DavidKSimonMDPhD

Movement Disorder, Neurodegenerative

Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School; Chief, Division of Neurology - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Director, Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center; Director - National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

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Office
Beth Israel Deaconess Med. Ctr.
330 Brookline Avenue; Room Cls-638
Boston, MA 02215
Phone+1 617-667-0519

Fax+1 617-975-5454

Summary

David K. Simon, MD PhD, is a neurologist based in Boston, MA, specializing in movement disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. He completed his education at Johns Hopkins University and Washington University in St. Louis, followed by Harvard Longwood Neurology Residency Program, and a movement disorders fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He has been a staff neurologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since 2000 and is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. His clinical expertise includes general neurology, movement disorders and Parkinson's disease. He is involved in clinical and laboratory research and has published extensively, including studies featured in high-impact journals like Nature Communications. Dr. Simon has participated in clinical trials related to Parkinson's disease and has been recognized with several awards, including the George C. Cotzias Award from the American Parkinson Disease Association.

Education & Training

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical SchoolResidency, Neurology, 1994 - 1997
Washington University/B-JH/SLCH ConsortiumInternship, Internal Medicine, 1993 - 1994
Washington University in St. Louis School of MedicineClass of 1993
Washington University in St. LouisPh.D., Neuroscience, 1993
Johns Hopkins UniversityB.A., Biology, 1986

Certifications & Licensure

MA State Medical License 1995 - 2026
NH State Medical License 2024 - 2024
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Neurology

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

Meaningful Use Stage 1 Certification Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2012
George C. Cotzias Award (for Research) American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA), 2001
Irwin Levy Prize in Neurology and Neurological Surgery Washington University School of Medicine, 1993
Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Medical Scientist Fellowship Award Washington University School of Medicine, 1992
Jaycees Award for Outstanding Young Educator in the St. Louis Area Washington University School of Medicine, 1989
Alpha Epsilon Delta Honors Society Johns Hopkins University, 1985
Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society Johns Hopkins University, 1985
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Clinical Trials

Laser Light Cues for Gait Freezing in Parkinson's Disease Start of enrollment: 2006 Apr 01
Completed
Not Applicable
Safety and Biomarker Study of PTC-589 in Participants With Parkinson's Disease Start of enrollment: 2016 May 17
Completed
Phase 2

Publications & Presentations

PubMed

Automated Imaging Differentiation for Parkinsonism.
David E Vaillancourt, Angelos Barmpoutis, Samuel S Wu, Jesse C DeSimone, Marissa Schauder
JAMA Neurology. 2025-03-17
Targeting the PARylation-Dependent Ubiquitination Signaling Pathway for Cancer Therapies.
Daoyuan Huang, Jingchao Wang, Li Chen, Weiwei Jiang, Hiroyuki Inuzuka
Biomolecules. 2025-02-07
Polygenic scores for disease risk are not associated with clinical outcomes in Parkinson's disease.
Manuela Mx Tan, Hirotaka Iwaki, Sara Bandres-Ciga, Yuri Sosero, Maryam Shoai
Medrxiv. 2025-02-03

