Dr. Julie A. Kurek, a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders, has been appointed director of the Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence at the Medical College of Georgia and Augusta University Health.

The Parkinson’s Foundation has designated 47 medical centers around the world as “Centers of Excellence,” including 33 in the United States. A Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence is a medical center with a specialized team of neurologists, movement disorder specialists, physical and occupational therapists, mental health professionals and others who are up to date on the latest Parkinson’s disease medications, therapies and research to provide the best care.

MCG/AU Health became the first institution in Georgia to be designated as a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence in 2002.

Kurek joined MCG in 2014 as an assistant professor of neurology. She directs the MCG and AU Health System’s Interdisciplinary Parkinson’s Clinic and is co-supervisor of the Deep Brain Stimulation Program.

An honored educator, she was a recipient of the medical school’s Exemplary Teaching Award in 2019 and 2020. She serves on the Continuing Medical Education Committee of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society and on the Ethics, Law and Humanities Committee of the American Academy of Neurology.

Kurek is a principal investigator for the National Parkinson Foundation Patient Registry, which collects data on individuals with Parkinson’s disease to better understand the illness and ultimately improve the care and survival of those individuals with the disease.

She earned her medical degree from New York Medical College in Valhalla in 2009. She completed a neurology residency at Columbia-New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City in 2013 and a fellowship in movement disorders at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute’s Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center at Northwell Health in Great Neck, New York in 2014.

Dr. John C. Morgan has directed the center since 2008. He will continue to serve Kurek and the center as a mentor, guide and supporter.