Patients that come to the UI HDSA COE’s HD Clinic are getting used to seeing another familiar face as part of the clinic staff.

Since January, Dr. Pedro Gonzalez, M.D., has been the clinic’s consistent neurologist, fulfilling the role that had been covered by a handful of doctors who rotated in and out of the clinic. Gonzalez says that consistency helps improve the level of care clinic patients receive.

"Here, you get to know the patient," Gonzalez said. "You get to know their caregivers, their family members, sometimes the staff of whatever residency the live in. You get to know what they expect in life.

"And even though you don’t have medication you can give them to stop progression of the disease or cure them, you actually can help them with your experience. And much of that experience you learn from other patients who teach you how they’ve dealt with things."

Gonzalez, 38, is a native of Spain and graduated from the University of Málaga Medical School in Spain. Gonzalez said moving to the U.S. after medical school allowed him to more easily do both clinical work and research at the same time. After a yearlong internship at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass., he came to Iowa in December of 1999 largely because he was interested in studying the molecular aspects of human behavior.

"It interests me that a bunch of proteins and lipids and sugars in the brain shape the way we are and how each individual is different," Gonzalez said. "To me, that’s fascinating."

Upon coming to the UI, Gonzalez completed a two-year fellowship in movement disorders, working under Dr. Hank Paulson, former co-director of the UI HDSA COE.

Getting to know the clinic patients and working with a team that has a wealth of knowledge about HD has made being the clinic’s neurologist a great experience so far, Gonzalez said. The clinic staff is knowledgeable on every aspect of HD, which is a unique benefit for patients with a relatively rare disease.

"Patients come here and they see everyone they need to see," Gonzalez said. "We try to answer all their questions.

"We get to know them, and that’s important, because every patient is a unique individual and not all of them are the same. So you really know what’s going on with their Huntington’s and in their life, and we’re there to try and help them with that."

Not only has the consistency of having one neurologist been good for getting to know the patients, it’s also been good for the collaboration between clinicians, says UI HDSA CEO Coordinator Anne Leserman. The ability to work together and communication between Gonzalez and the neuropsychologists who work in the clinic (such as Dr. Leigh Beglinger, Ph.D., and Dr. Megan Smith, Ph.D.) has continually improved since January, Leserman said.

"All of this is good for our HD families," Leserman said. "We are pleased to have Pedro as a regular member of the team."

Patients who come to the HD clinic that meets every other week are rewarded by seeing clinicians with HD expertise, which is often not available in more general clinical settings, Gonzalez says. For those who want to get involved with research by participating in an HD clinical trial or observational study, often times the clinicians they see will also be researchers and can thoroughly explain research options.

If a patient has a daily life problem that doesn’t fit into a medical examination, Gonzalez says there are resources available, such as social worker Leserman, who can help.

"So I think that the overall care that you get and the resources that you get for the future are better at the HD clinic," Gonzalez said. "And I think patients appreciate that."

Aside from the HD clinic, Gonzalez spends much of his time doing research on basic aspects of neurological illnesses. He is currently looking at using RNA interference as therapy for dystonia, an inherited neurological movement disorder. The same type of gene therapy is being examined at the UI by Dr. Beverly Davidson, Ph.D.

Gonzalez, who has three young children with his wife Dr. Ana Recober (also a neurologist at Iowa), enjoys traveling with his family in his free time. He’s also an avid cook of dishes that remind him of his native Spain (which, he pointed out, are 2010 World Cup champions).