, has dedicated his entire career to improving the lives of people with movement disorders. Since graduating from Rush Medical College in 1975, he has cared for thousands of patients, mentored and inspired countless physicians, authored hundreds of publications to advance neurological science, and served in numerous leadership roles for national and international movement disorders organizations.
After residencies at Rush and Michael Reese Medical Center, Dr. Goetz joined Rush full time. He led the Rush Parkinson鈥檚 Disease and Movement Disorders Program for 30 years, recognizing the value of gathering specialists in one suite to collaborate and garnering international acclaim in the process.
After 50 highly productive years in medicine, he will enjoy a well-deserved retirement at the end of June 2025. Deborah A. Hall, MD, PhD, the Parkinson鈥檚 Foundation Chair of Neurological Sciences, will carry on the program鈥檚 legacy. Philanthropic funding from the Dr. Goetz Endowed Research and Education Fund will support Dr. Hall and her team to that end.
Contributing major developments to the field
Throughout his career, Dr. Goetz witnessed and contributed to groundbreaking treatments and developments in our understanding of movement disorders.
He observed some of the first clinical applications of the drug levodopa in the early 1970s and the dramatic success of deep brain stimulation for tremor treatment in more recent years. Each markedly helped patients who experienced debilitating symptoms before the treatments. He also contributed to the field鈥檚 groundbreaking discovery that aggregations of the protein alpha synuclein cut off oxygen supply to dopamine cells, leading to the development of Parkinson鈥檚 disease and other movement disorders.
When a dopamine cell bursts, fragments of the synuclein clump act like a virus or bacteria and may penetrate other cells, creating a propagating illness.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know exactly how this process starts yet, but we鈥檒l crack that,鈥 Dr. Goetz said. 鈥淲e need to figure out what is causing the first aggregation of alpha synuclein. To be able to treat and stop the disease from getting any worse would be heroic. We鈥檙e starting to do that with antibody research programs.
鈥淭o me, seeing all three of these advances in one career and to have participated in all of them is pretty thrilling.鈥
Among his most prominent contributions to the field, Dr. Goetz led the development of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson鈥檚 Disease Rating Scale, a standardized tool for physicians worldwide to evaluate and measure changes in patients鈥 motor and nonmotor symptoms. This scale is now the gold standard in the field.
Training the next generation
While Dr. Goetz鈥檚 research and academic work have crossed international lines, so, too, has his mentorship, especially through the Rush Movement Disorders Fellowship and the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society鈥檚 Training Scholars Leadership Program.
Gian Pal, MD, associate professor in the Division of Movement Disorders at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, credits Dr. Goetz with advancing his success as a clinician-scientist. While most early-career faculty positions require frequent clinical time, Dr. Goetz advocated for the creation of a unique position that protected 40% of Dr. Pal鈥檚 time for research, helping him advance his work to secure grant funding from the National Institutes of Health.
鈥淭his springboarded my career,鈥 Dr. Pal said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always modeled myself after him. Even the most devastating diagnosis he could deliver with such care. He didn鈥檛 sugarcoat but struck a balance between being compassionate and realistic.
鈥淭o this day, when I鈥檓 delivering those kinds of diagnoses to patients, I channel his voice. He鈥檚 a dynamic force. There are few people like him, with his work ethic and desire to help teach and advance science.鈥
Perennially providing top-tier patient care
Throughout his career, Dr. Goetz oversaw scientific advancement consistently rooted in the needs of his patients.
鈥淗e puts my interests first and advocates for me, and I appreciate that,鈥 said Tom Meagher Jr. 鈥淚鈥檝e gone to him with many questions over the past few years, and he鈥檚 always been insightful with his responses. He stands by his convictions, has high standards and is highly ethical.鈥
Dr. Goetz always found joy in the science of medicine and laboratory work, but the gratitude he received from patients was unparalleled.
鈥淚 think of this whole family of people who all have basically the same disease, but each is facing challenges with his or her own courage and integrity,鈥 Dr. Goetz said. 鈥淭here is no real 鈥榯he Parkinson鈥檚.鈥 It鈥檚 鈥榤y Parkinson鈥檚鈥 with each personal version being a valid and treatable challenge that the doctor and patient face together.
鈥淲hen a patient and family say thank you, it is a cherished gift. The thanks you receive for one鈥檚 fidelity over many years 鈥 that鈥檚 a very special kind of message to a doctor.鈥
Where is the field heading?
In the immediate future, the challenge Dr. Hall, the Rush team and their colleagues worldwide face is to keep advancing science toward a preventive treatment or even a cure for Parkinson鈥檚 disease 鈥 work that will take both money and time. And, at a larger scale, deeper questions about the brain and its evolution remain.
鈥淏y evolutionary standards, our cortex has evolved enormously, but the brain stem has not,鈥 Dr. Goetz said. 鈥淓ven if we crack the synuclein issue, we still have an evolutionarily compromised brain stem, and we鈥檙e not going to get around that. Cultural evolution is much more rapid than cellular or molecular evolution, and so society is moving forward, demanding new things, new technology, new skills 鈥 using your thumb for your iPhone and doing things that, even 10 years ago, people didn鈥檛 have to do.
鈥淲e鈥檙e dealing with a problem that is really part and parcel of the human state, and we鈥檙e not going to get around it. We鈥檙e still going to have brain stem disease. Will it look like Parkinson鈥檚? I don鈥檛 know, but I think that it will.鈥
And, for that reason, movement disorders specialists will always be needed. Building upon Dr. Goetz鈥檚 instrumental contributions to the field, Rush remains committed to training future clinicians, advancing research and 鈥 above all 鈥 providing the highest-quality patient care.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of what I鈥檝e accomplished, and I鈥檓 proud to pass the baton,鈥 Dr. Goetz said. 鈥淚 think our group is strong, but it needs to carry on with a new leader. Deborah is the right person to do that.鈥
