The UAB Heersink School of Medicine is among eight academic medical centers worldwide selected to train a new movement disorder clinician-researcher through the distinguished Edmond J. Safra Fellowship in Movement Disorders for the class of 2028. The fellowship is awarded via the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).
“At UAB, we are committed to growing the global base of movement disorders specialists needed to care for the six million people living with Parkinson’s worldwide,” said Marissa Dean, M.D., fellowship director and associate professor in the Division of Movement Disorders in the UAB Department of Neurology.
This marks the fourth time UAB has been awarded The Edmond J. Safra Fellowship in Movement Disorders since it was launched in 2013. Dean was among the inaugural Edmond J. Safra fellows graduating with the class of 2018. Other UAB recipients include Juliana Coleman, M.D., fellowship class of 2020 and current assistant professor in the Department of Neurology, and Aditya Vikram Boddu, M.D., fellowship class of 2022 and assistant professor at the University of Arkansas.
“The Edmond J. Safra Fellowship offers unique opportunities for the Edmond J. Safra Fellows to collaborate with each other and experts in the field of movement disorders,” Dean said. “It also offers a platform for clinician-researchers to launch their careers during fellowship training. I am grateful to have been an Edmond J. Safra Fellow, as it supported me as I began my own career as a clinician-researcher.”
Coleman reflected on connectivity as a benefit of the fellowship program.
"The Edmond J. Safra fellowship allows for continued contact with other Edmond J. Safra fellows, even after graduation,” Coleman said. “This allows Edmond J. Safra fellows to maintain a network of colleagues and researchers while navigating their careers.”
The Department of Neurology is currently interviewing for its class of 2028 Edmond J. Safra Fellow. Learn more about how to apply.
The full list of 2025 recipients of the Edmond J. Safra Fellowship in Movement Disorders is as follows:
Amsterdam University Medical Centers in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Corporacion CETRAM in Lo Espejo, Chile
Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina
Toronto Western Hospital in Toronto, Canada
University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama
University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia
University of Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri
The Edmond J. Safra Fellowship is made possible through the transformative generosity and leadership of the late Lily Safra, former chairwoman of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation and MJFF Board member. Safra provided revolutionary support to hundreds of organizations around the world in the name of her late husband, Edmond J. Safra, who lived with Parkinson’s disease. Safra was passionately invested in finding a cure.
Learn more about the Edmond J. Safra Fellowship in Movement Disorders.