Director
Jennifer Friedman, M.D., clinical professor of neurosciences and pediatrics, UC San Diego
Dr. Friedman established and directs the Movement Disorders Clinic and Tic/Tourette Center at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego and is the only pediatric movement disorders specialist in San Diego. Her research focuses on neurogenetics, Tourette syndrome and disability awareness education. She is a strong advocate for increasing awareness of Tourette syndrome and teaches physicians, fellows, residents and undergraduate students about this disorder. In addition, she provides an annual educational program about Tourette syndrome in the public school system.
Dr. Friedman is as clinical professor in the UC San Diego Departments of Neurosciences and Pediatrics. She received her undergraduate training at Princeton University and earned her medical degree from Stanford University in 1991. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, followed by residency in neurology at Harvard Longwood Training Program. She was a clinical fellow in movement disorders at Boston University Medical Center and a clinical and research fellow in neurogenetics and dystonia at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was a practicing neurologist at several Boston hospitals and was an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School before joining Rady Children’s in 2004.
Nurse Practitioners
Ana Carrion-Gelabert, M.S.N., FNP-C
Ana Marie Gelabert is a certified neuroscience nurse practitioner. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from George Mason University and earned her Master of Science in Nursing from Marymount University. Ana began her career as a clinical nurse at George Washington University in the Neuroscience/Neurology department then became a pediatric clinical nurse at Kaiser Permanente and Inova Health System. Also at Kaiser Permanente, Ana worked as a triage/advice nurse before transferring to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to undertake the role of a family nurse practitioner. Continuing her career as a family nurse practitioner, she worked at Children’s National Medical Center in Child Neurology before coming to Rady’s Children’s. In patients with neonatal onset multisystem inflammatory disease (NOMID), she has provided Anakinra therapy.
Ana is fluent in three languages — English, Spanish, and Tagalog (Filipino) — and has numerous publications and awards, such as the INOVA NP Mission in Action 2000 scholarship, NIH Merit award (6/2005) and CNMC Magnet award (2009). Her professional affiliations include the American College of Advanced Practice Nursing and American College of Neurology Nursing, among many others. Ana’s main goal is to deliver quality care and improve healthcare outcomes in the community.
Gail Reiner, D.N.P., FNP-C
Gail Reiner’s focus throughout her more than four-decade-long career has been on health promotion and quality of life for patients and families. In working with patients with tic disorders and Tourette syndrome, she monitors their development and medical outcomes. Gail provides comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics (CBIT). She coordinates behavioral and/or medical therapy with strategies for management of life issues pertaining to school, work, social relationships and the patient and family’s goals. Her research focuses on mitochondrial disease, Smith-Magenis syndrome, mitochondrial disorders, autism and CBIT.
Gail, who has a doctorate in nursing, is the mother of a child with a rare genetic disorder, Smith-Magenis syndrome, which has enhanced her compassion for all patients affected by neurologic conditions. She also leads a Smith-Magenis clinic on a quarterly basis. She is a co-author on the following studies:
- Frequency and complexity of de novo structural mutation in autism
- A clinical trial of safety and tolerability for the selective dopamine D1 receptor antagonist ecopipam in patients with Lesch-Nyhan disease
Publications:
Reiner G. Inborn error metabolic screening in nonsyndromic autism spectrum disorders. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2016 Aug;58(8):792-3. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.13150. No abstract available. PMID: 27169684