Department of Neurology - Faculty

Scott J. Sherman, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology

Scott J. Sherman, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Arizona Health Network - Campus in Tucson, College of Medicine, Director of the Movement Disorders Center, Medical Director of the Arizona Chapter of the American Parkinson's Disease Association, and Director of the Parkinson's Disease Program of the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Institute of Tucson.

Dr Sherman received a medical degree and a doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Washington in Seattle. He completed an anesthesiology residency at the University of Washington and a neurology residency and epilepsy fellowship training at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Dr Sherman's areas of research interest include deep brain stimulation, gene therapy, and cell-based therapy for Parkinson disease. He is an investigator for two multicenter studies, one evaluating the use of SPECT scanning for early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and another evaluating a novel class of drugs for treatment of advanced motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.

Dr Sherman's original articles and abstracts on understanding and treating parkinsonism have been published or accepted for publication by Science, Movement Disorders, Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, Neuroscience, and many other journals. He lectures before Parkinson disease support groups and other public meetings and has been invited to lecture to the medical community about new therapies for and patient care issues with Parkinson disease and movement disorders.

He holds memberships in the Movement Disorder Society and the American Academy of Neurology. He has been awarded for outstanding achievement in teaching and outstanding progress in research by the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Education/Training:

BS: Brandeis University, 1978
MD: University of Washington, 1985
PhD: University of Washington, 1985
Internship: University of Washington, 1985-86
Residency (Anesthesiology): University of Washington, 1987-90
Residency (Neurology): University of Arizona, 1993-96
Fellowship (Epilepsy): University of Arizona, 1996-97

Clinical/Research Interests:

Movement Disorders; cell-based and gene-based strategies for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Selected Publications:

• Frank M, Samanta J, Moustafa A, Sherman S. Hold your horses: Impulsivity, deep brain stimulation, and medication in Parkinsonism. Science 2007, 318:1309-1312.
• Ahmed N, Sherman S, VanWyck D. Frailty in Parkinson's disease and its clinical implications. Parkinsonism Related Disorders, 2008, 14(4):334-37.
• Ciucci M, Barkmeier-Kraemer J, Sherman S. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation improves deglutition in Parkinson's disease. Movement Disorders 2008, 23(5):676-83.
• Falk T, Xie J, Zhang S, Kennedy J, Yool A., Sherman S. Over-expression of the potassium channel Kir2.3 by an adenoviral vector using the dopamine-1 receptor promoter selectively inhibits striatal neurons. Neuroscience 2008, 155(1):114-127.
• Moustafa AA, Sherman S, Frank M. A dopaminergic basis for working memory, learning and attentional shifting in Parkinsonism. Neuropsychologia 2008, 46:3144-3156.
• Moustafa AA, Cohen M, Sherman S, Frank M. A role for dopamine in temporal decision making and reward maximization in Parkinsonism. Journal of Neuroscience 2008, 28:122294-304.
• Falk T, Zhang SL, Sherman SJ, Pigment-derived epithelial factor (PEDF) is neurotrophic and neuroprotective in two in vitro models of Parkinson's disease. Neuroscience Letters 2009, 458(2):49-52.
• Falk T, Zhang S, Sherman SJ. Vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGF-B) is up-regulated and exogenous VEGF-B is neuroprotective in a culture model of Parkinson's disease. Molecular Neurodegeneration, 2009, 4:49.
• Falk T, Gonzalez RT, Sherman SJ. The yin and yang of VEGF and PEDF: multifaceted neurotrophic factors and their potential in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2010, 11:2875-2900; doi:10.3390/ijms11082875.
• Frank MJ, Scheres A, Sherman SJ. Understanding decision making deficits in neurological conditions: insights from models of natural action selection. In Models of Natural Action Selection, Cambridge University Press; Cambridge UK; Seth, Prescott TJ, et al. eds., 2012, Ch. 15, pp. 330-362.
• Sherman, SJ. Botulinum toxins in movement disorders. Ch. 17. In Movement Disorders, New York, Oxford American Neurology Library, Chitnis S, Dewey RB, eds., 2011. pp. 195-211.
• Falk T, Yue X, Zhang SL, McCourt AD, Yee BJ, Gonzalez RT, Sherman SJ. Vascular endothelial growth factor B is neuroprotective in an in vivo model of Parkinson’s disease. Neuroscience Letters, 2011, 496:43-47.
• Cavanaugh JF, Cohen MX, Wiecki TV, Figueroa CM, Samanta J, Sherman SJ, Frank MJ. Subthalamic nucleus stimulation reverses mediofrontal influence over decision threshold. Nature Neuroscience, 2011, 14:11: 1462-67.
• Yue X, Falk T, Zuniga LA, Szabò L, Porreca F, Polt R, Sherman SJ. Effects of the novel glycopeptide opioid agonist MMP-2200 in preclinical models of Parkinson's disease. Brain Research, 2011, 1413:72-83.