Yoon-Hee Cha, MD

University of California at Los Angeles

Nominated by: MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation

The MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation has nominated UCLA researcher Dr. Yoon-Hee Cha to the 2009 Rare Disease Day Research Hall of Fame. Dr. Cha, recipient of the MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation's 2008 Early Career Distinguished Investigator Award, is currently conducting research into mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS) with support provided by the Foundation.

Trained in neurotology, Dr. Cha is a researcher in the Department of Neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she provides clinical care and undertakes clinical and translational science investigations.

In her research studies, Dr. Cha collaborates with other specialists in brain function, neuroplasticity, vestibular rehabilitation, and neuroimaging to examine possible etiologies as well as improved diagnostic tests and treatments for MdDS.

MdDS is a rare disease that manifests with sensations of rocking and swaying, false motion, imbalance and cognitive impairment. The wide spectrum of MdDS symptoms usually occurs after a cruise, plane flight, or other passive motion event and may persist for months to years.

Presently, little is known regarding the basis for, or treatment of, this often-misdiagnosed syndrome. The MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation is an international, all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to promoting MdDS awareness and research. The Foundation operates as a PA 501(c)(3) corporation with a mission to support biomedical studies designed to provide a better understanding of the dysfunction that underlies this motion and balance disorder. Support for MdDS research is based in part on a generous charitable contribution by an interested anonymous donor as well as donations received from numerous others.

In December, 2009, NORD was advised that Dr. Cha was awarded a three-year grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct clinical studies on Mal de Debarquement Syndrome.

Funding for Dr. Cha's study, Functional Neuroimaging and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Mal de Debarquement, begins on January 1, 2010. The award to Dr. Cha represents the first use of federal research dollars to study the cause and potential treatment of MdDS. She will collaborate with various specialists in the field of brain function and vestibular disorders to examine possible etiologies as well as improved diagnostic tests and treatments for MdDs.