John Ravits, MD, is a board certified clinical neurologist specializing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), motor neuron diseases, neuromuscular disorders, and clinical neurophysiology. Dr. Ravits is the director of the ALS clinic at UC San Diego Health and vice chair of adult neurology and the neurological sciences.Dr. Ravits is on the editorial board of the medical journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis & Frontotemporal Degeneration. He serves on the scientific advisory committee of the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, and also serves on the steering committee for the World Federation of Neurology Research Group on Motor Neuron Diseases.As a professor of clinical neuroscience, Dr. Ravits is involved in the training of medical students, residents, and fellows in neurology. His research interests focus on clinical phenotypes, genetic mechanisms especially related to the C9orf72 gene, genomics, antisense oligonucleotide therapies, and molecular neuropathology. http://neurosciences.ucsd.edu/faculty/Pages/john-ravits.aspxBefore joining the faculty at UC San Diego, Dr. Ravits was on the medical staff of Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, specializing in neuromuscular disorders and neurophysiology. He served as director of Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory and led Virginia Mason Medical Centers section of neurology. In 2004, he started a translational research program at the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason to focus on ALS research.A graduate of Yale University, Dr. Ravits earned his MD from the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and completed his internship and residency in neurology at UC San Diego. He then did fellowships in neurophysiology and neuromuscular diseases: one year at the Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and two years at the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institutes of Health.Dr. Ravits has board certifications from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in neurology, neuromuscular medicine and clinical neurophysiology. He is also boarded by the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and the American Neurological Association.When not working, he likes to travel especially to exotic places like New Zealand, Fiji, Mongolia, and Japan. He has spent a lot of time in the Pacific Northwest where he loved hiking and exploring the Olympic Peninsula and the San Juan Islands. He enjoys movies, exercise, and time with his wife Trish, four children (now mostly scattered throughout the U.S.), and his dogs Ned (Border Collie-Retriever mix) and Henna (Maltese-Cocker Spaniel mix).For more information, see http://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/neuro/Pages/default.aspx and http://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/neuro/specialty-programs/als-clinic/Pages/default.aspx.