Dr. Erik P Pioro, MD, PhD

Erik P Pioro, MD, PhD is the newly appointed ALS BC Society Chair and Professor of Neurology at the UBC Department of Medicine. Dr Pioro is a clinician-scientist with expertise in neuromuscular neurology who diagnoses and cares after patients with ALS and related disorders. His research program focuses on neuroimaging changes in patients with ALS and understanding their molecular underpinnings. He has additional interests in the genetics of ALS and the role of misfolded proteins (e.g., TDP-43) in ALS. Dr Pioro received his MD from the University of Calgary and his PhD from the University of Oxford. He completed his Neurology Residency at the MNI, McGill University with additional training in MRI there, and in neuropathology at the Mayo Clinic. After a neuromuscular/EMG fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, Dr Pioro directed the Section of ALS & Related Disorders as the Barry Winovich Endowed Chair in ALS Research at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. In that role over two decades, he diagnosed and managed over 2,500 patients with ALS, was PI on several ALS clinical trials, and performed both wet lab- and imaging-based research. He has been awarded and published extensively, receiving NIH and other agency funding. Just prior to coming to UBC, Dr Pioro served as the Les Turner ALS Foundation/Herbert C Wenske Professor of Neurology, Vice-Chair of Translational Neurology, and Medical Director of Neuromuscular Diseases in the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University, Chicago, IL. Dr Pioro is committed to developing a ALS clinical research group at UBC that will allow patients with ALS to participate in various studies and clinical trials testing potential novel therapies. He is honoured to serve as a Board member of the ALS Society of BC.