Draft:Laura J. Balcer



Laura Joan Balcer received her high school diploma from Dulaney High School, located in Timonium, Maryland, in 1983. She earned a Bachelors of Science in Biology in 1987 from the College of William and Mary. Balcer received an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1991. Dr. Balcer completed her residency in neurology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1995 and completed her fellowship in Neuro-Ophthalmology in 1996 also at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Balcer completed her Masters of Science in Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. Dr. Balcer practices as a board certified physician with the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology.

Research and Clinical Practice
At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Balcer's primary research focus was on the development of clinical outcome measures for multiple sclerosis (MS) trials.

Balcer became a professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine after over 30 years of working in the fields of neurology and medicine. Additionally, she maintains a position as the vice chair of the Neurology Department at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Through collaboration with NYU Langone's Concussion Center, she specializes in treating patients with vision problems related to changes in the brain. Her contribution to research has encouraged the inclusion of vision testing for concussion assessments, which helps determine how the visual pathways in the brain are affected by head injuries. One such vision test, called the King-Devick (K-D) test, takes less than a minute and is used in youth and collegiate sports to quickly judge the likelihood of concussions. Dr. Balcer's brother, Marc J. Balcer, MS, is a software developer who created the Mobile Integrated Cognitive Kit (MICK) that is optimized for a tablet device and can quickly judge the likelihood of concussions.

Because of her medical advancements and clinical findings, Balcer was written about in the Philadelphia Magazine from 2010-2012 and rated one of America's Top Doctors from 2011-2014. Other recognitions she's received include Super Doc, Top Doctors: New York Metro Area, the Barancik Prize for Innovation in Multiple Sclerosis, and CMS Stage 1 EHR in 2012 and 2013.

Selected Publications

 * Balcer L.J., Galetta S.L., Polman C.H., Eggenberger E., Calabresi P.A., Zhang A., Scanlon J.V., Hyde R. : Low-contrast acuity measures visual improvement in phase 3 trial of natalizumab in relapsing MS.  Journal of the Neurological Sciences 318: 119-124, 2012. Low-contrast acuity measures visual improvement in phase 3 trial of natalizumab in relapsing MS
 * Moss H.E., McCluskey L., Elman L., Hoskins K., Talman L., Grossman M., Balcer L.J., Galetta S.L., Liu G.T. : Cross-sectional evaluation of clinical neuro-ophthalmic abnormalities in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis population.  Journal of the Neurological Sciences 314: 97-101, 2012. Cross-sectional evaluation of clinical neuro-ophthalmic abnormalities in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis population
 * Galetta K.M., Graves J., Talman L.S., Lile D.J., Frohman E.M., Calabresi P.A., Galetta S.L., Balcer L.J.: Visual pathway axonal loss in benign multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal study. Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology 32: 116-123, 2012. Visual Pathway Axonal Loss in Benign Multiple Sclerosis: A Longitudinal Study
 * Davies E.C., Henderson S., Balcer L.J., Galetta S.L.: The King-Devick test and sleep deprivation: study in pre- and post-call neurology residents. Neurology 78: e103-106, 2012. Residency Training: The King-Devick test and sleep deprivation: Study in pre- and post-call neurology residents
 * Sachi A. Patil, Scott Grossman, Rachel Kenney, Laura J. Balcer, Steven Galetta: Where's the Vision? The Importance of Visual Outcomes in Neurologic Disorders. American Academy of Neurology 100(5): 244-253, 2023.
 * Olivia Schaffer, Frank Xie, Debby Cheng, Scott N. Grossman, Steven L. Galetta, Laura J. Balcer: Trends in concussion mechanism of injury during the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of the Neurological Sciences. ScienceDirect 445: 0022-510X, 2023. Trends in concussion mechanism of injury during the COVID-19 pandemic
 * Walter S.D., Ishikawa H., Galetta K.M., Sakai R.E., Feller D.J., Wilson J.A., Maguire M.G., Galetta S.L., Frohman E.M., Calabresi P.A., Schuman J.S., Balcer L.J.: Ganglion cell loss in relation to visual disability in multiple sclerosis. Ophthalmology 119: 1250-1257, 2012. Ganglion Cell Loss in Relation to Visual Disability in Multiple Sclerosis
 * Ventura RE, Galetta SL, Balcer LJ: The neuro-ophthalmology of head trauma. Lancet Neurol 13: 1006-1013, 2014. The neuro-ophthalmology of head trauma
 * George Park, Marc J. Balcer, Joseph R. Colcombe, Lisena Hasanaj, Binu Joseph, Rachel Kenney, Todd Hudson, John-Ross Rizzo, Janet C. Rucker, Steven L. Galettta, Laura J. Balcer, Scott N. Grossman: The MICK (Mobile integrated cognitive kit) app: Digital rapid automatized naming for visual assessment across the spectrum of neurological disorders. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, Volume 434, 2022. The MICK (Mobile integrated cognitive kit) app: Digital rapid automatized naming for visual assessment across the spectrum of neurological disorders
 * O'Neill, K. A., Dugue, A., Abreu, N. J., Balcer, L. J., Branche, M., Galetta, S., Graves, J., Kister, I., Magro, C., Miller, C., Newsome, S. D., Pappas, J., Rucker, J., Steigerwald, C., William, C. M., Zamvil, S. S., Grossman, S. N., & Krupp, L. B: Relapsing white matter disease and subclinical optic neuropathy. Neurology Neuroimmunology &amp; Neuroinflammation, 11 (2), 2024. Relapsing White Matter Disease and Subclinical Optic Neuropathy: From the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Case Conference Proceedings