Ryan Townley, MD

Professional Background

Dr. Ryan Townley, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, directs the Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Fellowship. He actively advances Alzheimer's research as co-Principal Investigator of the Alzheimer's Clinical Trials Consortium and leads multiple clinical studies at the University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Dr. Townley also serves as the medical director of the Memory Care Clinic at The University of Kansas Health System, delivering specialized patient care.

Board-certified in Psychiatry and Neurology, and UCNS-certified in Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, he honed his expertise through a cognitive-behavioral fellowship and neurology residency at the Mayo Clinic. His medical training at the University of Kansas School of Medicine earned him the prestigious Dewey K. Ziegler Award for Excellence in Neurology and the American Academy of Neurology's Outstanding Neurology Medical Student Award. He began his academic journey with a bachelor's in neurobiology from the University of Kansas.

• BS, Neurobiology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
• MD, Medical Doctor, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS
• Other, Neurology, Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Rochester, MN
• Other, Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Rochester, MN

• ABPN Certified in Psychiatry and Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
• Medical License, Kansas State Board of Healing Arts
• UCNS Certified in Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry , United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties

• Lewy Body Disease Association, Clinical Education Task Force , Member, 2023 - Present
• International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment, Member, 2017 - Present
• American Academy of Neurology, Member, 2015 - Present

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Research

Overview

In addition to authoring a growing number of publications, Dr. Townley has presented numerous lectures and posters nationally and around the world. His clinical and research interests include Alzheimer's diseases variants such as posterior cortical atrophy and dysexecutive Alzheimer's, dementia with Lewy bodies, normal pressure hydrocephalus, and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. He also has professional interests in patient education and neurological disease-related seminars, resident and medical student education, and preventative health against neurodegenerative disease.

• AHEAD 3-45 Study, National Institute on Aging (NIA), Site-PI
• Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of CT1812 in Subjects With Mild to Moderate Dementia With Lewy Bodies (COG1201), National Institute on Aging , Site-PI
• Alzheimer’s Plasma Extension (APEX) Study, NIH/NIA, Site-PI

• Townley RA, Graff-Radford J, Mantyh WG, Botha H, Polsinelli AJ, Przybelski SA, Machulda MM, Makhlouf AT, Senjem ML, Murray ME, Reichard RR, Savica R, Boeve BF, Drubach DA, Josephs KA, Knopman DS, Lowe VJ, Jack, Jr CR, Petersen RC, Jones DT. 2020. Progressive dysexecutive syndrome due to Alzheimer's disease: a description of 55 cases and comparison to other phenotypes.. Brain communications, 2 (1), fcaa068
• Townley RA, Botha H, Graff-Radford J, Whitwell J, Boeve BF, Machulda MM, Fields JA, Drubach DA, Savica R, Petersen RC, Senjem ML, Knopman DS, Lowe VJ, Jack, Jr CR, Josephs KA, Jones DT. 2021. Posterior cortical atrophy phenotypic heterogeneity revealed by decoding (18)F-FDG-PET.. Brain communications, 3 (4), fcab182
• Pleen Joseph, Townley Ryan. 2022. Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial update 2019–2021. Journal of Neurology, 269 (2), 1038-1051. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-021-10790-5
• Townley RA, Syrjanen JA, Botha H, Kremers WK, Aakre JA, Fields JA, Machulda MM, Graff-Radford J, Savica R, Jones DT, Knopman DS, Petersen RC, Boeve BF. 2019. Comparison of the Short Test of Mental Status and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Across the Cognitive Spectrum.. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 94 (8), 1516-1523
• Townley RA, Botha H, Graff-Radford J, Boeve BF, Petersen RC, Senjem ML, Knopman DS, Lowe V, Jack, Jr CR, Jones DT. 2018. (18)F-FDG PET-CT pattern in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.. NeuroImage. Clinical, 18, 897-902
• Townley RA, Boeve BF, Benarroch EE. 2018. Progranulin: Functions and neurologic correlations.. Neurology, 90 (3), 118-125
• Doher N, Davoudi V, Magaki S, Townley RA, Haeri M, Vinters HV. 2023. Illustrated Neuropathologic Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease.. Neurology international, 15 (3), 857-867
• Vidoni Eric D, Morris Jill K, Watts Amber, Perry Mark, Clutton Jon, Van Sciver Angela, Kamat Ashwini S, Mahnken Jonathan, Hunt Suzanne L, Townley Ryan, Honea Robyn, Shaw Ashley R, Johnson David K, Vacek James, Burns Jeffrey M, Bush Ashley I. 2021. Effect of aerobic exercise on amyloid accumulation in preclinical Alzheimer’s: A 1-year randomized controlled trial. PLOS ONE, 16 (1), e0244893. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244893
• 2022. Chapter 78 - Frontotemporal Dementias
• Perales-Puchalt J, Townley R, Niedens M, Vidoni ED, Greiner KA, Zufer T, Schwasinger-Schmidt T, McGee JL, Arreaza H, Burns JM. 2022. Acceptability and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Remote Dementia Educational Training Among Primary Care Providers and Health Navigators.. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 89 (4), 1375-1384