Introducing
Dr Nathaniel Lizak
Dr Nathaniel Lizak is a neurologist at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and a PhD Candidate of CORe at The University of Melbourne
Dr Nathaniel Lizak
Graduate Researcher
MBBS(Hons), BMedSc(Hons), FRACP
Neurologist, The Royal Melbourne Hospital
PhD Candidate, CORe, The University of Melbourne
a little bit about me
Nathaniel Lizak is a neurologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and a PhD candidate in the Clinical Outcomes Research Unit (CORe), Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital Neuroimmunology Centre, under the supervision of Prof Tomas Kalincik and Dr Izanne Roos. His PhD focuses on real-world treatment outcomes and disability trajectories in multiple sclerosis, with a particular interest in optimising treatment strategies for progressive MS, preventing latent disease progression, defining recovery through confirmed disability improvement, and optimising treatment decisions in difficult circumstances such as high-efficacy treatment failure. He has experience in MS outcomes research, with previous work published in leading journals in the field.
Clinically, he cares for people with MS in a tertiary neuroimmunology service and has previously undertaken a clinical fellowship at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, as well as a clinical MS fellowship at The Royal Melbourne Hospital. His PhD is supported by NHMRC and MS Australia postgraduate scholarships. His overarching goal is to develop evidence-based, personalised treatment strategies that maximise long-term function and quality of life for people living with MS at all stages.
Publications
Daniel Guilfoyle, Kayla Ward, Samuel Klistorner, Nathaniel Lizak, Heidi N Beadnall, Robert Zivadinov, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, Izanne Roos, Helmut Butzkueven, Anneke van der Walt, Katherine Buzzard, Olga Skibina, Mike G Dwyer, Yael Barnett, Elaine Lui, Meng Law, Andy Shieh, Alexander Klistorner, Chenyu Wang, Tomas Kalincik, Michael Barnett
Mult Scler. 2026 Jul 1:13524585261459228. doi: 10.1177/13524585261459228. Online ahead of print.
Managing reactivation of multiple sclerosis during treatment with natalizumab
Nathaniel Lizak, Sifat Sharmin, Dana Horáková, Eva Kubala Havrdova, Sara Eichau, Anneke van der Walt, Helmut Butzkueven, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Katherine Buzzard, Olga Skibina, Oliver Gerlach, Alexandre Prat, Marc Girard, Pierre Duquette, Raed Alroughani, Francesco Patti, Francois Grand'Maison, Maria José Sá, Eduardo Aguera-Morales, Suzanne Hodgkinson, Pierre Grammond, Jens Kuhle, Bassem Yamout, Samia J Khoury, Serkan Ozakbas, Tunde Csepany, Nevin John, Guy Laureys, Murat Terzi, Maria Pia Amato, Cavit Boz, Abdullah Al-Asmi, Elisabetta Cartechini, Riadh Gouider, Saloua Mrabet, Izanne Roos, Tomas Kalincik
Mult Scler. 2026 Jan;32(1):121-133. doi: 10.1177/13524585251398682. Epub 2025 Dec 19.
A case of enterovirus D68-associated acute flaccid myelitis in an immunocompromised adult, Australia
Nathaniel Lizak, Grace Butel-Simoes, Eike Steinig, Belinda Cruse, Edrich Rodrigues, Kirsty Buising, Joe Sasadeusz, Marcelina Krysiak, Bruce Thorley, Matthew Kaye, Leon Caly, Jean Moselen, Ivana Savic, Andrew W Roberts, Katherine Bond, Chuan Kok Lim, Deborah A Williamson, Prashanth Ramachandran
ASM Case Rep. 2025 Aug 21;1(6):e00074-25. doi: 10.1128/asmcr.00074-25. eCollection 2025 Nov.
Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy-Related Inflammation in Iatrogenic Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy
Larysa Panteleienko, Dermot Mallon, Cho Me Me Htet, Nathaniel Lizak, Michael Zandi, Gargi Banerjee, David J Werring
Eur J Neurol. 2025 May;32(5):e70198. doi: 10.1111/ene.70198.
Cryptogenic organising pneumonia in patients treated with ocrelizumab
Nathaniel Lizak, Wallace Brownlee
Mult Scler. 2025 May;31(6):744. doi: 10.1177/13524585241284040. Epub 2024 Nov 21.
