Department of Neurology

Mark B. Bromberg, MD, PhD

Professor of Neurology

Education:

  • Undergraduate: St. John’s College, Annapolis MD; BA (1966)

  • Graduate school: University of Vermont, Burlington, VT; PhD in Neurophysiology (1973)

  • Medical school: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; MD (1982)

  • Internship: St Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI; MD (1983)

  • Neurology residency: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; MD (1986)

  • Neuromuscular fellowship: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; MD (1987)

Dr Mark BrombergDr Mark Bromberg is a Professor of Neurology at the University of Utah.  He received a doctoral degree in Neurophysiology from the University of Vermont and completed a fellowship at the University of Washington focusing on sensory and motor integration.  He became an Assistant Professor at Columbia University, New York and later at the University of Michigan focusing on basic sensory and motor research.  He received his medical degree and his neurology residency training from the University of Michigan.  He then merged his basic research interests with neurology by completing a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology at the University of Michigan.  He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan before moving to the University of Utah in 1994.


His clinical interests are in neuromuscular disorders and electrodiagnosis (EMG).  Within neuromuscular disorders his focus is on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), peripheral neuropathies, and myasthenia gravis.  He has co-edited a book on peripheral neuropathies.  He directs the Motor Neuron Disease/ALS clinic and the Muscular Dystrophy Association clinic at the University of Utah.  Within electrodiagnosis his focus is on advanced EMG techniques as they can be applied to improving diagnostic certainty. 


His research interests are on the clinical care of ALS patients and developing new electrodiagnostic techniques.  The Motor Neuron Disease/ALS at the University of Utah is designated by the Muscular Dystrophy Association as a specialty care clinic.  The clinic participates in clinical drug trials for ALS.  He is active in research on issues related to quality of life for ALS patients and caregivers and is co-editor of a book that will be published soon on quality of life in neurodegenerative diseases.  He has been invited to lecture on ALS at national and international ALS conferences.


Dr Bromberg has worked to develop and advance several EMG techniques.  One is motor unit number estimation (MUNE) that is an electrodiagnostic technique that provides unique information that is helpful in the diagnosis and tracking of changes in ALS.  Another is quantitative EMG (QEMG) that takes advantages of computer processing to refine EMG signals.  He has published numerous articles in the field and organized and hosted two international symposia on MUNE and QEMG with publication of the proceedings.


Dr Bromberg has published over 100 articles and 28 book chapter, and has edited or co-edited 4 books.  He is on he editorial board of Muscle & Nerve, Journal of Clinical Neuromuscular Diseases, and Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology, and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for 12 other journals.


He is very active in teaching and mentorship.  He has received departmental teaching awards from the University of Michigan and the University of Utah.  He has put together a web site (eneuroinfo.com) that includes a primer of common neuromuscular diseases and is writing a primer of EMG for residents and fellows.  He is director of the Clinical Neuromuscular Fellowship Program that has trained over 20 fellows.  He has been a mentor to graduate students, medical students, residents, fellows and faculty, and is the chair of the department’s mentorship committee and retention and promotion committee.


His outside activities include cycling and hiking in the summer time, skiing and snowshoeing in the winter time, and travel at any time. 


Selected publications

  • Bromberg MB: Comparison of electrodiagnostic criteria for primary demyelination in chronic polyneuropathy. Muscle & Nerve 14:968-976, 1991.
  • Bromberg MB: Motor unit estimation: reproducibility of the spike-triggered averaging technique in normal and ALS subjects. Muscle & Nerve 16:466-471, 1993.
  • Bromberg MB, Wald JJ, Forshew DA, Feldman EL, Albers JW: Randomized trial of azathioprine or prednisone for initial treatment of myasthenia gravis. J Neurol Sci. 150:59-62, 1997.
  • Bromberg MB, Swoboda KJ: Motor unit number estimation in infants and children with spinal muscular atrophy. Muscle & Nerve. 25:445-447, 2002.
  • Bromberg MB, Forshew DA: Comparison of instruments addressing quality of life in patients with ALS and their caregivers. Neurology. 58:320-322, 2002.
  • Brownell AA, Ni O, Bromberg MB. Comparison of three algorithms for multi-motor unit detection and waveform marking.  Muscle Nerve 33: 538-545, 2006.

Edited Books

  • Bromberg MB (Ed). Motor Unit Number Estimation (MUNE). Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2003.
  • Bromberg MB, Smith AG (Eds).  Handbook of Peripheral Neuropathy.  Taylor and Francis, 2005.
  • Bromberg MG (Ed). Motor Unit Number Estimation and Quantitative EMG.  Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2009 (pending).