Board

St. Louis, MO

Paruthi, Chair of the RLS Foundation’s Board of Directors. Dr. Paruthi practices in St. Louis, MO, where she sees patients of all ages. She has a particular interest in sleep disorders of childhood – obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, and – of course – restless legs syndrome. Dr. Paruthi is board-certified in Sleep Medicine and Internal Medicine and received her medical degree from The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency and sleep fellowship at The University of Michigan. Not only do her patients benefit from her clinical care, but she is also a teacher as well – as an adjunct professor at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Paruthi has contributed widely to activities of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), chairing sleep-focused conferences, participating in task forces, and serving on committees, including the Education Committee and National SLEEP Meeting Program Committee. Currently, she is on the editorial advisory board for Sleep Review: The Journal for Sleep Specialists.

Solana Beach, CA

Loskutoff is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cell Biology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. He grew up in San Francisco, earned his BS degree from The University of California, Berkeley and his PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He did post-doctoral work at the Rockefeller University in New York City, and in 1975 accepted a faculty position at Scripps Research. He remained there for over 30 years and in 1993 was appointed Chair of the newly formed Department of Vascular Biology. His research employed a variety of animal and cell culture models as well as biochemical and genetic probes to investigate the cells, proteins and genes that promote vascular disease. This work was supported continuously by grants from the NIH.

Although he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Scripps Sleep Center for a number of years, he did not begin to show interest in RLS until years later when he was first diagnosed with this disorder. This is the first time he has been a member of a national board. He looks forward to working with other RLS Board members as well as members of the Scientific and Medical Board to improve the lives of RLS patients through the development of innovative educational and quality of care policies and the support of cutting-edge scientific studies, all while maintaining fiscal responsibility. He is retired and lives in Solana Beach, CA.

Pittsburgh, PA

With over 28 years of experience in Neurology, Dr. Avinash Aggarwal is a distinguished physician specializing in Neuromuscular and Sleep disorders. She completed her Neurology residency at West Virginia University, followed by fellowships in EEG, EMG, and Neuromuscular Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh. Aggarwal is board-certified in Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and Sleep Medicine.

Her clinical interests include the treatment of RLS, Sleep, and Neuromuscular disorders, as well as the use of Botox for headaches and other neurological conditions.

As the founder and director of the Restless Leg Syndrome Quality Care Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Aggarwal is dedicated to providing exceptional care for patients with RLS and other related conditions. She strives to be a valuable resource for community physicians, neurologists, and sleep specialists in the management of complex, difficult-to-treat, and treatment-resistant RLS patients. Her patients come not only from Western and Eastern Pennsylvania but also from surrounding states.

Aggarwal emphasizes guideline-based management, patient education, and research, ensuring that her practice stays at the forefront of medical advancements and delivers the highest standard of care.

Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

Ball received her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education/Speech from Westminster College and her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood/Special Education from George Washington University. Ball spent her career as an elementary school teacher, taking on major projects such as redesigning and executing a New Resource Room at Walter Hays Elementary School in Palo Alto, California. Although teaching will always be her passion, she began volunteering after motherhood and has been a dedicated volunteer since—actively giving back to the Detroit community where she resides. In recognition for her work, she has been the recipient of several outstanding volunteer awards, including the Junior League of Detroit's Adult Well Being Award, for her extraordinary service to the senior community.

After having RLS for over 30 years, and seeking care from a knowledgeable healthcare provider when her RLS was untreated for at least 10 years, Ball was particularly drawn to the Foundation’s mission to educate the medical community and the general population on RLS. She plans to use the lessons that she has learned from teaching and volunteering to serve the RLS community.

Indianapolis, IN

Flaniken is a retired senior executive within the food sector and has a broad array of experience in the areas of business strategy and strategic planning, marketing and brand management, process reengineering, budget administration and cost control. He has held executive leadership positions in Marketing, Operations, Research & Development, Innovation and Information Technology, spending the majority of his career in the restaurant industry serving as Senior Vice President, Marketing with Steak ‘n Shake Enterprises. Flaniken received his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Davidson College and his Master’s Degree in Business from Indiana University.

