Michael Jeffrey Aminoff

Dr. Michael Jeffrey Aminoff
Michael Jeffrey Aminoff, 2013 by RCL Portrait Design
Born	(1941-04-24) April 24, 1941 Little Paxton, England
Occupation(s)	Director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Clinic, University of California, San Francisco
Known for	His pioneering work on treating Parkinson's disease
Spouse(s)	Janette Dawn Aminoff, nee Williamson
Children	Alexandra Robyn, Jonathan Charles, Anthony Thomas

Dr. Michael J. Aminoff (born April 24, 1941 in Little Paxton, England) is a neurologist and expert in diagnosing and treating Parkinson's disease. His work focuses on treating Parkinson's disease, particularly issues involving movement and cognition, such as memory disturbances, perception and judgment. He currently lives in San Francisco, California.

Biography

Michael J. Aminoff is a clinical neurologist and neurophysiologist, clinical investigator, university professor, author, and editor with a special interest in medical history. He was born and educated in England, graduating from University College London in 1962 and as a physician from University College Hospital Medical School in 1965. He subsequently trained in neurology and neurophysiology at The National Hospital (Queen Square) in London, and moved to San Francisco in 1974 where he has been Professor of Neurology since 1982 at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. He was Director of UCSF's Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratories until 2004, then became Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Neurology.

Dr. Aminoff has received numerous honors and awards for his work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine in 2006, and in 2007 he received the A.B. Baker Award of the American Academy of Neurology, for lifetime achievements and contributions to medical education. In 2010 UCSF awarded him the title of “Distinguished Professor.”

He is a prolific publisher of medical research papers, author and editor nearly 40 books, including several comprehensive textbooks that have gone into numerous editions, and his published works have been translated into 8 languages.

Aminoff has long been passionate about the history of medicine and medical practitioners and is the author of two biographies of important historical physicians: one of C.E. Brown-Séquard and the other of Sir Charles Bell. He has been a series editor of several volumes of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology focusing on the history of neurology, contributed to and edited an issue of the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, and with Larry R. Faulkner wrote an entire volume of the History of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He also contributed a chapter to the classic An Illustrated History of Brain Function, 2nd edition, by Edwin Clarke and C.D. O'Malley. He is currently working on a biography of Sir Victor Horsley, the pioneer neurosurgeon and social activist.

In addition to his writing on matters of medical history, Dr. Aminoff's scientific published works earned him an Advanced Doctorate in the Faculty of Science from the University of London in 2000. He was one of two editors-in-chief (along with Robert B. Daroff) of the four-volume Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences, editor-in-chief of the neurological journal Muscle & Nerve from 1998 to 2007, from 2004 to 2012 was the director of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and chair of their board in 2011.

Dr. Aminoff's current titles at the UCSF Medical Center, Department of Neurology and School of Medicine, include: Endowed Chair in Parkinson’s Disease Research, Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Executive Vice Chair, and Attending Physician (Neurologist).

Aminoff currently directs UCSF's Parkinson's Disease Clinic and Research Center, a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence.

His other interests include antique furniture, travel, good food, and reading. He is a Francophile and enjoys spending time in his apartment in Paris. He dislikes exercise for the sake of it.

He is married and has three adult children: a pediatric rheumatologist, a federal defense attorney and a trial attorney (prosecutor) at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Education and Certification

B.Sc. (Anatomy), University College, London, UK, 1962.

MB, BS Medicine & Surgery 
(Equivalent to MD degree in US), University College Hospital Medical School, London, UK, 1965.
MRCP Internal Medicine
 (Similar to Board Certification in Internal Medicine in US), London, UK, 1968.
MD Research Thesis in Neurophysiology
 (Advanced research thesis similar to PhD in US), Institute of Neurology, London, UK, 1973.
D.Sc Physiology
 (Higher Doctorate in Faculty of Science), University of London, London, UK, 2000.

Federal Licensing Examination and California Medical License, California, US, 1976.
Membership by examination, American Association of Electromyography & Electrodiagnosis, leading in 1989 to Certification by American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, 1977.
Certification by the American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology (ABQEEG), 1980.
Certification in Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, 1982. Voluntary Recertification, 2004.
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK, 1984.
Subspecialty certification in Clinical Neurophysiology, American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (new subspecialty), 1992. Recertified 2002.

Principal Positions

1965-1966    House physician & house surgeon, University College Hospital, London, U.K.
1966-1969    Junior staff member at various London teaching hospitals, London, U.K.
1969-1970    Registrar in Applied Electrophysiology, National Hospital, Queen Square, London, U.K.
1970-1971    Registrar in Neurology, Middlesex Hospital, London, U.K.
1971-1972    Registrar in Neurology, National Hospital, Queen Square, London, U.K.
1972-1976    Senior Registrar, National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square & Maida Vale, London, U.K.
1974-1975    Visiting Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco (on sabbatical)
1976-1982    Associate Professor of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
1976-Present    Attending Neurologist, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco
1976-1996    Attending Neurologist, VA Fort Miley Hospital and San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco
1976-2004    Director, Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratories, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco
1982-Present    Professor of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
1999-Present    Consultant Research Physician, Goldman Research Center, UCSF Center on Aging, San Francisco
2004-Present    Executive Vice Chair, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Accomplishments/Research

