He is the Division Head of Sleep Medicine in the Department of Neurology and the Program Director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center. He is the Medical Director of the Fairview Sleep Center in Edina Minnesota and a Fellow of both the American Academy of Neurology and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Dr. Howell’s research and discovery work is focused upon the relationship between REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Parkinson’s disease and other disorders of alpha-synuclein pathology. The ultimate goal of these investigations is to help develop disease-modifying therapies that impede, halt or ultimately reverse Parkinson’s disease. REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and Neurodegenerative Disease