Michael Strupp studied medicine at the Technical University of Aachen and in Rochester, N.Y. He worked for three years in basic neurophysiological research, mainly doing patch-clamp recordings, before he moved to the Department of Neurology at the German Centre for Vertigo and Balance Disorders at the University of Munich, Germany.
His particular area of interest is the therapy of vestibular, ocular motor and cerebellar disorders. Some of his major achievements are: First, demonstration of the effectiveness of vestibular exercises in acute vestibular neuritis in a controlled clinical trial. Second, benefit of steroids in acute vestibular neuritis, a placebo-controlled four arm trial published in the NEJM. Third, introduction of three new therapeutic principles: aminopyridines, as potassium channel blockers, for the treatment of downbeat, upbeat and central positioning nystagmus as well as episodic ataxia type 2, chlorzoxazone for the therapy of downbeat nystagmus and more recently acetyl-DL-leucine for the treatment of ataxias. Fourth, development of new light and practical examination glasses for nystagmus: the āM glassesā. Currently he is principal investigator of six ongoing clinical trials. He is very much engaged in the āInternational Classification of Vestibular Disordersā, leading two of the groups.
He has authored more than 340 pubmed listed publications and four books on vertigo, dizziness and ocular motor disorders. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Frontiers in Neuro-otology, Joint Chief Editor of the Journal of Neurology and a Member of the Editorial Board of Neurology. He has received many clinical and scientific awards, is a very passionate teacher, was awarded the āBest Teacherā by the German Neurological Society and received the Dix-Hallpike-Nýlen award 2016.