Dr. Aminoff is a clinical neurologist and neurophysiologist whose original contributions have been in several overlapping areas, utilizing electrophysiological techniques to investigate the functioning of the nervous system in health and disease. His work has been directed at extending the clinical applications of electrodiagnostic techniques or at providing insight into the underlying pathophysiology of various disorders. His work on different aspects of the autonomic nervous system showed involvement of sympathetic fibers in entrapment neuropathies; the importance of spinal mechanisms in the control of breathing; the nature and consequences of the dysautonomia in patients with Parkinson’s disease; and the nature of the involuntary motor activity that follows cessation of the cerebral circulation (syncope). His studies of the physiology of sensory discrimination and motor control showed that the discrimination-response system is organized as a parallel network rather than in the serial manner often portrayed, and he provided evidence that the long-latency stretch responses have a transcerebral pathway in humans, are under some degree of voluntary control, and relate to the organization of the discrimination-response system. His studies provided electrophysiological evidence for different types of dementia and defined their electrophysiological characteristics.

His clinical studies of spinal vascular malformations (dural arteriovenous fistulas) led to a new theory on their pathophysiology. He and his collaborators suggested that increased venous pressure reduces the intramedullary arteriovenous pressure gradient and thus blood flow, leading to spinal cord ischemia. This is now widely accepted and has had major implications for the treatment of these lesions. His later interest in movement disorders led him to show the utility of botulinum toxin in the treatment of various movement disorders, and then to study gene therapy in managing patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Aminoff has devoted many years to medical education. As a director and chair of the American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology, of the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and of the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, he was concerned with syllabus development, setting national guidelines and educational standards, and assessing competence in clinical neurophysiology and clinical neurology. He lectures frequently at regional, national and international meetings, and has authored or edited numerous books on neurological science and education, and in 2003 was appointed one of the series editors of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology. His teaching contributions have led to several national awards.

Honors and Awards

1973    Queen Square Prize for Research in Neurology, Institute of Neurology, London, UK
1991    Royer Award (Neurology), University of California, San Francisco
2006    Lifetime Achievement Award, American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine
2007    A.B. Baker Award, American Academy of Neurology
2010    Honorary member, Gold-Headed Cane Society, University of California, San Francisco
2011    Awarded title of “Distinguished Professor” at University of California, San Francisco
2013    Endowed Chair in Parkinson’s Disease Research, University of California, San Francisco

Books

Aminoff MJ: Spinal Angiomas. Blackwell: Oxford, 1976.

Aminioff MJ: Electromyography in Clinical Practice. Addison Wesley: Reading, Mass., 1978.

Aminoff MJ (Ed): Electrodiagnosis in Clinical Neurology. Churchill Livingstone: New York.
First Edition, 1980; Second Edition, 1986; Third Edition, 1992; Fourth Edition, 1999; Fifth Edition, 2005; Sixth Edition, 2012 (as Aminoff’s Electrodiagnosis in Clinical Neurology)

Consultant in neurology and neurophysiology and Asst. Editor for the Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Laboratory Medicine and Technology, Bennington JL (Ed), Saunders: Philadelphia, 1984.

Aminoff MJ (Ed): Electrodiagnosis issue, Neurologic Clinics. Saunders: Philadelphia, 1985
Portuguese (Brazilian) translation published as a separate book, 1987.

Aminoff MJ: "Electromyography in Clinical Practice." Electrodiagnostic Aspects of Neuromuscular Disease. 2nd Edition (expanded). Churchill Livingstone: NY, 1987
3rd Edition, Churchill Livingstone: NY, 1998

Simon RP, Aminoff MJ, Greenberg DA: Clinical Neurology. Appleton & Lange: Norwalk, 1989.
Second Edition, 1993; Third edition, 1996; Fourth Edition, 1999; Fifth Edition, 2002; Sixth Edition, 2005; Seventh Edition, 2009; Eighth Edition, 2012; Ninth Edition, 2015; Tenth Edition, 2018

Aminoff MJ (Ed): Neurology and General Medicine. Churchill Livingstone: New York. First Edition, 1989
Second Edition, 1995; Third Edition, 2001; Fourth Edition, 2008; Fifth Edition, 2014 (with Josephson SA; as Aminoff’s Neurology and General Medicine)

Aminoff MJ: Brown-Sequard: A Visionary of Science. Raven Press, New York, 1993.

Goetz CG, Tanner CM, AMINOFF MJ (Eds): Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Volume 63: Systemic Disease, Part 1. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1993.

Tollerud D, Aminoff MJ, et al: "Veterans and Agent Orange," Update 1996. NAP, Washington, 1996;
Update 1998. NAP, Washington, 1998; Herbicide/Dioxin exposure and type 2 diabetes. NAP, Washington, 2000.

Goetz CG, Aminoff MJ (Eds): Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Volume 70: Systemic Diseases, Part II, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1998

Aminoff MJ, Goetz CG (Eds): Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Volume 71: Systemic Diseases, Part III, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1998

Television Appearances

“Parkinson's Disease: A Dose of Hope.” Program on Parkinson’s disease for patients and caregivers produced by UCTV and aired nationally for 1 week in 2011. Continues to be available on websites for UCTV, YouTube, and the UCSF PD Center. “Parkinson's: Latest from the Experts." Program on Parkinson’s disease for health-care professionals produced by UCTV and aired nationally for 1 week in 2011. Continues to be available on websites for UCTV, YouTube, and the UCSF PD Center.