Journal Articles

Peripheral Biomarkers of Parkinson's Disease Progression and Pioglitazone effects
Simon DK, Simuni T, Elm J, Clark-Matott J, Graebner AK, Baker L, Dunlop SR, Emborg M, Kamp C, Morgan JC, Ross GW, Sharma S, Ravina B, on behalf of the NET-PD FS-Zone I..., J Parkinson’s Dis, 1/1/2015
Pioglitazone in early Parkinson's disease: a phase 2, multicentre, double-blind, randomised trial
FS-ZONE Investigators (Simon DK), Lancet Neurology, 1/1/2015
Somatic mitochondrial DNA mutations do not increase neuronal vulnerability to MPTP in young POLG mutator mice
Dai Y, Clark J, Zheng K, Kujoth GC, Prolla TA, Simon DK, Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 1/1/2014
Rapamycin drives selection against a pathogenic heteroplasmic mitochondrial DNA mutation
Dai Y, Zheng K, Clark J, Swerdlow RH, Pulst SM, Sutton JP, Shinobu LA, Simon DK, Human Mol Genet, 1/1/2014
No Sex Differences in Use of Dopaminergic Medication in Early Parkinson Disease in the US and Canada - Baseline Findings of a Multicenter Trial
Umeh CC, Perez A, Augustine EF, Dhall R, Dewey RB, Mari Z, Simon DK, Wills AA, Christine CW, Schneider JS, Suchowersky O, PLoS ONE, 1/1/2014
Behavioral and metabolic deficits in heterozygous and homozygous POLG mutator mice
Dai Y, Kiselak T, Clark J, Clore E, Zheng K, Cheng A, Kujoth GC, Bilotti K, Cantuti-Castelvetri I, Prolla TA, Maratos-Flier T, Simon DK, Mitochondrion, 1/1/2013
Somatic Mitochondrial DNA Mutations and Parkinsonism
Lin MT, Cantuti-Castelvetri I, Lees AJ, Beal MF, Simon DK, Ann Neurol, 1/1/2012
Somatic mtDNA mutations in early Parkinson and incidental lewy body disease
Lin MT, Cantuti-Castelvetri I, Zheng K, Jackson KE, Tan YB, Arzberger T, Lees AJ, Betensky RA, Beal MF, Simon DK, Ann Neurol, 1/1/2012
An inverse-Warburg effect and the origin of Alzheimer’s disease
Demetrius LA, Simon DK, Biogerontology, 1/1/2012
Assessment of the interaction of UCHL1 and NAT2 genotypes with the risk and age at onset of Parkinson’s disease
Göbel A, Macklin EA, Winkler S, Klein C, Lohmann K, Simon DK, J Neurol, 1/1/2012
Design Innovations and Baseline Findings in a Long-Term Parkinson’s Trial: the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Exploratory Trials in Parkinson’s
Elm JJ, The NINDS NET-PD Investigators (Simon DK), Movement Disorders, 1/1/2012
The Utility of laser-generated visual-cueing in Parkinsonian patients with freezing of gait
Donovan S, Lim C, Rose P, Sudarsky LR, Tarsy D, Simon DK, Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 1/1/2012
Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease
Simon DK, Chu CT, Swerdlow RH, Parkinsons Dis, 1/1/2011
Do Somatic Mitochondrial DNA Mutations Contribute to Parkinson’s Disease?
Clark J, Dai Y, Simon DK, Parkinsons Dis, 1/1/2011
Laser Light Cues for Gait Freezing in Parkinson’s Disease
Donovan S, Lim C, Diaz N, Browner N, Rose P, Sudarsky LR, Tarsy D, Fahn S, Simon DK, Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 1/1/2011
The c-237_236GA>TT THAP1 sequence variant does not increase risk for primary dystonia
Xiao J, Zhao Y, Bastian RW, Perlmutter JS, Racette BA, Tabbal SD, Karimi M, Paniello RC, Wszolek ZK, Uitti RJ, Van Gerpen JA, Simon DK, Tarsy D, Hedera P, Truong DD, ..., Movement Disord, 1/1/2011
Narratives of medication induced hallucinations, delusions and compulsive behaviors in Parkinson’s disease
Friedman JH, Agarwal P, Alcalay R, Black KJ, Chou KL, Cote L, Dayalu P, Frank S, Hartlein J, Hauser RA, Lang AE, Marek K, Marsh L, Marshall F, Moskowitz C, Ravina B, R..., Int J Neurosci, 1/1/2011
Association of PGC-1alpha polymorphisms with age of onset and risk of Parkinson's disease
Clark J, Reddy S, Zheng K, Betensky RA, Simon DK, BMC Med Genet, 1/1/2011
Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups and Mutations in Pediatric Acquired Central Demyelination
Venkateswaran S, Zheng K, Sacchetti M, Gagne D, Arnold DL, Sadovnick AD, Scherer SW, Banwell B, Bar-Or A, Simon DK; on behalf of the Canadian Pediatric Demyelinating D..., Neurology, 1/1/2011
Association of cumulative lead exposure with Parkinson's Disease
Weisskopf MG, Weuve J, Nie H, Saint-Hilaire M-H, Sudarsky L, Simon DK, Hersh B, Schwartz J, Wright RO, Hu H, Environmental Health Perspect, 1/1/2010
Maternal Inheritance and Mitochondrial DNA Variants in Familial Parkinson Disease
Simon DK, Pankratz N, et al, for the Parkinson Study Group – PROGENI Investigators, BMC Medical Genetics, 1/1/2010
MELAS Syndrome, Cardiomyopathy, Rhabdomyoloysis and autism associated with the A3260G Mitochondrial DNA Mutation
Connolly BS, Feigenbaum ASJ, Robinson BH, Dipchand DI, Simon, DK, Tarnopolsky MA, Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 1/1/2010
Clark J, Clore E, Zheng K, Sacchetti M, Masliah E, Simon DK, PLoS ONE, 1/1/2010
Transcribe to Survive: Transcriptional Control of Antioxidant Defense Programs for Neuroprotection in Parkinson’s Disease
Clark J, Simon DK, Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, 1/1/2009
Identification of a novel ataxia-associated mtDNA mutation (T9035C) and evaluation of its pathogenicity in transmitochondrial cybrids
Sikorska M, Sandhu JK, Simon DK, Pathiraja V, Sodja C, Li Y, Ribecco-Lutkiewicz M, Lanthier P, Borowy-Borowski H, Upton A, Raha S, Pulst S, Tarnopolsky MA, Muscle & Nerve, 1/1/2009
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Books/Book Chapters

