About Me:

Dr. Baird grew up in Iowa and first became interested in caring for patients with Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders when she worked as a nurse’s assistant in a nursing home. She studied French and Neuroscience at Grinnell College, and received her medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School. She and her husband moved to Portland for her neurology residency at OHSU and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. She completed a fellowship in Movement Disorders at Oregon Health and Science University, where her research focused on identifying more sensitive biomarkers of early Parkinson's disease progression in order to design better clinical trials. She is especially interested in how neuroinflammation may contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease and how the immune system might be harnessed to protect and repair the brain. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, baking, yoga, and spending time with her husband and daughter.