Professor of Neurology
Director, Division of Neuropsychology
Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Center
Faculty Profile
Professional Background: J.D., University of Chicago Law School, 1981; Ph.D., Northwestern University Medical School, 1990
Email: dmarson@uab.eduOffice: SC 650K, 1720 7th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35294-0017
Personal Info:Dr. Marson, Professor of Neurology, Director of the Division of Neuropsychology, and Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Center is in charge of all departmental clinical inpatient and outpatient neuropsychological services, and all drug study and research-related neuropsychological services. He received a law degree (J.D.) in 1981 from the University of Chicago Law School, Chicago, Illinois, and a Ph.D. in 1990 in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, with geropsychology specialization (Older Adult Program).
Professionally, Marson focuses on geriatric neuropsychology, primarily treating and studying patients with dementias such as Alzheimer's disease. He is studying the effects of Alzheimer's disease on everyday financial abilities and hopes to establish guidelines to determine when individuals with Alzheimer's can no longer manage their personal and family finances.
"Patients with Alzheimer's early on begin to lose the ability to manage their money and make sound financial judgments. In addition to forgetting
to pay bills, they could inadvertently throw away their life savings. Such patients are also extremely vulnerable to financial exploitation by
others," says Marson.
On a more personal note, music has always been a major part of Dr. Marson's life. By day, he's Daniel Marson, J.D., Ph.D., mild-mannered
Professor of Neurology, and at night you can call him Harpdog. And you can hear him as Harpdog Marson now that he has his very own
compact disc of blues, gospel, and jazz harmonica. "The diatonic harmonica brings a unique expressive quality to all these forms of music,"
says Harpdog, who also teaches harmonica at UAB. "The pure sound of the free reed, the vocal quality and flexibility of that sound, and intimate
relationship between the harmonica and the human voice box all contribute to this unique expressiveness. I grew up in Milwaukee and at age 17
first heard Chicago-style blues harmonica," says Harpdog. "I've been chasing that sound ever since."
Specialty / Interests
Capacity to consent to treatment and research in dementia
Financial competency in dementia
Law and ethics in dementia
Neuropsychology of Alzheimer's disease
Forensic neuropsychology
Autism
Curriculum Vitae
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Publications
