Talene Yacoubian, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Yacoubian graduated magna cum laude with her A.B. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College. She received her M.D. and Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina in 2001. She completed her Neurology Residency in 2005 at Harvard Medical School’s Partners Neurology Residency Program (Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital) in Boston, MA.  Prior to joining the UAB Neurology faculty in July of 2006, Dr. Yacoubian was a Research and Clinical Fellow in Movement Disorders at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital from 2005-2006. 

Since joining the UAB faculty in 2007, she divides her time between patient care, laboratory research, and training of future physician scientists. She cares for patients with movement disorders at the Kirklin Clinic and directs a specialized clinic focused on ataxia. She is Co-Director of the UAB Medical Scientist Training Program. Her research is focused on understanding mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and testing proteins with neuroprotective potential in cellular and animal models of Parkinson’s disease. She is the Director of the Alabama Udall Clinical Core. Her research has been funded by the American Parkinson Disease Association, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Parkinson Association of Alabama, and National Institutes of Health.