Deep Brain Stimulation and Parkinson's Disease
PWR! Wellness Series
Speaker: Paul Larson, MD, FAANS
September 21, 2022
4:30 - 6:00PM (AZ time)
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment where small wires are placed in the brain to reduce motor symptoms such as tremor, slowness, and stiffness. DBS is currently the gold standard surgical treatment for PD, but it is not for everyone. Join us to learn more about DBS from Dr. Paul Larson, who specializes in functional neurosurgery, specifically DBS for a variety of neurological disorders.
Paul Larson, MD, FAANS
Dr. Paul Larson is Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Arizona and Chief of Neurosurgery at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System. He specializes in functional neurosurgery, specifically deep brain stimulation for a variety of neurological disorders. Dr. Larson completed medical school at the University of Arizona in 1995, and did his residency training at the University of Louisville. He was a professor in neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco from 2001 to 2021.
Dr. Larson is a pioneer in the field of interventional MRI-guided stereotaxy for DBS, laser ablation and drug delivery, and has performed well over 1,000 iMRI procedures. His clinical research team has been the solo or lead group in 10 gene therapy clinical research trials since 2004, and has the world’s largest experience in intracranial delivery of novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Larson also has a significant interest in the neurobiology of tinnitus. His NIH-funded research in this area has led to the discovery of a new brain region involved in auditory perception.
Dr. Larson's areas of research interest include: deep brain stimulation (DBS), gene therapy, cell transplantation, interventional MRI-guided surgery, movement disorders (Parkinson's disease, essential tremor), auditory disorders (tinnitus), psychiatric disorders (obsessive compulsive disorder, Tourette's syndrome, major depressive disorder), Huntington's disease, basal ganglia physiology, high field MRI imaging, device development.