We specializes in diseases affecting muscles and nerves including:
ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) - Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Myasthenia gravis
Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy
Jump to: Diagnostic Testing Programs & Clinics Team
Neuromuscular Disorders | Neurology
706-721-2681
Testing
Electromyography
Nerve and muscle ultrasound
Skin biopsies
Treatments
Botulinum toxin injections
We use botulinum toxin injections to treat:
Therapeutic nerve blocks
Therapeutic nerve blocks can be used to treat:
Joint injections
The Augusta University ALS Clinic was started in 2004 as a half day clinic each month. It has now grown to a bimonthly full day clinic. Our clinic is ALSA certified clinic which means that we underwent a rigorous certification process. The clinic is a multidisciplinary clinic so that our ALS patient can receive all needed services at a single visit. It is staffed by 2 dedicated ALS specialists, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech and language pathologists, respiratory therapist, a dietician and representatives from the ALS Association. In addition, we have equipment vendors in the clinic so that patients can get needed equipment during the clinic.
Patients suspected of ALS are seen in our neuromuscular clinic by one of our ALS specialists. During the visit, we can do a diagnostic EMG so the diagnosis can be made at the time of the visit. We guarantee that we see all patients suspected of ALS within 1 month.
We have an active clinical research program with 2 full time research associates. Over the years we have participated in numerous ALS Clinical research studies. Currently we are engaged in 3 clinical research studies.
- Anelixis Study—monoclonal antibody to CD40LG
- COMBAT-ALS—neuroprotective agent (ibudilast)
- Apellis Study—C3 inhibitor
We have participated in several Basic research projects looking at the etiology of ALS. In the past we looked at the association of LRP4/Agrin antibodies in ALS and SGPG antibodies in ALS. We have just recruited a Basic Researcher, Dr Eric Vitriol who start work in February. He will be looking at the Actin cytoskeleton in ALS. We hope that projects such as this will lead to understanding the cause of ALS which hopefully lead to better treatment for our patients.
Our multi-disciplinary clinic is designed to help our ALS patients throughout all stages of their disease from the initial diagnosis to Hospice care. Our patients have access of all the most recent treatments which have been shown to improve outcome. Our patients have access to clinical trials and basic research projects which hopefully, will one day, lead to a cure.
AU has an active program in Myasthenia Gravis. We can fully evaluate patients seen in our clinic for neuromuscular transmission disorders including Myasthenia Gravis and Myasthenic Syndrome. We can do repetitive nerve stimulation and single fiber EMG studies.
We offer all modalities of therapy including, plasma exchange, IVIG, eculizumab as well as standard immunosuppressant therapy. We offer antibody testing and have recently discovered LRP4 and Agrin antibodies which are linked to myasthenia gravis in patients that are negative to standard testing for ACHR and MuSK antibodies.
We are actively engaged in clinical research in Myasthenia Gravis. Currently we have 4 clinical studies in Myasthenia Gravis.
- Raise Study—This is a monoclonal antibody against C5
- MG0003—This is a monoclonal antibody against the FCRN receptor
- Takeda Study—This is a monoclonal antibody against CD38
- Alexion Registry Study—This is an observational study for patients getting eculizumab
We have recently complete a NIH Study designed to study the clinical characteristics of patient with LRP4 and Agrin antibodies in patients with Double negative MG.
We are actively doing clinical studies in chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy and lower back pain.
706-721-2681
Dr. Rivner has over 30 years of experience treating patients with neuromuscular diseases. He is board certified in Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology and Electrodiagnostic medicine. He graduated Emory University Medical school in 1978 and did his Neurology residency and Neuromuscular fellowship at the Medical College of Georgia. Dr Rivner joined the faculty of Augusta University in 1983. He currently is a Charbonnier Professor Emeritus of Neurology. He is the director of the ALS clinic, EMG lab and Neuromuscular program.
Dr. Barnes received his BA and MD degrees from the University of Kentucky and completed his residency training in Neurology at the same institution in 2019. He did a fellowship in Neuromuscular disease at Duke University and joined the Augusta University Faculty in July 2020. He is board certified in Neurology. His clinical interests include neuromuscular disease and EMG, and his primary research interest is in motor neuron disease. He is the Associate Director of the ALS clinic at AU.
Eric Vitriol, PhD
Dr. Vitriol received his B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did his postdoctoral training at Emory University. He joined the Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at Augusta University in February 2021. Dr. Vitriol’s lab studies how the actin cytoskeleton contributes to cell motility, neural development, and in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His ALS research has been supported by funding from the National Institute of Health and the ALS Association. Ultimately, Dr. Vitriol’s goal is to identify and target the cellular mechanism that cause ALS.
Diane Manghram, RN, ACNP, DNP
Dr. Manghram received her Doctor of Nursing Practice in from the Medical College of Georgia, BSN and MS from the University of South Florida. She has over 25 years of clinical acute, critical, medical-surgical, and neurology nursing with further interests in neuromuscular disease and neuromuscular research. Dr. Manghram joined the Neuromuscular section in 2016 as a Neuromuscular Nurse Practitioner in the Department of Neurology, Augusta University Medical Center.
Rebecca Fulmer, CNCT
Ms. Fulmer obtained her diploma for Medical Billing and Coding in 2004, she began working at Augusta University in 2007 for the billing department. She worked closely with the Neuromuscular clinic on schedules & insurance authorizations. In 2009, she transitioned to the clinic, and began training as a Neurodiagnostic Technologist for the EMG Lab, in 2010 she obtained her CNCT through AANEM (American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine). She served on the Digital Media Education Committee with AANEM from 2014-2017, where she assisted in the production of digital educational materials in Neuromuscular continuing education. In addition, she obtained her Associates degree as a Network Specialist Administrator in the fall of 2020. After 11 years in the EMG lab, she continues to play a vital role in the function of the Neuromuscular clinic.
Loreen Ingram-Moore, CNCT
Ms. Ingram began her employment in the Neurology Dept., EMG Lab with Dr. Rivner in September 2001 as a receptionist/transcriptionist. A short time later she was trained under the direct supervision of Dr. Rivner as a nerve conduction study technologist and became a registered technologist through the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Technologists in 2003. She has been an employee of Augusta University for 19 years.
Brandy Quarles, MPH
Mrs. Quarles graduated from Augusta State University in 2010 with her bachelor of
science in biology and immediately assumed her role in the clinic as a research assistant.
She gained much experience and became a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC)
in 2012. She obtained her Master's in Public Health from the Augusta University Graduate
School in 2019. With over 10 years’ experience conducting clinical research and participation in
over 40 trials, she currently holds the position of Research Operations Coordinator
in the Neuromuscular clinic.
Kristy Bouchard, BS, CCRC
Ms. Bouchard graduated from Augusta State University in 2003 with her bachelors of science in biology. Soon after graduation, she began a role as research assistant in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department of Augusta University, where she conducted pre-clinical research in memory and cognition. After 13 years of pre-clinical research, she joined the Neuromuscular clinic as a senior research assistant. After 4 years and much learning about the world of clinical research, she became a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC) in 2020. She continues to apply her 17 cumulative years of research experience to all she does for the over 30 clinical trials she has participated in.