Love Family Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience
Phone: (412) 648-9165
e-mail: moorery@upmc.edu

Specialized Areas of Interest

Parkinson’s disease; Huntington’s disease; movement disorders; regulation and disorders of sleep and wake.

Biography

After receiving a BA in biology from Lawrence University, Robert Y. Moore, MD, PhD, did graduate studies at the University of Chicago and was awarded the MD and a PhD in Neuropsychology. He was trained in Neurology at the University of Chicago. After completing his training, he served on the faculty of the University of Chicago for 10 years.

Subsequently, he has been on the faculty of the University of California at San Diego, the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University of Pittsburgh. He has served on a number of NIH, VA, NSF, FDA and non-governmental organization committees and presently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Sleep Foundation and on the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.

Dr. Moore has been involved throughout his career in both the clinical practice of neurology, specializing in movement disorders, and in research. His research has focused in two areas. The first is in understanding the neural basis of biological timing. His work in this area includes discovery of the localization of the circadian clock in the brain, the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, and the role of this structure in the control of circadian timing, particularly of the sleep-wake cycle. His other research is directed to developing simple and sensitive methods to facilitate presymptomatic or early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and to test these methods using positron emission tomography to demonstrate early pathological changes in vivo. This information would permit administration of neuroprotective therapies at a time when they could delay or prevent the severe functional impairment that characterizes late stages of the disease.

Dr. Moore's publications can be reviewed through the National Library of Medicine's publication database.

Board Certifications

American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Hospital Privileges

UPMC Presbyterian

Editoral Service

• Editorial:

Chronobiology International
Clinical Sleep Medicine
Journal of Interdisciplinary Cycle Research