Flaniken has RLS and it is the Foundation that has served as a “lifeline” of invaluable information and support for helping him manage the disease. He was attracted to the Foundation and its mission to help improve the lives of those with RLS, and he has a passion for increasing the awareness and expanding the role of the Foundation in helping others who are trying to cope with this disease.

Diboll, TX

Donnie Kee is retired after more than 30 years in the telecommunications industry with Consolidated Communications where he held positions of Central Office Engineer, Separations Traffic Engineer, Rates and Cost Supervisor, Manager-Financial Analyst, and Product Manager. He also spent 9 years in the insurance industry with Farmers Insurance where he managed a successful agency and provided securities investing for his clients. Kee received his Bachelor of Applied Arts and Science degree in Business Administration from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Kee’s passion is in giving back to his community, he was appointed by the governor of the State of Texas to the Angelina Neches River Authority Board of Directors where he served for six years on the Angelina Appraisal Review Board. He also served on the Doches District Telco Credit Union Board and is currently an active member of the Lufkin TX Host Lions Club where he has served as president of the Z&OO Railroad. Kee is most proud of serving as an Area Chief for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Hunter Education program for 27 years where he was inducted into the Texas Hunter Education Hall of Fame for excellence in teaching many children and adults how to be safe with a firearm.

Kee lives with RLS and joined the foundation many years ago. After seeing the benefits that the foundation provided to the those seeking help, he knew that he wanted to be a part of this organization so that he could help others in some way.

San Francisco, CA

Rochester is an angel investor, Public and Private Board Member, CEO Mentor, and CEO to high tech companies and founders at all stages seeking growth and significance. He is known to be successful at raising money, generating liquidity and creating high performance teams and organizations from 50 to 5000 people with revenues from $5 million to $1 billion.

Rochester is a trusted business advisor to numerous companies and active board member to another half dozen. His interests surround angel or VC partner investments with exceptional founders and providing mentoring and support for all the unique challenges faced by every founder CEO at any stage. Rochester brings to the board his business experience, mentorship, and leadership skills, which are all invaluable to the RLS Foundation.

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center; Baltimore, MD

Earley is a Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he also co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Restless Legs, a certified RLS Quality Care Center. Earley is board certified in internal medicine, neurology and sleep medicine. Earley's research interests include RLS and sleep medicine, specifically the pathophysiology of RLS and revealing the value of various treatments. He is chair of the RLS Foundation’s combined Scientific and Medical Advisory Board (SMAB) and an active member of the Foundation's Research Grant Committee and the Revised Treatment Consensus Committee.

ReLACS Health, Ann Arbor, MI

Before receiving Board Certification in Sleep Medicine and Neurology, Berkowski earned his bachelor's degree in religious studies at Stanford University. Next, he returned to his home state of Michigan to study medicine, graduating from Wayne State University School of Medicine. He completed a transitional year internship at Henry Ford Hospital and neurology residency training at the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University. Berkowski completed his fellowship training in sleep medicine at the Stanford University Medical Center. Berkowski is a sleep specialist at ReLACS Health, a direct specialty care clinic specializing in telemedicine care of RLS and complex sleep disorders, currently serving patients in Michigan, Ohio and Florida. Berkowski serves on the Foundation's Brain Bank Committee.

East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

Clemens is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. His research focuses on investigating the neural networks in the spinal cord, especially their role in neurological disorders, like RLS. He studies the role of dopamine in the spinal cord, and how the interactions between its different receptor subtypes may play a role in augmentation. At the Foundation, Clemens chairs both the Brain Bank Committee and the Research Grant Committee.

Integrative Neurobiology Section National Institute on Drug Abuse
 IRP, NIH, DHHS; Baltimore, MD

Ferré is chief of the Integrative Neurobiology Section at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, IRP, NIH. He is an RLS Foundation research grant recipient where he researched cortico-striatal transmission in iron-deficient rats as a model for the screening of drugs potentially useful in the treatment of RLS. Ferré's research interests focus on the role of neurotransmitter receptor heteromers as targets for drug development in neuropsychiatric disorders, including substance use disorders. At the Foundation, he serves as a member of the Research Grant Committee.

