Jackson, Carlayne E.

School of Medicine
Neurology
(210) 450-0512
jacksonce@uthscsa.edu

After completing a Clinical Neurophysiology fellowship at UTHSCSA and beginning my career as a clinical investigator, I established my vision of establishing a comprehensive center for the management of patients with neuromuscular diseases. My goal was to develop a multidisciplinary clinic which would integrate Neurology, respiratory therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy. Over time, these efforts led to the development of the South Texas ALS Clinic. The clinic was awarded designation by the National ALS Association as an ALS Center of Excellence in 1996 and has retained this status since that time. The clinic is currently conducted at the MARC on Wednesday afternoons and provides care for approximately 150 ALS patients and their families throughout South and Central Texas. It is one of two centers in the State of Texas and one of only 34 in the United States. The UTHSCSA ALSA Center of Excellence provides something that is difficult to find in health care today: coordinated, efficient, multi-disciplinary care centered on the person with ALS and his or her family. It offers a multidisciplinary approach to treating the disease with symptomatic relief, prevention of complications, and maintenance of optimal independence. Under my leadership, the ALS team has grown and currently includes specialists from seventeen different disciplines to help treat these patients: Neurologist; Registered Research Nurse; Respiratory Therapist; Occupational Therapist; Physical Therapist; Registered Dietician; Pastoral Care; Social Worker; Assistive Technology Specialist; Medical Equipment Specialist; Respiratory Therapy Educator; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association South Texas Patient Services; Gastroenterologist; Pulmonologist; Orthotist; Speech Pathologist; and Psychiatrist. Together, our team develops an individualized care plan in response to each patients specific needs. The accessibility of the team for questions and help, the attention to needs and details, the ability to anticipate problems and help solve troubling billing and insurance issues, and the commitment to prepare people with ALS ahead of time for probable changes so that the are ready these all mean that no one has to feel alone on the journey. I am particularly proud of the fact that our team provides an incomparable level of expertise in ALS and is now considered one of the top ALS centers in the country.

My vision was subsequently extended to patients cared for through the Muscular Dystrophy Association who suffer with one of 40 different neuromuscular diseases. These patients are evaluated at the MARC on Tuesdays and offered multidisciplinary services including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and respiratory therapy. We currently provide services for over 700 patients throughout South Texas. We have also retained designation as an MDA ALS Research Center of Excellence.

Also under my leadership, clinical research has become an integral part of the UTHSCSA neuromuscular program and includes the evaluation of novel drug therapies to symptom management, plus issues related to how neuromuscular disease affects quality of life and psychological distress. I am a member of several national consortia of physicians and researchers (NEALS, WALS, ALSRG, MSG) that collaborate to expand knowledge about ALS and myopathy and spur valuable research. Additionally, our center participates in collecting information for the National ALS Database. The statistics generated from this extensive database will be used to study disease trends and improve patient care.