Association of Sustained Immunotherapy With Disability Outcomes in Patients With Active Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
Nathaniel Lizak, Charles B Malpas, Sifat Sharmin, Eva Kubala Havrdova, Dana Horakova, Guillermo Izquierdo, Sara Eichau, Alessandra Lugaresi, Pierre Duquette, Marc Girard, Alexandre Prat, Catherine Larochelle, Maria Trojano, Francois Grand'Maison, Pierre Grammond, Patrizia Sola, Diana Ferraro, Raymond Hupperts, Roberto Bergamaschi, Cavit Boz, Vincent Van Pesch, Daniele Spitaleri, Murat Terzi, Tomas Kalincik, MSBase Study Group
JAMA Neurol. 2020 Nov 1;77(11):1398-1407. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.2453.
Real-world effectiveness of cladribine for Australian patients with multiple sclerosis: An MSBase registry substudy
Nathaniel Lizak, Suzanne Hodgkinson, Ernest Butler, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Mark Slee, Pamela Ann McCombe, Cameron Shaw, Olga Skibina, Steve Vucic, Neil Shuey, Michael H Barnett, John Parratt, Helmut Butzkueven, Dominic Jack, Jessica Fabris, Tomas Kalincik
Mult Scler. 2021 Mar;27(3):465-474. doi: 10.1177/1352458520921087. Epub 2020 Jun 12.
Retinal ganglion cell loss in neuromyelitis optica: a longitudinal study
Frederike C Oertel, Joachim Havla, Adriana Roca-Fernández, Nathaniel Lizak, Hanna Zimmermann, Seyedamirhosein Motamedi, Nadja Borisow, Owen B White, Judith Bellmann-Strobl, Philipp Albrecht, Klemens Ruprecht, Sven Jarius, Jacqueline Palace, Maria Isabel Leite, Tania Kuempfel, Friedemann Paul, Alexander U Brandt
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2018 Dec;89(12):1259-1265. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2018-318382. Epub 2018 Jun 19.
Impairment of Smooth Pursuit as a Marker of Early Multiple Sclerosis
Nathaniel Lizak, Meaghan Clough, Lynette Millist, Tomas Kalincik, Owen B White, Joanne Fielding
Front Neurol. 2016 Nov 21;7:206. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2016.00206. eCollection 2016.
Highly active immunomodulatory therapy ameliorates accumulation of disability in moderately advanced and advanced multiple sclerosis
Nathaniel Lizak, Alessandra Lugaresi, Raed Alroughani, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Mark Slee, Eva Havrdova, Dana Horakova, Maria Trojano, Guillermo Izquierdo, Pierre Duquette, Marc Girard, Alexandre Prat, Pierre Grammond, Raymond Hupperts, Francois Grand'Maison, Patrizia Sola, Eugenio Pucci, Roberto Bergamaschi, Celia Oreja-Guevara, Vincent Van Pesch, Cristina Ramo, Daniele Spitaleri, Gerardo Iuliano, Cavit Boz, Franco Granella, Javier Olascoaga, Freek Verheul, Csilla Rozsa, Edgardo Cristiano, Shlomo Flechter, Suzanne Hodgkinson, Maria Pia Amato, Norma Deri, Vilija Jokubaitis, Tim Spelman, Helmut Butzkueven, Tomas Kalincik, MSBase Study Group
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2017 Mar;88(3):196-203. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2016-313976. Epub 2016 Sep 28.
Ocular motor signatures of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis
Joanne Fielding, Meaghan Clough, Shin Beh, Lynette Millist, Derek Sears, Ashley N Frohman, Nathaniel Lizak, Jayne Lim, Scott Kolbe, Robert L Rennaker, Teresa C Frohman, Owen B White, Elliot M Frohman
Nat Rev Neurol. 2015 Nov;11(11):637-45. doi: 10.1038/nrneurol.2015.174. Epub 2015 Sep 15.
Ocular motor measures of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis I: inhibitory control
Meaghan Clough, Lynette Millist, Nathaniel Lizak, Shin Beh, Teresa C Frohman, Elliot M Frohman, Owen B White, Joanne Fielding
J Neurol. 2015 May;262(5):1130-7. doi: 10.1007/s00415-015-7645-3. Epub 2015 Apr 9.
Ocular motor measures of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis II: working memory
Meaghan Clough, Laura Mitchell, Lynette Millist, Nathaniel Lizak, Shin Beh, Teresa C Frohman, Elliot M Frohman, Owen B White, Joanne Fielding
J Neurol. 2015 May;262(5):1138-47. doi: 10.1007/s00415-015-7644-4. Epub 2015 Apr 9.