Learn From the Expert - Dr. Dalmau

Dr. Josef Dalmau Obrador, the keynote speaker at the Foundation’s initial annual dinner, is a neurologist specialising in Neuro-oncology, paraneoplastic syndromes and autoimmune encephalitis. He worked with Dr. Jerome Posner at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, as did Moffitt neuro-oncologists Dr. Peter Forsyth and Dr. Sepideh Mokhtari, and led a research project into paraneoplastic syndromes at MSK and more recently at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 2017, he has been the chair of the Autoimmune Neurology Department of the American Academy of Neurology and editor of the same Academy’s scientific journal, Neurology, Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation. He has discovered 10 autoimmune diseases, including the anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis that was the subject of the book (and later the movie) Brain on Fire, written by a victim of the disease.

What is Paraneoplastic Syndrome (PNS)?

What type of PNS disease attacks the cerebellum and what are the symptoms?

How does the immune system attack the cerebellum?

How should I approach remaining neurological symptoms after ruling out stroke or peripheral vertigo?

What is the physician's process to diagnosing PNS?

Is there a trigger that makes a patient or general practitioner conclude further testing is required?

Is there a correlation between early diagnosis and successful treatment?

What is the oncologist's role in patients with neurological issues?

What is the IVIG treatment for PNS victims?

What is Rituximab treatment for PNS?

What is Plasma Exchange Theory?

Is there a treatment that attacks the tumor but prevents attack on the cerebellum?

What is the future of continuing research and/or cure or treatment of PNS?

Is there promising research involving protecting the cerebellum from T-cell attack?

What is the most hopeful path in treating PNS?

Will we see more PNS as treatments that use checkpoint inhibitors become increasingly used?