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Ethical and Palliative Considerations of Treatments for Debilitating Neurodegenerative Diseases

Session Organizer:

Jasia Mahdi, MD
Instructor in Neurology
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

Webinar Description:

As the therapeutic landscape for debilitating and neurodegenerative diseases burgeons, new ethical and palliative questions continue to emerge regarding the implications of new treatment modalities that can pose unique challenges to patients, their families, and medical providers. 

The goals of this talk are to help the learners:

  1. Understand the potential ethical and palliative issues that arise in neurodegenerative and debilitating neurologic diseases
  2. Understand the concept of “moral injury” as it relates to providers who take care of patients with debilitating neurologic disease
  3. Reflect on the process of shared decision-making and balancing quality of life and therapeutic and palliative goals for patients on clinical trials 

About the Speakers

Jasia Mahdi, MD

Jasia Mahdi, MD

Dr. Mahdi is an Instructor in Neurology at Stanford University. She received her B.S. in biochemistry and B.A. in history from Southern Methodist University, and she then obtained her M.D. from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She completed her child neurology residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital at Washington University. While in residency, she developed an interest in the neurological complications that can arise in patients with malignancies, which served as an impetus for her to pursue a pediatric neuro-oncology fellowship. She thus came to Stanford, where she was a Beverly and Bernard Wolfe Fellow in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology. During her fellowship, she became interested in the role of immunotherapy in the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) tumors and the neurological sequelae of CAR-T cell therapy. Her experiences taking care of patients on a clinical trial utilizing CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of diffuse midline gliomas prompted her to complete a second fellowship at Stanford in pediatric neuro-immuno-oncology to further expand her understanding of immune-based therapies. She now attends on the pediatric and adult neuro-immuno-oncology services, where her primary clinical practice focuses on treating patients with CNS tumors with immune-based therapies, and the child neurology service.

Rafael Galindo, MD, PhD

Dr. Galindo is an Assistant Professor in Neurology, Division of Pediatric & Developmental Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his MD and PhD at the University of New Mexico and Child Neurology and Neonatal Neurology Postdoctoral Fellowship at St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis , MO. His clinical practice focuses on the neurological evaluation and treatment of the critically ill neonate and the care of children with neurodegenerative diseases diagnosed in the newborn period. His lab conducts preclinical research exploring neuroprotective strategies in animal models of neonatal cerebral injury.

Jaime Twanow, MD

Dr. Twanow is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, the Section Chief of the Division of Child Neurology and the director of the Epilepsy Transition Clinic at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. She completed her MD at the University of Illinois, and pediatrics residency, child neurology residency and neurophysiology fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals in Milwaukee, WI. Her clinical practice focuses on complex pediatric epilepsy and neurocritical care, which prompted her interest in the psychological impacts of the practice of medicine.

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