M/SAB Board Leadership
Gil I. Wolfe, MD, FAAN
Ted Burns, M.D.
Emma Ciafaloni, MD
Linda Kusner, Ph. D Henry Kaminski, M.D.
The MGFA Medical/Scientific Advisory Board (M/SAB) is comprised of medical professionals throughout the world who are interested in MG clinical care and research. This board promotes education and awareness in the medical and scientific community, and oversees creation and approval of all medical and educational materials that are distributed to patients and physicians.
The M/SAB also reviews and approves all research funded by MGFA.
Gil I. Wolfe, MD, is the Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, SUNY, where he holds the Irvin and Rosemary Smith Endowed Chair. Prior to January 2012, Dr. Wolfe was Professor of Neurology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. He currently serves as the Chair of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Medical/ Scientific Advisory Board. In September 2004, he was named to the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation Distinguished Chair in Neuromuscular Disease Research. Dr. Wolfe completed his undergraduate studies at Princeton University and attended medical school at UT Southwestern. He completed an internal medicine internship and trained as a neurology resident and neuromuscular/electromyography fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in neurology, neuromuscular medicine, and in clinical neurophysiology.
Dr. Wolfe's main research interests include idiopathic and immune-mediated peripheral neuropathies and myasthenia gravis. He has authored or co-authored over 75 papers and 15 chapters on neuromuscular disorders. His research has been sponsored by the National Institute of Health/NINDS, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, and Food and Drug Administration. He is actively involved in the training of younger physicians. He has received the Trephined Cranium Award for excellence in residency teaching on several occasions. He also serves on the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association, and Neuropathy Association, and has been elected to Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and to membership in the American Neurological Association
Dr. Ted M. Burns, recipient of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America 2011 Doctor of the Year Award, is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Virginia. In 2008, he was named a Harrison Distinguished Chair at the University of Virginia. He is the Medical Director of the Neurology EMG Laboratory, Director of the Neurology Residency Program and Director of the Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship. He is Vice Chair for Education in the Neurology Department.
Dr. Burns completed medical school at the University of Kansas. He completed neurology residency and clinical neurophysiology fellowship at the University of Virginia. He completed a peripheral nerve disease fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. After two years at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, he returned to the University of Virginia. He has won teaching awards at the University of Virginia, including the Master Educator Award in 2006 and the Dean’s Teaching Award in 2005. He is an elected member of the Academy of Distinguished Educators at the University of Virginia. He has been selected as one of the Best Doctors in America annually from 2005 – 2010.
Dr. Burns’s main research interests include the construction and validation of outcome measures in myasthenia gravis. He and colleagues have developed two new MG-specific scales, the “MG-QOL15” and “MG Composite.” The MG-QOL15 is a user-friendly scale that measures the quality of life of patients with MG. The MG Composite measures the manifestations of MG. Much of this research was sponsored by the MGFA. Another area of academic interest for Dr. Burns is the use of podcasting to educate physicians, patients and families. He is creator and editor of the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine’s podcast, creator and editor of the Neurology journal’s weekly podcast and creator of the MGFA’s podcast series designed to educate patients and families about practical aspects of MG.