Dr. Robert Luke Nussbaum, MD

Genetics Dr. Robert L. Nussbaum, a board certified internist and medical geneticist, specializes in the care of adults with hereditary disorders. He is chief of Medical Genetics at UCSF Medical Center and co-director of the Program in Cardiovascular Genetics at the UCSF Heart and Vascular Center, which cares for patients with inherited disorders of heart muscle, heart rhythm and large arteries, such as the aorta. Nussbaum is a member of the UCSF Institute for Human Genetics, where he is studying if and how genetic and genomic information can be used to improve health care by improving outcomes, reducing adverse reactions, lowering costs and promoting health through risk education. He also conducts research on Parkinson disease to understand what causes the disorder and develop treatments to prevent, slow or stop its progression. Nussbaum, a member of the Institute of Medicine, was co-discoverer of the first inherited form of Parkinson's disease. He has since been working to identify …other inherited forms of the disease through family studies. Although inherited forms of the disease are rare, the mechanisms of hereditary can provide insight in processes that may be involved in more common forms. Prior to joining UCSF, Nussbaum was chief of the Genetic Disease Research Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health.