Leslie West, MD
Assistant Professor
Neurology
School of Medicine

West has a special interest in conditions at the intersection of neurology and sleep medicine, such as REM sleep behavior disorder (in which vivid dreams are accompanied by vocalization and sudden movements) and narcolepsy (which involves intense daytime sleepiness and sudden weakness episodes).

West's research focuses on sleep and movement disorders, with the goal of discovering new treatments. Her current research looks at deep brain stimulation for patients with Parkinson's disease and the therapy's impact on sleep.

West earned a bachelor's and master's degree at Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree at Central Michigan University. She completed a residency in neurology at the University of California, Davis, where she served as chief resident. She completed a fellowship in sleep medicine at Stanford University.

• Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in isolated dystonia: A 3-year follow-up study.
  Neurology 2016 Ostrem JL, San Luciano M, Dodenhoff KA, Ziman N, Markun LC, Racine CA, de Hemptinne C, Volz MM, Heath SL, Starr PA
• Clinical outcomes using ClearPoint interventional MRI for deep brain stimulation lead placement in Parkinson's disease.
  Journal of neurosurgery 2015 Ostrem JL, Ziman N, Galifianakis NB, Starr PA, Luciano MS, Katz M, Racine CA, Martin AJ, Markun LC, Larson PS
• Interventional MRI-guided deep brain stimulation in pediatric dystonia: first experience with the ClearPoint system.
  Journal of neurosurgery. Pediatrics 2014 Starr PA, Markun LC, Larson PS, Volz MM, Martin AJ, Ostrem JL
• Effect of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation on dual-task cognitive and motor performance in isolated dystonia.
  Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry 2014 Mills KA, Markun LC, San Luciano M, Rizk R, Allen IE, Racine CA, Starr PA, Alberts JL, Ostrem JL
• Effect of frequency on subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in primary dystonia.
  Parkinsonism & related disorders 2014 Ostrem JL, Markun LC, Glass GA, Racine CA, Volz MM, Heath SL, de Hemptinne C, Starr PA
• Predictive factors of outcome in primary cervical dystonia following pallidal deep brain stimulation.
  Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society 2013 Witt JL, Moro E, Ash RS, Hamani C, Starr PA, Lozano AM, Hodaie M, Poon YY, Markun LC, Ostrem JL
• Clinical outcomes of PD patients having bilateral STN DBS using high-field interventional MR-imaging for lead placement.
  Clinical neurology and neurosurgery 2012 Ostrem JL, Galifianakis NB, Markun LC, Grace JK, Martin AJ, Starr PA, Larson PS
• Multichannel Electromyographic Mapping to Optimize OnabotulinumtoxinA Efficacy in Cervical Dystonia.
  Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) 2012 Kilbane C, Ostrem J, Galifianakis N, Grace J, Markun L, Glass GA
• Shorter disease duration correlates with improved long-term deep brain stimulation outcomes in young-onset DYT1 dystonia.
  Neurosurgery 2012 Markun LC, Starr PA, Air EL, Marks WJ, Volz MM, Ostrem JL
• Outcomes of natural cycles versus programmed cycles for 1677 frozen-thawed embryo transfers.
  Reproductive biomedicine online 2009 Givens CR, Markun LC, Ryan IP, Chenette PE, Herbert CM, Schriock ED