David Charles (physician)

P. David Charles, M.D., is Associate Professor and Vice-Chairman of Neurology for Education and Development and is Assistant Dean for Admissions at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is the Director of the Neurology Residency Program and serves as an attending physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. His research interests include the treatment of spasticity and cervical dystonia and he is currently leading the only clinical trial approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to test deep brain stimulation in people with early stage Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Charles graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering in 1986 with a B.S. cum laude in Computer Science and Mathematics, and earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1990. He did his internship in the department of Medicine and his residency in the department of Neurology at Vanderbilt. From 1993-94 he was Chief Resident in Neurology, and from 1994-95 he was a Fellow in Movement Disorders and Clinical Neurophysiology at Vanderbilt.

Dr. Charles joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 1995 as an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Director of the Movement Disorders Clinic. In 1996 Dr. Charles completed a Health Care Management course at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and in 1997 he completed the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Physician Educators at Harvard Medical School.