Dr. Neha Prakash

Movement Disorders Neurologist; Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine

Dr. Prakash is a graduate of G.S.V.M. School of Medicine, India and completed her internship and residency at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.  Thereafter she completed a 2-year Fellowship in Movement Disorders at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago. She is Board Certified in Neurology. 

Many of Dr. Prakash’s patients at UCONN Health have movement disorders, with a large percentage of those affected by Parkinson’s.

“Our goal is to improve provide our patients with the best quality of life for as long as possible. We also focus on improving the quality of life of their caregivers and doing whatever we can to reduce the caregiver burden” she says.  “Depending upon the situation, we recommend specific therapies and use an integrated, coordinated approach when counseling patients.”

That can include exercise, medication, physical and speech therapies, and a multitude of options for treatment.  One thing that she says is critical: using the suggested medications when they are needed – and not delaying them: “medications are prescribed based on quality of life considerations, and there is no benefit to delaying them.” Her area of interest is providing advanced therapies to Parkinson’s patients.

Dr. Prakash, who works closely with Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues and Elaine Cournean, A.P.R.N., says the multidisciplinary approach works well at UCONN, including referrals to the appropriate specialities, as well as sharing key information with new patients about resources like support groups and classes that they can avail themselves of.

An interesting fact about Dr. Prakash is her involvement with the highly regarded “Journal of Parkinson’s Disease” where she writes about current clinical trials focused on Parkinson’s, something she has been doing since her days at Northwestern University.

When asked if there were any reasons for hope for PWP’s, Dr. Prakash stated unequivocally, “yes!” – the upcoming drugs that are focused on alpha-synuclein, as well as others, give optimism to those with Parkinson’s – and she also believes that other disease-modifying treatments will be coming along in the not too distant future, as well.

Again, a warm welcome to Dr. Prakash!