Biographical Sketch
Abby Olsen, MD PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC. She is a graduate of Carleton College and completed her MD PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, followed by residency and fellowship training at Mass General Brigham. Dr. Olsen is the recipient of an NINDS K08 award, a Department of Defense Parkinson’s Disease Early Investigator Award, the George C. Cotzias Memorial Fellowship from the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, and funding from the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Her research utilizes a combination of Drosophila and human genetics to identify novel glial genes that contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and other alpha-synucleinopathies, with the long-term goal of developing glial-based therapeutics for alpha-synucleinopathies. Additionally, she studies gene-environment interactions that contribute to the disease. In the clinic, she enjoys caring for patients with Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy. She is the Director of the UPMC Multiple System Atrophy Center of Excellence.
Education & Training
- Clinical Research Fellow, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Movement Disorders
- Resident, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Neurology
- Intern, Pennsylvania Hospital, Internal Medicine
- MD, University of Pennsylvania
- PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Cell and Molecular Biology
- BA, Carleton College, Women’s and Gender Studies (biochemistry concentration)
Specialized Areas of Clinical, Research and/or Educational Interests
- Clinical: Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, ataxia
- Research: Glia in Parkinson’s disease, gene-environment interactions in Parkinson’s disease, animal models of Parkinson’s disease and other alpha-synucleinopathies
- Education: Mentoring of physician-scientists
Board Certifications
- American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Professional Organization Membership
- American Neurological Association
- American Academy of Neurology
- Movement Disorders Society
Honors & Awards
- Jon Stolk Award in Movement Disorders for Early Career Neurologists, American Academy of Neurology, 2024
- Award, American Neurological Associaiton, 2022
- Abstract of Distinction, American Neurological Association, 2022
- Poster Award, American Neurological Association, 2021
- NIH Loan Repayment Award, NINDS, 2020
- Travel Award, Parkinson’s Study Group, 2020
- NIH Loan Repayment Award, NINDS
- Poster Award, American Neurological Association, 2018
- First Place Poster, Boston Society of Neurology and Psychiatry, 2018
- Fellow’s Scholarship, American Academy of Neurology, 2018
- Enhanced Resident Leadership Award, American Academy of Neurology, 2017
- Stanly Cobb Prize, Boston Society of Neurology and Psychiatry, 2016
Selected Recent Publications
Natsuka N, Harrison D, Galetta KM, and Olsen AL. A case of an 85 year old woman with subacute onset of bilateral chorea. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. 2024.
Stephen CD, de Gusmao CM, Srinivasan SR, Olsen AL, Freua F, Kok F, Garcia Barbosa RM, Chen JY, Appleby BS, Prior T, Frosch MP, Schmahmann JD. Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease presenting as late onset slowly progressive spinocerebellar ataxia, and comparative case series with neuropathology. Movement Disorders Clinical Practice. 2024 11(4): 411-423.
Sodders MJ, Shen M, Olsen AL. Measuring constipation in a Drosophila model of Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2023 Sep 22(199).
Olsen AL, Clemens SG, Feany MB. Synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2C is required for nicotine-mediated rescue of alpha synuclein toxicity. Movement Disorders. 2023. 28(2):244-255.
Ndayisaba A, Pitaro AT, Willett AS, Jones KA, Melo de Gusmao C, Olsen AL, Kim J, Rissanen E, Woods JK, Srinivasan SR, Nagy A, Nagy A, Mesidor M, Cicero S, Patel V, Oakley DH, Tuncali I, Hung AY, Wills A-M, Hayes MT, Macmore JP, Warren L, Bower PG, Langer CB, Kellerman LR, Humphreys CW, Glanz BI, Dielubanza EJ, Frosch MP, Freeman RL, Gibbons CH, Stefanova N, Chitnis T, Weiner HL, Scherzer CR, Scholz SW, Vuzman D, Cox LM, Wenning G, Schmahmann JD, Novak P, Young GS, Feany MB, Singhal T, Khurana V. Clinical trial-ready patient cohorts for multiple system atrophy: coupling biospecimen and iPSC banking to longitudinal deep-phenotyping. Cerebellum. 2022. 1-21.
