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Nick Galifianakis

MD MPH

Neurologist

Dr. Nicholas Galifianakis is a neurologist who specializes in taking a comprehensive approach to treating Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia and other movement disorders. His tools include deep brain stimulation, botulinum toxin injections and medication.

Galifianakis' research interests include outcomes in deep brain stimulation for patients with Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, such as with the use of new interventional MRI techniques. He also is interested in defining types of essential tremor and developing more complete models of care for advanced Parkinson's disease.

Galifianakis earned his medical degree and completed a neurology residency at the University of Southern California, where he served as chief resident. He completed a movement disorders fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and UCSF.

Galifianakis also sees patients at the Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center in San Francisco, a Veterans Affairs center of excellence. He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

  • Education

    University of Southern California (USC), 2003

  • Residencies

    USC Medical Center, Neurology, 2007

  • Fellowships

    University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Neurology, 2008

  • Board Certifications

    Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

  • Academic Title

    Professor

Where I see patients (1)

    My reviews

    4.9

    Overall Experience
    435 Ratings
    About our process
    Jun 13, 2024
    All very well
    Jun 06, 2024
    The providers and assistant were extremely attentive, professional l, but especially compassionate.
    Jun 05, 2024
    Dr. G is a fabulous doctor! He is intelligent, up-to-date, caring and clearly loves his area of practice. He has a lovely manner and is articulate in explaining a serious diagnosis. He does not try to "dumb down" any of the circumstances involving my diagnosis and is clearly on top of his field.
    Jun 05, 2024
    Dr G is the best!! Wonderful doctor and human being!!!
    Jun 03, 2024
    Treat whole family well is so helpful encouraging and knowledgeable.
    May 24, 2024
    Dr. Galifianakis and his impressive staff are always professional and caring
    May 24, 2024
    I was very happy with our visit. I had numerous questions and all were answered.
    May 22, 2024
    Dr. Is outstanding. I've recommended Dr. G to 4-5 people.
    May 09, 2024
    Dr G is a kind caring knowledgeable passion person and doctor. We are grateful to have his guidance
    May 05, 2024
    I can't say enough good things about Dr. Galifianakis. I have Hemifacial Spasm and have had it for over 7 years. Dr. Galifianakis worked to find the right balance of botox to restore my face to "normal". I will always be grateful.
    May 02, 2024
    Dr. G is excellent. He has high standards of care and a wonderful bedside manner!
    May 02, 2024
    Dr and fellow were exceptional in every way. Thorough, smart, professional.
    May 01, 2024
    He was knowledgeable and his ability to explain everything is to be commended
    Apr 27, 2024
    I was happy to meet such an excellent doctor
    Apr 04, 2024
    Dr Galifianakis always provides excellent care. He carefully listens and thoughtfully responds to my questions and concerns
    Mar 20, 2024
    Excellence, for sure.
    Mar 07, 2024
    Great experience with both doctors I saw!
    Mar 06, 2024
    Best doctor! So kind. Makes me feel at ease.
    Mar 06, 2024
    Dr. Galifianakis is always courteous and professional. I highly recommend him to others.
    Dec 29, 2023
    Excellent as usual:)!
    Dec 15, 2023
    The Dr informed me they had another pt with my diagnosis and dystonia. The Dr and his fellow were so informative and helpful and helped us meet with the surgeon.
    Dec 09, 2023
    Dr. Galifianakis is always very professional and courteous. I feel honored to be treated by him.
    Dec 07, 2023
    Superb clinicians
    Dec 07, 2023
    Outstanding!
    Nov 12, 2023
    Dr. Galifianakis has been treating me for some time now for Hemifacial Spasm. The treatment is not straightforward and I appreciate his thought and guidance. He is also open to hearing my thoughts on how this is progressing and what works well to control it. I feel very lucky to be in his care.
    Nov 09, 2023
    Patient, easy to talk to, good listener when given updates on my sister's status, asked about my well being caring for my sister. Overall, compassionate, understanding, & thoughtful.
    Nov 02, 2023
    Excellent experience
    Oct 19, 2023
    Excellent visit . Dr G was wonderful. He listened and explained extensively about the procedure.
    Oct 07, 2023
    Dr. Galifianakis is an incredible physician. He is knowledgeable, caring, flexible, attentive, and kind. But his best quality may easily be that he is so approachable and down to earth.
    Oct 05, 2023
    Thank you Dr Galifianakis!
    Sep 23, 2023
    Good
    Sep 21, 2023
    I felt that I was heard and understood during my session. The level of professionalism and empathy was excellent.
    Aug 23, 2023
    Your doctors cared about my concerns and listen to everything I had to say they were awesome
    Aug 20, 2023
    I am very pleased with the care, recommendations and suggestions of Dr. G. I would give him an excellent rating.
    Aug 13, 2023
    Care provider was exceptional in many ways.
    Aug 12, 2023
    The doctor seemed rushed.
    Aug 12, 2023
    Dr was very thorough and very informative,Concerned about my condition and answered all my questions
    Jul 01, 2023
    I have reffered my friends to UCSF
    Jun 29, 2023
