzyme Q10 for Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Waters has been instrumental in helping establish national guidelines for the surgical treatment of Parkinson’s disease and is the author of “Diagnosis and Management of Parkinson’s Disease,” now in wide circulation at medical schools, libraries, and institutions across the country. A graduate of the University of Toronto’s medical school, Dr. Waters completed her internship at the University of Chicago. After residencies in internal medicine and neurology, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical pharmacology at the Addiction Research Foundation and Playfair Neuroscience Unit in Toronto. Before joining the Department of Neurology at P&S in 1999, Dr. Waters spent more than a decade as an associate professor of neurology at the University of Southern California, developing California’s largest movement disorder program in the process. "I am delighted that Dr. Waters has been named the first Glickman Professor,” said Dr. Pedley. “Since joining NI in 1999, she has added an important clinical presence to our renowned movement disorders division, and she has increased our participation in clinical trials for Parkinson’s disease. It is essential that clinical departments be able to honor our clinicians and teachers in the same way that we have traditionally recognized laboratory investigators. The Glickman professorship gives us the opportunity to do this for Dr. Waters.” “I am delighted to be granted this honor at this time in my career,” said Dr. Waters. “I am particularly indebted to the Glickmans and the Jacobys for their profound generosity.” “Named professorships give Columbia the opportunity to recognize its most distinguished faculty and also to honor donors whose generosity contributes greatly to the university’s preeminence,” added Dr. Pedley. “We are thus delighted that this new professorship allows us to recognize not only Dr. Waters, but also Albert and Judith Glickman, whose lead gift made the chair possible.”

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*The Department of Neurology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons is one of the largest and most clinically versatile in the country, with more than 130 full-time faculty, 30 residents, and 45 post-residency fellows, representing all areas of neurology. Each of the department’s divisions has several clinicians who are both nationally and internationally recognized for their accomplishments; most physicians are involved in research and clinical trials, enabling them to offer their patients the latest in therapeutic options. The department is based in the Neurological Institute of New York, a world-class center for the treatment of brain and movement disorders that consistently has produced first-rate neurology experts—and expertise—since its inception nearly 100 years ago.