Faculty & Staff

Eva L. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., is the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology at Michigan Medicine. A renowned neurologist and neuroscientist, she has devoted her career to understanding neurological disorders and developing new treatments. Dr. Feldman earned her medical and doctoral degrees at U-M and completed her neurology residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She joined the U-M faculty in 1988.

Dr. Feldman has more than 30 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for her research on neurological disorders. She is a principal investigator on the first two U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved stem cell transplant clinical trials for ALS. She is also supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for her groundbreaking work on identifying environmental pollutants as a contributing cause of ALS.

Dr. Feldman was the inaugural director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at U-M. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. In 2019, she received the Michigan Medicine Alumni Society’s Distinguished Achievement Award.

More Information About Dr. Feldman

Stephen Goutman, M.D., M.S., is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Michigan Medicine. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Goutman completed his medical degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and his neurology residency and neuromuscular fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. He received a Master’s of Science in clinical research design and statistical analysis at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Goutman’s area of expertise is ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease where his focus is delivering comprehensive and compassionate care. As the Pranger ALS Clinic Director, he leads a team of providers that care for persons with ALS and their families.

Dr. Goutman’s research is focused on identifying the causes of ALS and leveraging that knowledge to develop new treatments.

More Information About Dr. Goutman

Ms. Lemkin fields and returns patient calls, assists with patient medical orders, educate patients, directs and assists with clinic flow, and serves as the Pranger ALS Clinic’s liaison with other departments within Michigan Medicine. She has been at U-M for 22 years and joined the Pranger ALS Clinic in 2016.

Dr. Ritter joined the Michigan Medicine ALS Center of Excellence in 2018 as the Managing Director. He received his undergraduate and medical school school degrees from the University of Michigan. Following a surgery internship, he completed an anesthesiology residency at the University of North Carolina. He finished a fellowship in liver transplantation and critical care at the Mayo Clinic, and was on faculty at Emory University and St. Louis University as assistant professor. He was then on staff at Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, and developed and served as medical director of the Preoperative Assessment clinic there, one of the largest in the country.

Dr. Choi is medical director of the University of Michigan’s Assisted Ventilation Clinic in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care. Previously, he spent three years working at the Duke University ALS Clinic.

Dr. Choi earned his medical degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, did his internal medicine residency at Brown University, and his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at Duke University.

Dr. Schmidt’s clinical responsibilities include outpatient practice focusing on ALS, adult muscular dystrophy, hereditary neuropathy, and other neuromuscular conditions.

Dr. Schmidt obtained her medical degree from Michigan State University, and completed her residency training in physical medicine & rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where she also served as chief resident.

Mr. Coltman consults with patients and provides them with complex rehabilitation equipment, including custom power wheelchairs and seating. He identifies patient need for modifications, adjustments and repairs to their mobility equipment in the clinic and in their homes. He has been in the seating and mobility industry for 34 years, and has worked at the University of Michigan since 2011.

Ms. Goulet provides supportive counseling, crisis intervention and education regarding community resources, benefits and advocacy. She has a professional background in hospice and palliative care, dementia care, long-term care and working with older adults through the Medicaid Waiver program. Darla enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and their five children.

Ms. Klein is a physical therapist in Adult Patient Rehabilitation and the Adult Muscular Dystrophy Clinic at Michigan Medicine. She is focused on helping patients achieve maximum level of motor control throughout the onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative complications. A 2005 graduate of Mount St. Joseph University, Ms. Klein joined Michigan Medicine shortly after completing her degree.

Danielle Karsies, MS, RDN,CSO is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) who works to optimize the nutritional status and quality of life of those living with ALS. She helps address ALS symptoms that hinder adequate oral intake such as chewing and/or swallowing difficulty, hand or limb weakness, lack of appetite and constipation to ensure proper nutrition to maintain weight. She has 19 year’s experience as an RDN in a variety of areas including ALS, oncology, inborn errors of metabolism and cardiology. She has a master’s degree in human nutrition from Eastern Michigan University, a bachelor’s degree of science from Michigan State University, and completed her didactic internship at Michigan Medicine. She is an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and is a Certified Specialist in Oncology Nutrition (CSO) and AFAA Certified Group Exercise Instructor.

Mr. Kurili is a clinical specialist and respiratory therapist in the Department of Internal Medicine Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Michigan Medicine. He evaluates and provides expertise as the respiratory clinical specialist for numerous multidisciplinary clinics: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis and adult obesity hyperventilation. He also serves patients dependent on mechanical ventilators at the Adult Assisted Ventilation Clinic.

Mr. Kurili has worked as a project manager-research coordinator. His research has been in the field of ALS and sleep-disordered breathing in patients with spinal cord injury. His work has been published in numerous medical journals. He has been a speaker in state and national conferences.

After obtaining a B.S. degree from the Agricultural University of Tirana in Albania, Mr. Kurili moved to the United States. He furthered his education at Purdue University and completed his A.S. degree in respiratory care at Ivy Tech State College in Indiana.

