Marie-Helene Saint-Hilaire, MD

Professor, Neurology

Marie-Helene Saint-Hilaire
75 E. Newton St Collamore Building

Biography

Dr. Saint-Hilaire received her MD from the Université de Montréal, Canada in 1980 and completed her Neurology residency at the Montréal Neurological Institute (MNI). She then completed a year of fellowship in epilepsy at the MNI, followed by a 3-year movement disorders fellowship working in varied institutions consisting of one year in Paris with Pr. Yves Agid, one year in New York at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital with Dr. Stanley Fahn, and one year at Boston University with Dr. Robert Feldman. In 1988, she joined Boston University Department of Neurology.

Dr. Saint-Hilaire is board-certified in Neurology and is fellowship trained in Movement Disorders. She is dedicated to the delivery of highly specialized and compassionate care. This care is aimed at improving the quality of life of Parkinson’s disease patients and their families. Her clinical practice includes the diagnosis and management of all of the neurological movement disorders.

Additionally, she is the Director of the American Parkinson Disease Association Center for Advanced Research at Boston University. She has participated in more than 100 research trials and has written more than 100 articles and book chapters. Her research interests include studying new therapies that may modify disease progression and/or treat symptoms and complications of therapy. Additionally, she is interested in research investigating environmental and genetic causes of PD. She frequently collaborates with other disciplines to design and implement clinical trials. She is a member of the Parkinson Study Group (PSG), the Huntington Study Group (HSG), and the Movement Disorder Society. She currently is a member of the PSG Scientific Review Committee. She has served on the Scientific Advisory Board for the American Parkinson Disease Association since 2007.

Dr. Saint-Hilaire directs the movement disorders fellowship at BUSM. She is actively involved in the training of residents and medical students at BUSM. She has received the Teaching Award on three occasions, and the Mentorship Award on one occasion, both presented by Neurology Residents.

As the Medical Director of the American Parkinson Disease Association Information and Referral Center, she is dedicated to the New England Parkinson community and has provided over 200 presentations to health professional and lay groups. She is an advisor to the APDA Massachusetts Chapter. In 2016, she received the Shawn Thornton Award for Excellence in Support of the Parkinson’s Community.

Other Positions

  • Ad Interim Chair, Neurology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Education

  • Université de Montréal, MD
  • Collège Marie de France, BA

Publications

  • Published on 4/4/2023

    Girnis JL, Cavanaugh JT, Baker TC, Duncan RP, Fulford D, LaValley MP, Lawrence M, Nordahl T, Porciuncula F, Rawson KS, Saint-Hilaire M, Thomas CA, Zajac JA, Earhart GM, Ellis TD. Natural Walking Intensity in Persons With Parkinson Disease. J Neurol Phys Ther. 2023 Jul 01; 47(3):146-154. PMID: 37016469.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 2/28/2023

    Saint-Hilaire MH, Thomas CA. Delivering a Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and Parkinsonism with Wisdom and Sensitivity. Semin Neurol. 2023 Feb; 43(1):178-184. PMID: 36854395.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 11/15/2022

    Zajac JA, Cavanaugh JT, Baker T, Duncan RP, Fulford D, Girnis J, LaValley M, Nordahl T, Porciuncula F, Rawson KS, Saint-Hilaire M, Thomas CA, Earhart GM, Ellis TD. Does clinically measured walking capacity contribute to real-world walking performance in Parkinson's disease? Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2022 Dec; 105:123-127. PMID: 36423521.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 10/1/2021

    Zajac JA, Cavanaugh JT, Baker T, Colón-Semenza C, DeAngelis TR, Duncan RP, Fulford D, LaValley M, Nordahl T, Rawson KS, Saint-Hilaire M, Thomas CA, Earhart GM, Ellis TD. Are Mobile Persons With Parkinson Disease Necessarily More Active? J Neurol Phys Ther. 2021 10 01; 45(4):259-265. PMID: 34091569.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 9/14/2021

