Sandra Kostyk, MD, PHD
Professor
Neurology
Academic information
- Department: Neurology
Research interests
- Rare Neurodegenerative Genetic Disorders
- Brain Disorders
- Dementia
- Education Medical
- Gait and Balance
- Genetic Markers
- Genetic Therapy
- Huntington Disease
- Cognitive Disorders
About
Biography
I completed my medical degree, my PhD (Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences) and my medical internship at the University of Chicago. I finished a three-year neurology residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard). After my residency, I received a K Award to explore the effects and responses of the central nervous system to injury with a focus on the changes in the expression of neurotrophic growth factors.
Since 2000, I have been the medical director of the Huntington's Disease Society of America Center of Excellence at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (one of 65 certified centers in the country) focusing on treatment and research for individuals with Huntington's disease (HD). I also treat individuals with several other rare, neurological genetic diseases.
I was elected to serve from 2022 to 2025 as co-chair of the Executive Membership Committee for the Huntington Study Group, an international consortium of academic centers dedicated to research and to improving care and treatment for those with HD. I have been a site primary clinical trial investigator on more than 20 trials, including several gene therapy trials, and was the North American CoPrincipal investigator for the recently completed PROOF-HD international trial that included 30 sites in the United States and 29 sites in Europe.
Our current research efforts at include participation in the International Enroll-HD observational trial that has been following individuals with HD for more than 10 years and has been responsible for contributing to many of the recent advancements in the HD world. We are participating in 2 ongoing HD gene therapy trials. We were a major contributor to the recently completed PROOF-HD trial. The results of this trial were published in Nature Medicine in September 2025. We have participated in all three of the trials that helped get medications FDA approved to treat the choreic movements in HD. Our team is also working on several Ohio State site initiated studies and preparing for several upcoming national clinical trials.
I appreciate the commitment to innovation here at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and the readily available resources that allow our team to pursue highly complex research.
Credentials
Education
- Fellowship - Surgery (General Surgery)
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Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
8/1/1991 - 9/30/1994 - Fellowship - Neurology
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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
7/1/1989 - 7/31/1991 - Residency - Neurology
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Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
7/1/1986 - 6/30/1989 - Internship - Internal Medicine
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University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, IL, United States
6/25/1985 - 6/30/1986 - Doctor of Medicine (MD)
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University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
9/30/1982 - 6/14/1985
Certifications
-
American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation/Spinal Cord Medicine
12/1/1999 -
American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology
10/30/1990
Research
Research interests
- Rare Neurodegenerative Genetic Disorders
- Brain Disorders
- Dementia
- Education Medical
- Gait and Balance
- Genetic Markers
- Genetic Therapy
- Huntington Disease
- Cognitive Disorders
Awards and Honors
- Professor-Clinical, the Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience.
- Medical Director of the Huntington's Disease Society of America at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
- College of Medicine, Promotion and Tenure Committee
- Awarded 25 consecutive yearly grants through the Huntington's Society of America's Centers (HDSA) of Excellence to support our multidisciplinary clinic
- Serve as the co-chair of the executive membership committee of the international Huntington Study Group.
- Serve as the North American co-primary investigator of the International PROOF-HD trial
- Served for more than 10 years on the CEPAC committee for the Huntington's Disease Society of America