H. Houston Merritt Associate Professor of Neurology

Director of the Initiative for Columbia Ataxia and Tremor

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Dr. Kuo is a Movement Disorders specialist caring for patients with cerebellar ataxia, including spinocerebellar ataxia and multiple system atrophy, and a variety of other movement disorders, such as essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. As a physician-scientist, his research is funded by National Institutes of Health to study the role of the cerebellum in movement disorders, implicating in ataxia and tremor. He leads a multi-disciplinary research team(link is external and opens in a new window) to study the disease mechanism and to develop therapies for movement disorders via translational research and clinical trials.

Dr. Kuo is the Director for the Initiative for Columbia Ataxia and Tremor(link is external and opens in a new window) (ICAT), an interdisciplinary research group to study how the cerebellum plays a role in neurological and neurodegenerative disorders. He also serves as one of the tri-leaders for the Clinical Research Consortium for Spinocerebellar Ataxias, constituting 15 medical centers in the U.S. to study patients living with spinocerebellar ataxias. Aiming to promote research collaboration, Dr. Kuo organizes International Tremor Congress(link is external and opens in a new window) every other year, bringing researchers together to advance therapies for tremor. He was elected in 2020 as the Vice Chair for the Movement Disorders Section at American Academy of Neurology(link is external and opens in a new window). Dr. Kuo has received multiple scientific awards as the recognition of his contributions to neurology, including 2016 Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Scholar Merit Award, 2019 American Academy of Neurology Jon Stolk Award for Movement Disorders, and 2020 American Neurological Association Derek Denny-Brown Award.