Charles Adler received his bachelor's degree at Temple University (BA, Biology) and earned a master's degree and PhD in pharmacology, as well as his medical degree, from the New York University School of Medicine. He served his medical internship at New York University/Manhattan VA in New York and a neurology residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and is board certified. Dr. Adler then completed a fellowship in movement disorders in the Department of Neurology at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia. He joined the staff at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona where he is also a Consultant in the Department of Neurology.

Dr. Adler has received numerous grants to investigate experimental treatments for Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia, and restless legs syndrome from the National Institutes of Health, National Parkinson's Foundation, pharmaceutical companies, and Mayo Foundation for Medical Research. He has served as the Vice-Chair of Research (Head of Human Subjects Research) at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, has served on the editorial board of the journal Movement Disorders, executive committee of the American Academy of Neurology Section of Movement Disorders, multiple committees of the Parkinson Study Group, and was a member of the medical advisory board of the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation.

He has a commitment to education training residents, 13 fellows and graduate students, has given many invited lectures and has developed multiple educational programs for the American Academy of Neurology, Movement Disorders Society, Mayo Clinic, and independent CME organizations. He recently served on the Medical Advisory Board of the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation and the editorial board of the journal Movement Disorders, and is a reviewer for other professional journals and organizations.

His main research interests are investigating which clinical tests may allow for an early diagnosis of these disorders and identification of new treatments for PD an PD with dementia. He has published over 200 research papers and reviews, and edited a book entitle Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines for the Practicing Physician. In addition to the studies of biomarkers in PD and dementia in PD, Dr. Adler is currently funded to study movement abnormalities in patients with PD, treatment trials for both Parkinson's disease and restless legs syndrome, and he is investigating the yips: a possible focal task-specific dystonia of golfers.