Michael J. Polydefkis, MD

Dr. George Ricaurte has a weekly clinic that focuses on Parkinsons disease and other movement disorders. In addition, he attends on the consult and in-patient neurology services at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.Dr. Ricaurte's research interests center on amphetamine-type stimulants and their potential to damage brain monoamine-containing neurons, including dopamine neurons (which degenerate in Parkinsons disease). Dr. Ricaurte and his colleagues are particularly interested in mechanisms of dopamine nerve cell degeneration. The long-term goal of this neurotoxicology research is to help find ways to prevent - or retard - the progression of Parkinsons disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Ricaurtes work also has implications for the drug abuse field and substance abuse neuropsychiatric disorders.Dr. George Ricaurte received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School and his doctorate in Pharmacology from the University of Chicago. He then completed his residency in neurology at Stanford University Medical Center and did a one year fellowship at the Parkinsons Institute in California.

Dr. Aruna Rao completed her Neurology residency at Johns Hopkins school of medicine followed by a fellowship in Sleep medicine.She sees patients at the headache center, cerebro spinal fluid (CSF) disorders center and sleep disorders center, which are located at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. She specializes in all headache disorders including migraine, cluster, tension headaches, trigeminal neuralgia and facial pain. Dr. Rao is currently not accepting new patients.In the CSF Disorders Center she evaluates patients with pseudotumor cerebri and other CSF disorders. In the sleep disorders center she sees patients with sleep apnea, insomnia, hypersomnolence disorders and movement disorders associated with sleep like restless leg syndrome.

Dr. Paul O'Rourke is an Associate Professor of Medicine and serves as Assistant Dean for Medical Student Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. O'Rourke co-directs the Johns Hopkins Medical Education Pathway, a longitudinal medical education training program for Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview internal medicine residents. He directs the Outpatient Medicine Curriculum of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency. He spends the majority of his time teaching and advising medical students and internal medicine residents. He is involved in medical education research with a particular focus on primary care education and advocacy, humanism in medicine, high value care, and health disparities. He is active on the national level through the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) and the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM). He currently serves as a national councilor for APDIM. Dr. O'Rourke provides longitudinal primary care to patients in Baltimore and also serves as a teaching attending on the inpatient general medical service at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He completed his undergraduate and medical school education at the University of Florida followed by residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. He then completed a fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins University with a focus on medical education. He received a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.