People
Janis Miyasaki, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FAAN (Neurology)
Director, Parkinson and Movement Disorders Program; Director, CurePSP Care Center
Dr. Miyasaki completed her medical school, residency and fellowship in Movement Disorders at the University of Toronto. She also completed a Masters in Education, Theory and Policy in Higher Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and the University of Toronto. She joined the University of Alberta in 2014.
Dr. Miyasaki is a Professor in Medicine. She also sits on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), vice president of AAN and an officer of the Pan-American Section of the Movement Disorders Society. She is also the co-director of the complex neurological clinic. Her area of interests are clinical trials, evidence-based medicine and palliative care.
Joyce Lee, MD, CCFP, COE, BScPharm
Co-Director, Parkinson and Movement Disorders Program; Lead, Geriatric Parkinson’s Assessment Program
Dr. Joyce Lee completed her degrees in Pharmacy and Doctor of Medicine at University of Toronto, and Care of the Elderly fellowship at McGill University. She trained in Parkinson care with Dr. Janis Miyasaki at the Movement Disorders Program at Toronto Western Hospital. She founded and led the first Geriatric Clinic for Parkinson’s and Geriatric Parkinson’s Program in Canada at North York General Hospital in Toronto.
Dr. Lee joined the Movement Disorders Program at University of Alberta to bring her expertise to the new Geriatric Parkinson's Assessment Program, where she hopes to expand the delivery of Geriatric Parkinson’s Care through Alberta. Her research interests include health outcomes, care delivery and medication management in older adults with Parkinson disease, and medical education.
Aakash Shetty, MBBS, MD, DM, DNB (Neurology)
Co-Director, CurePSP Care Center
Dr. Shetty obtained his medical training and Neurology residency in India. He did further training in movement disorders at the University of Alberta and extended his training in Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto. He is trained in advanced and device-aided treatment in Parkinson’s disease, such as deep brain stimulation, Duodopa treatment.
Dr. Shetty joined the Parkinson and Movement Disorders Program in 2020 and currently is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Neurology of the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta.
Fang Ba, MD, PhD, FRCPC (Neurology)
Neurology Lead, DBS Program
Dr. Ba received her MD from the University of Calgary in 2007. She also obtained her PhD in Physiology/Neuroscience from the University of Alberta. Dr. Ba finished her neurology residency and CIHR fellowship in Movement Disorders at the University of Alberta. She pursued further training in Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) from the University of Florida.
Dr. Ba is an Associate Professor in the Division of Neurology of the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta. Her research interest and practice are in DBS for movement disorders.
Stephen Joza, MD, PhD, FRCPC (Neurology)
Fellowship Director, Parkinson and Movement Disorders Program - Education
Dr. Joza earned his PhD in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology from the University of Toronto (2012) and medical degree from Queen’s University (2016). He completed residency in adult neurology at the University of Alberta (2016-2021), followed by a clinical and research fellowship in movement disorders as an Edmond J. Safra fellow at the Montreal Neurological Institute (2021-2023), and a clinical fellowship in sleep neurology at the University of Toronto (2023-2024).
Dr. Joza joined the Parkinson and Movement Disorders Program and the Sleep Medicine Program in 2024 and is currently assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Neurology at the University of Alberta. His research interests focus upon the prodromal stages of Parkinson’s disease, including the progression of clinical and neuroimaging markers in REM sleep behavior disorder.
Dr. Nowacki completed his medical school and neurology residency at the University of Alberta. He has additional fellowship training in Epilepsy and EEG. He joined the Parkinson and Movement Disorder Program in 2015.
Richard Camicioli, MD, FRCPC (Neurology)
Co-Director, Parkinson and Movement Disorders Program - Research
Dr. Camicioli completed his undergraduate education at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and his medical education at McGill University in Montreal. After completing a neurology residency at McGill, he obtained postgraduate research training in geriatric neurology and in movement disorders at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon. He then assumed a faculty position as Assistant Professor in the movement disorders group at Oregon Health Sciences University until 2000 when he moved to the University of Alberta, initially as an Associate Professor in the Division of Neurology, and is currently a Professor.
His major research interests relate to neuroimaging and the brain changes associated with impaired cognition in patients with movement disorders, particularly in relation to cognition and gait.
Tejas Sankar, MD, PhD, FRCSC (Neurosurgery)
Dr. Sankar obtained his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, and completed neurosurgery residency at the University of Alberta in 2010. During his residency, he spent 2 years as a post-doctoral research fellow at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, developing research expertise in neuroimaging. Following residency, he completed a fellowship and PhD at the University of Toronto in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, before returning to the University of Alberta as a clinician-scientist in the Division of Neurosurgery. He is now Associate professor in Neurosurgery, and carries out surgery for patients with movement disorders as the Surgical Co-Lead for the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) program. He has a strong focus on research, and serves as Principal Investigator for the Functional Neurosurgery Research Laboratory which focuses on developing neurophyisological and neuroimaging biomarkers in Parkinson's Disease.
Francis Cheung, BSc, CCRP
Francis joined the Movement Disorders Program in March 2016 as a Research Coordinator. He completed his Bachelor of Science in microbiology at the University of Alberta and then obtained his CCRP in 2011. His clinical research background includes working for contract research organizations in fields such as cardiology, diabetes, and oncology.
Dr. Marta Villa-López, MD, PhD
Dr. Lopez is a board-certified Neurologist by the European Board of Neurology, holding a master’s degree in clinical Neurosciences and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. Post-residency, she received a European Academy of Neurology grant for a research fellowship at Karolinska Institute, Sweden, contributing to epidemiological studies in dementia, that were part of her PhD thesis. Subsequently, she completed a two-year fellowship in Cognitive Neurology at the University of Toronto. Following this, she practiced independently in Spain for over a year. Further, she finished a fellowship in Neurogenetics at the University of Alberta (UofA), Canada and Movement Disorders Fellowship at the UofA in July 2024. She joined PMDP in 2026.