University of Tennessee Health Science Center; Memphis, TN

Jones is a professor of genetics, genomics, and informatics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where he also serves as a member of the university's Neuroscience Institute. At Pennsylvania State University, Jones is a Professor Emeritus in behavioral health. His research interests include:

• Response to chronic and acute stress in adaptation and alcohol consumption
• Toxiogenetics of pesticides and neurotoxins
• Genetics of metal regulation in the brain (copper, iron and zinc)

At the RLS Foundation, Jones is an active member of the Research Grant Committee.

Yale Center for Sleep Medicine; New Haven, CT

Koo is the director for the Yale Center for Restless Legs Syndrome, an RLS Foundation certified RLS Quality Care Center, as well as the medical director of Sleep Laboratory at the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System. Koo is an associate professor of neurology at Yale University, and has been an active member of task forces and section committees related to the sleep-related movement disorders in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Koo is board certified in both neurology and sleep medicine, and much of his research lies in those categories. His research on RLS and PLMS has included animal modeling, epidemiology, proteomics and genetic analysis.

Houston Methodist Neurological Institute; Houston, TX

Ondo serves as director of the Movement Disorder Clinic at the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute, a certified RLS Quality Care Center. Throughout his career, Ondo has written more than 250 articles and book chapters. A movement disorder specialist, he is board certified in adult neurology and sleep medicine. Ondo's research specializes in Parkinson's disease, essential tremors, the use of botulinum toxins in treating movement disorders, and restless legs syndrome. At the RLS Foundation, Ondo is an active member of the Opiates Committee.

Pomona Valley Medical Center, Claremont, CA

Sharon works as an independent consultant out of the Sleep Disorders Adult and Children Center of the Pomona Valley Medical Center in Claremont, CA.

Throughout her education, training and work, Sharon has amassed research experience including, but not limited to, work as a Research Associate/Quantitative Electroencephalographer in the Laboratory of Psychoelectrophysiology, Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior through MCG. Her research has been published in numerous journals, as well as industry supported pieces on Restless Legs Syndrome for Pfizer, Xenoport, Luitpold, and more.

Sharon has been involved in multiple committees for the American Association of Sleep Medicine (AASM), such as the Center Accreditation, Fellowship Accreditation, Nosology Committees and Movement Disorders Section (vice-chair). She is a member of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study group and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Task Force on the update of the treatment of RLS and PLMD; just another way in which she is helping those with RLS. Sharon serves on the Foundation's Pediatrics and Quality Care Center Certification committees.

New Mexico VA Healthcare System; Albuquerque, NM

Board certified in neurology -- with a PhD in neuropharmacology and with substantial contributions to clinical trials, human genetics, mouse genetics, neuropharmacology and in vitro studies -- Uhl now manages a research program based at the New Mexico VA Healthcare System and his own laboratory and translational/clinical research. He has long studied the mu opiate receptor, at which several RLS drugs work, and the RLS gene PTPRD, for which he has discovered novel ligands. Uhl also has experience in addiction and Parkinson’s disease. Uhl's major research interests include:

• Translational studies of complex genetics of RLS and other brain disorders
• Mechanisms of RLS, addictions and Parkinson’s disease
• Discovery of novel therapeutic approaches to RLS, addictions and Parkinsons disease

At the Foundation, Uhl is a member of the Research Grant and Brain Bank committees.

Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA

Winkelman is board certified in both Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and treats sleep disorders patients at Massachusetts General Hospital. He specializes in RLS, insomnia, sleep apnea, sleep-related eating disorders and parasomnias. His research primarily focuses on epidemiology, physiology, cardiovascular consequences and the treatment of RLS as well as the neurobiology and treatment of insomnia.

Winkelman is Chair of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group and is consultant to DSM-5-TR RLS section and the AASM Sleep-Related Movement Disorders section. He served as chair of the American Academy of Neurology Practice Parameter Committee for the treatment of RLS. At the RLS Foundation, Winkelman is the current chair of the Opiates committee and serves on the Revised Treatment Consensus committee.