Encyclopedia of Movement Disorders
Chapter: Complex I Deficiency.
Simon DKEditors: Kompoliti K, and Verhagen Metman L.Academic Press, Oxford2010
Encyclopedia of Movement Disorders
Chapter: Mitochondrial Encephalopathies
Simon DKEditors: Kompoliti K, and Verhagen Metman L.Academic Press, Oxford2010
Textbook of Geriatrics and Gerontology, commional.
Chapter: Parkinson’s Disease
Simon DKEditors: Kyung-Hwan Cho.Medical Publishing Company, Seoul, Korea2010
Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences
Chapter: Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis and Stroke (MELAS)
Page 196 - 197Simon DKEditors: MJ Aminoff and RB Daroff.Academic Press, San Diego, CA2003
Genetics of Movement Disorders
Chapter: Chapter 41: Mitochondrial Mutations in Parkinson's Disease and Dystonia
Page 473 - 490Simon DKEditors: S. Pulst.Academic Press2002
Parkinson's Disease.: Diagnosis and Clinical Management
Chapter: Chapter 27: Pathogenesis: Oxidative Stress, Mitochondria Dysfunction and Excitotoxicity.
Simon DK, Beal MFEditors: SA Factor WJ Weiner.Demos Vermande, New York, NY2001
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Abstracts/Posters

Multifocal Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Improves Motor and Mood Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease Equally to a Sham Stimulation: Results of the MASTER-PD...
Brys M, Biagioni M, Agarwal S, Dacpano G, Kumar P, Pirraglia L, Gray Z, Simon DK, Wu A, Fernandez H, Chen R, Wagle Shukla A, Lou JS, Di Rocco A, Pascual-Leone A, Movement Disorders Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1/1/2015
A Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Phase II Study of Pioglitazone in Early Parkinson’s Disease.
NET-PD Investigators (Simon DK), Movement Disorders Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1/1/2015
Personality and Quality of Life Assessments Before and After Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease.
Newlon M, O’Connor M, Kapust L, Pierce C, Silver A, Simon DK, Tarsy D, Papavassiliou E, Alterman R, Shih LC, Movement Disorders Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1/1/2015
Biomarkers of pioglitazone effects in Parkinson’s Disease.
Simon DK, Simuni T, Elm J, Clark J, Graebner A, Ravina B, on behalf of the NET-PD Investigators, Movement Disorders Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1/1/2015
Incidence of dyskinesia improvement following subthalamic DBS without medication reduction.
Solis-Cohen L, Simon DK, Tarsy D, Alterman R, Shih LC, Movement Disorders Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1/1/2015
Dance exercise is an effective alternative to multimodal physical therapy to improve balance in Parkinson’s disease.
Vanderhorst V, Harrier D, Snyder A, Shillue K, Oconnor M, Goodman N, Simon DK, Shih L, Tarsy D, Movement Disorders Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1/1/2015
Head Injury at Early Ages is Associated with Risk of Parkinson’s Disease
Simon DK, American Academy of Neurology (AAN) annual meeting, Washington, DC, 1/1/2015
Effect of endurance exercise on the brain of Polg mutator mice. (abstract 5804) Selected for presentation at Nanosymposium Session 392, Brain Wellness: Metabolism and ...
Clark J, Saleem A, Wang R, Dai Y, Ma X, Safdar A, Tarnopolsky M, Simon DK, Society for neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 1/1/2014
Effects of Coenzyme Q10 in PSP, A Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Study.
Apetauerova D, Standaert D, Yacoubian T, Hamill R, Simon D, Scala S, Movement Disorders Society Annual Meeting, 1/1/2014
PD Therapeutics Conference
Simon D, Michael J Fox Foundation, 1/1/2012
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Lectures