Ms. Duell works in the Multidisciplinary ALS Clinic, where she recruits patients for ongoing research studies. She works with patients to explain in detail current and future studies. A member of the Michigan Medicine staff since 2005, she joined the ALS Multidisciplinary clinic in 2012. Ms. Duell received her B.S. in Nursing at University of Michigan. She has been a registered nurse since 2005, starting her nursing career on the inpatient Orthopedic and Trauma Unit at Michigan Medicine. In 2012, she joined the Department of Neurology, with a specific focus of ALS research. Ms. Duell is now the lead research nurse for ALS Clinical Research at Michigan Medicine. She is responsible for coordinating and carrying out required study activities for both clinical trials and observational studies. Regular study activities include slow vital capacity (SVC), hand held dynamometry (HHD), hand grip strength, ATLIS, ECG administration, ALSFRS-R administration, ALSQOL administration, adverse event review and documentation, medication administration, drug compliance verification, reporting to the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and regulatory document compliance. Ms. Duell is also involved in the orientation of new ALS coordinators and facilitating their success in coordinating studies.

Maddie Batra is a clinical research assistant working on observational studies of the ALS Center of Excellence and Pranger ALS Clinic at Michigan Medicine.  She is involved with study recruitment, retention, logistics, and sample collection. She also sees patients in the Pranger ALS Clinic and administers clinical assessments such as the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised and the ALS Cognitive Behavioral Assessment. Batra graduated from Michigan State University in 2022 with a B.S. degree in Behavioral Neuroscience.  She joined the ALS team in May 2022.

Hasan Farid supports both the research and clinical missions of the ALS Center of Excellence, which includes the Pranger ALS Clinic.  Specifically, he assists with patient recruitment, retention, and biospecimen collection for studies that investigate the cause of ALS. Additionally, Farid meets with patients during visits to the Pranger ALS Clinic to obtain important measures to help in the care of patients including the Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) and the ALS Cognitive-Behavioral Scale.

Farid is also a Mentorship Program Lead with Hire MI Vet: a non-profit organization in Michigan that assists veterans in finding meaningful employment.  Previously, he worked in the clinical research industry for a Contract Research Organization (CRO) called Medpace in Cincinnati, Ohio. His role was a Feasibility Coordinator that determined which countries and sites are suitable for various kinds of clinical trials.  During his graduate work, he was a Graduate Research Assistant in a Neuroengineering, Rehabilitation and Degenerative Lab focusing on ALS research at Wright State University, where he conducted ALS research using immunohistological methods and cognitive behavioral experiments.

Farid receive an M.S. in Physiology and Neuroscience from Wright State University in 2020, and a B.S. (Honors) in Biological Science from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in 2017.

Carli Piecuch joined Dr. Eva Feldman’s team and the NeuroNetwork of Emerging Therapies in 2019 as a research lab tech associate. Within this role, Carli was responsible for processing patient samples and maintaining the ALS biorepository. In June 2021, Carli transitioned to the clinical subjects team at the ALS Center of Excellence. Carli currently helps with patient recruitment, retention, scheduling, outcome measure testing, and data entry for the ALS clinical trials. She also assists within the Pranger ALS Clinic where she consents patients for observational studies, schedules visits, and administers tests to patients within clinic. Carli received her B.S. degree in Biomedical Laboratory Science from Michigan State University in 2019.

Ms. Kluin is a certified speech-language pathologist. She works with patients to assess and manage their cognitive communication, language, motor speech and ability to swallow. An original staff member of the University of Michigan’s Multidisciplinary ALS Clinic, Ms. Kluin has served Michigan Medicine for more than 38 years. Ms. Kluin is a member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association. She completed graduate school in speech pathology at the University of Michigan and completed her clinical fellowship in Boston.

As a certified speech-language pathologist, Ms. Hanifan evaluates and manages swallowing, motor speech, language and cognitive-communication skills in adults with neurodegenerative complications. In addition, she provides evaluation for augmentative-alternative communication to determine the most appropriate communication system for patients who may benefit from tablet-based apps or dedicated speech generating devices, including “eyegaze” methods and message or voice banking. Ms. Hanifan has spent the last 12 years with the Multidisciplinary ALS Clinic. Overall, she has more than 20 years of service with Michigan Medicine. Ms. Hanifan is a member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA). She received her Master’s Degree from Michigan State University.

Ms. Harkaway is a certified speech-language pathologist who evaluates and recommends individualized services for motor speech, language, cognitive communication and swallowing skills. Ms. Harkaway has been a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) since 2013 and is licensed in the state of Michigan. She completed graduate school in speech pathology at Rush University in Chicago and completed her clinical fellowship at Michigan Medicine.

Ms. Ingraham provides motor speech, language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing evaluations as well as patient specific recommendations & compensatory strategies at the Pranger ALS Clinic. Ms. Ingraham earned her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Wayne State University in 2017. Following graduation, she completed her clinical fellowship at Michigan Medicine and has been on staff since. She is a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in the state of Michigan.