In addition to seeing patients, physicians at the Center for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders are actively involved research to advance the forefront of knowledge on these challenging diseases. They also teach the next generation of physicians at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Arif Dalvi, MD, Medical Director of the Center for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders and Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology
Dr. Dalvi is a board certified neurologist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease and movement disorders, including tremor disorders, dystonia and Huntington’s disease.He is a member of the Parkinson’s Study Group, an international collaboration of researchers in Parkinson’s disease. His clinical and research focus is in the surgical treatment of Parkinson's disease. He has followed over 100 patients with deep brain stimulators for Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. He is actively involved with patient selection, intraoperative monitoring, postoperative programming, and medical management of these patients.

Dr. Dalvi attended medical school at the University of Poona in India and completed his residency training in neurology at the University of Cincinnati. His fellowship training was at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.

Dr. Dalvi has published articles in peer-reviewed journals on the surgical management of Parkinson’s disease and dystonia, and has been invited to speak at medical centers throughout the country. His clinical practice includes the use of botulinum toxin for blepharospasm, torticollis, dystonia and spasticity. His awards include Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, Doctor of Excellence Award, NetWellness Parkinson’s Expert Award, and the American Academy of Neurology Scholarship. In addition to English he speaks German, Urdu and Hindi.

Un Jung Kang, MD, Director of the Center for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders and Associate Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Physiology

Dr. Kang is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders that manifest abnormal involuntary movements, such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, torsion dystonia, tics, tremor, and others. His clinical practice includes the use of botulinum toxin for various movement disorders. He participates in a national genetic study and therapeutic trials of new medications for Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Kang is also interested in understanding the mechanism of neurodegenerative disorders and exploring new therapeutic modalities for brain repair through laboratory investigation. Further details of his research are noted from this link.

Dr. Kang received his MD degree from Johns Hopkins University and trained for both neurology residency and fellowship in Parkinson's disease and movement disorders at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York. Dr. Kang is board certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is a fellow of American Academy of Neurology, a member of American Neurological Association and Movement Disorder Society. His awards include Parkinson's Disease Foundation & United Parkinson Foundation Joint Junior Faculty Award and National Parkinson Foundation Richard E. Heikkila Research Scholar Award. He has served on review panels for National Institute of Health, Veterans Administration and on the Scientific Advisory Board for Dystonia Medical Research Foundation.

View a PDF of "New Treatment Options in Parkinson's Disease" an article by Dr. Kang that appeared in Clinical Comment, the Hospitals' newsletter for physicians.

Richard Penn, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery

Dr. Penn has practiced neurosurgery in Chicago for 28 years. He is well known for his research and clinical work in drug delivery to the nervous system and for surgical treatments for movement disorders. He pioneered the use of implanted drug pumps to deliver medications directly to the spinal cord, implanting the first programmable pump for cancer pain and developing a new highly successful medicine for spasticity.

He also has contributed to the treatment of movement disorders with early studies on neuro-transplantation for Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. He was one of the first in the United States to use deep brain stimulation for tremor and has extensive experience with stimulation of other brain sites to relieve bradykinesia and dystonia.

Dr. Penn will be continuing his experimental and clinical work in these neuro-restorative areas at the University of Chicago, as well as caring for patients with other neurosurgical problems.

View a PDF of "New Treatments for Parkinson's Disease" an article written by Dr. Penn for Clinical Comment, the Hospitals' newsletter for physicians.