    Schwarzschild MA, Ascherio A, Casaceli C, Curhan GC, Fitzgerald R, Kamp C, Lungu C, Macklin EA, Marek K, Mozaffarian D, Oakes D, Rudolph A, Shoulson I, Videnovic A, Scott B, Gauger L, Aldred J, Bixby M, Ciccarello J, Gunzler SA, Henchcliffe C, Brodsky M, Keith K, Hauser RA, Goetz C, LeDoux MS, Hinson V, Kumar R, Espay AJ, Jimenez-Shahed J, Hunter C, Christine C, Daley A, Leehey M, de Marcaida JA, Friedman JH, Hung A, Bwala G, Litvan I, Simon DK, Simuni T, Poon C, Schiess MC, Chou K, Park A, Bhatti D, Peterson C, Criswell SR, Rosenthal L, Durphy J, Shill HA, Mehta SH, Ahmed A, Deik AF, Fang JY, Stover N, Zhang L, Dewey RB, Gerald A, Boyd JT, Houston E, Suski V, Mosovsky S, Cloud L, Shah BB, Saint-Hilaire M, James R, Zauber SE, Reich S, Shprecher D, Pahwa R, Langhammer A, LaFaver K, LeWitt PA, Kaminski P, Goudreau J, Russell D, Houghton DJ, Laroche A, Thomas K, McGraw M, Mari Z, Serrano C, Blindauer K, Rabin M, Kurlan R, Morgan JC, Soileau M, Ainslie M, Bodis-Wollner I, Schneider RB, Waters C, Ratel AS, Beck CA, Bolger P, Callahan KF, Crotty GF, Klements D, Kostrzebski M, McMahon GM, Pothier L, Waikar SS, Lang A, Mestre T. Effect of Urate-Elevating Inosine on Early Parkinson Disease Progression: The SURE-PD3 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2021 09 14; 326(10):926-939. PMID: 34519802.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 4/15/2021

    Irwin D, Saint-Hilaire M. In Vivo Detection of Underlying Synucleinopathies: Are We There Yet? Neurology. 2021 05 18; 96(20):925-926. PMID: 33858996.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 9/20/2020

    Mills KA, Schneider RB, Saint-Hilaire M, Ross GW, Hauser RA, Lang AE, Halverson MJ, Oakes D, Eberly S, Litvan I, Blindauer K, Aquino C, Simuni T, Marras C. Cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: Associations between subjective and objective cognitive decline in a large longitudinal study. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2020 11; 80:127-132. PMID: 32987359.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 4/20/2020

    Rawson KS, Cavanaugh JT, Colon-Semenza C, DeAngelis T, Duncan RP, Fulford D, LaValley MP, Mazzoni P, Nordahl T, Quintiliani LM, Saint-Hilaire M, Thomas CA, Earhart GM, Ellis TD. Design of the WHIP-PD study: a phase II, twelve-month, dual-site, randomized controlled trial evaluating the effects of a cognitive-behavioral approach for promoting enhanced walking activity using mobile health technology in people with Parkinson-disease. BMC Neurol. 2020 Apr 20; 20(1):146. PMID: 32312243.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 4/1/2020

    Tickle-Degnen L, Stevenson MT, Gunnery SD, Saint-Hilaire M, Thomas CA, Sprague Martinez L, Habermann B, Naumova EN. Profile of social self-management practices in daily life with Parkinson's disease is associated with symptom severity and health quality of life. Disabil Rehabil. 2021 11; 43(22):3212-3224. PMID: 32233702.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 9/4/2019

    Schwarzschild MA, Macklin EA, Bakshi R, Battacharyya S, Logan R, Espay AJ, Hung AY, Bwala G, Goetz CG, Russell DS, Goudreau JL, Parashos SA, Saint-Hilaire MH, Rudolph A, Hare JM, Curhan GC, Ascherio A. Sex differences by design and outcome in the Safety of Urate Elevation in PD (SURE-PD) trial. Neurology. 2019 10 01; 93(14):e1328-e1338. PMID: 31484712.

    Read at: PubMed

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