Clinical Trials and Slowing Progression of Parkinson’s Disease
Newton, MA - 1/6/2015
ECG features and Autonomic Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease
Sanibel, FL - 1/1/2015
Trial design for clinical studies of potential neuroprotective agents in Parkinson’s disease.
1/1/2015
Clinical trial design for potential neuroprotective agents.
1/1/2015
Medical Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
1/1/2015
Clinical Genetic Testing in Parkinson’s Disease
1/1/2015
PD101. Parkinson’s Disease Overview.
1/1/2015
Basic Science Breakthroughs.
1/1/2015
Caffeine, creatine and genotype interactions with respect to progression of Parkinson’s Disease.
Sanibel, FL - 1/1/2015
Biomarkers of PD Progression and Pioglitazone Effects
Sanibel, FL - 1/1/2015
Genetics of PD and the Relevance of Genetic testing.
Brown University Medical School - 1/1/2015
Tourette Syndrome and restless legs
BIDMC and Harvard medical School - 1/1/2015
Diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and early treatment.
BIDMC and Harvard medical School - 1/1/2015
Slower is better: Slowing progression of Parkinson’s Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - 1/1/2015
Movement Disorders Video Case Rounds
BIDMC and Harvard medical School - 1/1/2015
Neuroprotection in Parkinson’s Disease
Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam - 1/14/2014
Genetics, Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Neuroprotection in Parkinson’s Disease
1/1/2014
Neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease.
1/1/2014
Neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease: The present and the future.
Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA - 1/1/2014
Caffeine and progression of PD
St. Louis, MO - 1/1/2014
Biomarkers of pioglitazone effects in PD
St. Louis, MO - 1/1/2014
The Brain
1/1/2013
Neuroprotection and Clinical Trial Design in Parkinson’s disease
1/1/2013
Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Neuroprotection in Parkinson’s Disease
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA - 1/1/2012
The Causes of Parkinson’s disease.
1/1/2012
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Other

Dystonia.
Simon DK, Tarsy D, Shih LC, BMJ Point of Care
www.pointofcare.bmj.com
1/1/2014
Pioglitazone and neuroprotective therapies for Parkinson’s disease (Interview).
Simon D, Healthday
1/1/2014
Mitochondrial Disorders (Interviewed as an expert)
Simon D, Yahoo Sports
1/1/2008
Parkinson's Disease
Simon D, Channel 56, 10pm local news
Boston, MA - 1/1/2005
Development of Topographic Order in the Mammalian Retinocollicular Projection (Ph.D. Thesis)
Simon D
1/1/1990
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Press Mentions

Obituaries: Melvin E. Clouse, MD, 90, Shaped Understanding of Cardiovascular and Interventional RadiologySeptember 3rd, 2024
Can a ‘Smart’ Skin Patch Detect Early Neurodegenerative Diseases?February 1st, 2023
Deep Brain Stimulation and New Technology Helping Patient Live Life to the FullestFebruary 8th, 2022
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Grant Support

Targeting the FBXW7/PGC1 Pathway as a Therapeutic Strategy for Parkinson's DiseaseBETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER2024–2029
USP30 Inhibition as a Therapeutic Strategy in Parkinson's DiseaseBETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER2023–2025
VPS35 as a therapeutic target in Parkinson's diseaseBETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER2023–2025
Parkinson Disease Neuroprotection Clinical TrialNational Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke2002–2012
Mitophagy-Driven Selection Against Heteroplasmic Mitochondrial DNA MutationsNational Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke2011
Impact Of Somatic Mitochondrial DNA Point Mutations In The Aging BrainNational Institute On Aging2010–2011
Oxidative Stress, Alpha-Synuclein, And Mtdna Mutations In Parkinson'S DiseaseNational Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke2007–2011
Somatic Mitochondrial DNA Mutations In Neurons And GliaNational Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke2007
Somatic Mitochondiral DNA Mutations In Neurons And GliaNational Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke2006
Acquired Mitochondrial DNA Mutations In The BrainNational Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke2002–2006
Oxidative Stress And Parkinsons DiseaseNational Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke1998–2001
Oxidative Stress And Parkinsons DiseaseNational Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke1997

Professional Memberships

International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society - MDS
Member