    Care team did an excellent job of evaluating my condition and assessing my problem
    Jun 27, 2023
    The provider was excellent no complaints
    Jun 08, 2023
    He was empathetic, kind, sincere, and thorough. Much appreciated as I am also a healthcare professional
    May 28, 2023
    The best!
    May 22, 2023
    Very nice
    May 20, 2023
    My care was handled very well. Dr. G was knowledgeable about my needs and the treatments available. He was on top of follow-up items - Excellent care!!
    May 07, 2023
    Excellent bedside manner friendly reassuring.
    May 05, 2023
    Lucky I have found Dr. G who has a personal experience with PD and could relate to some of my concerns.
    May 04, 2023
    The doctors that check me out very good and did a thorough evaluation and I am very pleased with the progress
    May 02, 2023
    Dr. G was great. The only problem was that the referrals he gave me were unavailable.
    Apr 20, 2023
    I've never experienced a Doctor like this. He answered all questions. Helped me to understand my essential tremors.Superb!!!
    Apr 14, 2023
    Problem is availability of the care provider
    Apr 14, 2023
    Dr. Galifinakis provides excellent care and comes across as concerned and compassionate for his patients. Would most definitely recommend him to others and am very pleased to be under his care.
    Apr 13, 2023
    Very professional and cordial.
    Apr 07, 2023
    Dr. G is great!
    Apr 06, 2023
    Doctor listened to all of my questions and gave me Answers.
    Apr 05, 2023
    Dr. Galifianakis is an outstanding doctor. He takes the time to answer all of my questions and fully listens to any concerns I may have regarding treatment. He is kind, caring and compassionate. He is also very knowledgeable and skilled in his area of expertise.
    Apr 05, 2023
    Grateful for the compassionate and professional care from beginning to end of the appointment.
    Mar 31, 2023
    Thank you!
    Mar 31, 2023
    Outstanding visit. Really nice providers.
    Mar 27, 2023
    I was anxious and doctor relaxed me by explaining solutions.
    Mar 19, 2023
    Excellent support and care. Professional and very concerned about care.
    Mar 18, 2023
    In addition to excellent attention to issues and care regarding my primary condition, Dr G engaged in excellent conversation around personal history and experience, making for great communication and personal interaction and relationship. Outstanding experience at all levels.
    Mar 13, 2023
    I greatly appreciated the opportunity to speak with Dr. G. I'm still waiting for a follow up to what we discussed, so at the moment I can only recommend him for a first visit, as he was very kind and informative.
    Mar 02, 2023
    Everything was excellent
    Feb 09, 2023
    I think Dr. G. ThInks I don't have MSA. He thinks my breathing problem Is due to respiratory situation or problem. I think I do have MSA.
    Feb 08, 2023
    Dr. Galifianakis is exceptional in every way.
    Feb 02, 2023
    This was the best dr visit we ever had and I can tell you we've been to a lot of all different kinds. I wish everyone was as good as your team and Dr. G
    Jan 05, 2023
    I was informed that Dr. Galifianakis had to leave to pick up his child at school as soon as I arrived so I immediately felt rushed. I only saw him for a couple of minutes and spent the rest of the time with his fellow. He did not review the information I brought with me. I did not get to ask any questions. Anything he may have said was relayed to me through his fellow after they had a conversation in the hallway and I was not given any opportunity to speak to him directly. I drove several hundred miles to get to this appointment and spent a lot of money on hotels to stay in the area - and it took me years to get sent to a top rate facility like UCSF. I did not at all anticipate being treated dismissively by an institution that I respect greatly, after my husband was treated for GBM there several years ago. I left the appointment feeling defeated and hopeless. I understand that things happen and the emergency that caused him to need to leave was unexpected, but this was in no way the visit that I was told I would have. His fellow also said that if I had more questions for Dr. G that I could email him through MyChart and he would call me by the end of the day. I did so, and haven't heard anything back. He seemed friendly but I had no opportunity to actually discuss anything with him so it's impossible to say I would recommend him to anyone, since our interaction was so brief.
    Jan 04, 2023
    Doctor Galifianakis is simply an extraordinary doctor and human being. Can not ask for more.
    Dec 30, 2022
    I appreciate the professional and compassionate care provided by your impressive staff.
    Dec 13, 2022
    DR. G has always been great and we feel like we can talk to him about things almost like a friend.
    Nov 24, 2022
    Dr.G is open and listens well. We did not go over post-op procedures, since I have some pre-testing to do.
    Nov 19, 2022
    Dr. Galifianakos is an excellent doctor!
    Nov 18, 2022
    The doctor was very engaged with us and gave very good instructions re medications and after visit procedures.
    Nov 13, 2022
    Excellent
    Nov 04, 2022
    I couldn't ask for a better doctor than Dr. G. He accomplishes so much in such a short amount of time. He listens well and I know he has my best interest at heart. Dr. G always makes me see a clearer picture of what's going on with my health. I feel honored to be his patient.
    Nov 01, 2022
    Dr. Galifianakis is the best!
    Oct 29, 2022
    Very good doctor and nurse
    Oct 28, 2022
    Dr Nicolas is very patient and curing.

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