Robert Zivadinov

Dr. Zivadinov has acquired extensive research experience in multiple sclerosis (MS). His accomplishments in this field include numerous awards from European and national neurological societies for his published articles, research studies and research fellowships. Dr. Zivadinov has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, over 320 abstracts and more than 15 book chapters. He also edited a book on central nervous system atrophy in MS. Dr. Zivadinov’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Teva Neuroscience, Biogen Idec, Genzyme, EMD Serono, Bracco, Greatbatch, General Electric, Aspreva and various private foundations.

Dr. Zivadinov is currently pursuing research studies on quantitative magnetic resonance, ultrasound and optic coherence tomography imaging findings in MS, Parkinson’s disease and aging. He has striven to extend the boundaries of current knowledge about neurological diseases and disorders through innovative research techniques and the application of bioinformatics resources. His current interests also concentrate on therapeutic interventions, including strategies towards assessing neuroprotective efforts in MS, as well as the venous function, genetic and neuroepidemiology fields of MS. His interest also extends to other neurological and systemic diseases, including Alzheimer’s, stroke, epilepsy, systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome, progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy, alcoholism, post-concussion syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, myasthenia gravis, migraine and headaches. His research into these areas with respect to imaging and epidemiology has been of considerable depth and breadth, having so far yielded numerous papers. He has also collaborated with more than 30 Universities nationally and internationally.

Dr. Zivadinov currently serves as a Section Editor for demyelinating diseases in BMC Neurology. In that role, Dr. Zivadinov aims to increase the quality and quantity of publications in the BMC journal series. In order to broaden awareness of the medical community about the interest of the BMC series journals in publishing novel research in the spectrum of demyelinating diseases with emphasis on MS, Dr. Zivadinov recently organized a special issue of BMC Neurology that will appear in the fall of 2011 entitled, “Gray Matter Pathology in Multiple Sclerosis: What We Learned in the Last Decade”. The purpose of this issue is to synthesize current concepts about the evaluation, pathogenesis and clinical relevance of gray matter pathology in MS. Gray matter pathology of both the brain and spinal cord in MS is complex and likely reflects the effects of cortical demyelination, inflammatory tissue injury, axonal loss and Wallerian degeneration. A growing body of evidence indicates that meningeal inflammation and irreversible tissue destruction—including axonal and neuronal degeneration—are key components of the MS disease process. One of the principal goals of this special journal issue is to increase awareness about this important topic, in order to educate general neurologists, radiologists, and neuroradiologists, as well as imaging and MS specialists. The most prominent research groups around the world are contributing to that special issue.

Dr. Zivadinov fully supports the model of open access journals as he believes that the primary advantage of open access is that the content is available to users everywhere regardless of affiliation with a subscribing library. Consequently, the papers are more read, more cited, and better integrated into the structure of science. This also broadens accessible information to the general public, which has the opportunity to see what scientific research is about, as well as to the taxpayers who can judge the results of the research they pay for. Finally, this is advantageous to patients and those caring for them, who are able more readily to follow new developments in medical research. In addition, Dr. Zivadinov supports transparency of the peer-review process through the open-access journals. In his opinion, this is an important way to ensure a fair and balanced peer-review process. Finally, a huge advantage of publishing with BMC is the very short time lapse between manuscript acceptance and publication online.