KUMC Highlight
KU Neurologist invested with new professorship
Dec 30, 2005
 |
| Rajesh Pahwa, MD, an internationally recognized researcher in Parkinson's disease and movement disorders, was named the first recipient of the Laverne and Joyce Rider Professorship at a ceremony March 2. His daughter, Esha, 8, and son, Vinay, 5, were among the guests who offered congratulations to Dr. Pahwa during a reception in the School of Nursing atrium. |
Rajesh Pahwa, M.D., KU professor of neurology and director of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Center, was named the inaugural recipient of the Laverne and Joyce Rider Professorship. Pahwa was honored with the professorship at a ceremony held today at the School of Nursing.
"For the nearly 2 million Americans afflicted with essential tremor or Parkinson’s disease, hope lies with outstanding researchers and physicians such as Dr. Pahwa," said Barbara Atkinson, executive vice chancellor of the KU Medical Center and executive dean of the KU School of Medicine. "Dr. Pahwa has a reputation for elevating the standards of teaching, scholarship and research in Parkinson's disease, and it's that kind of dedication that will help us provide the best treatments possible and may lead to new discoveries in this field."
Pahwa said the honor of the professorship inspired him in his pursuit of a cure for Parkinson's disease.
"Parkinson's disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease," Pahwa said. "It is my goal during my tenure as the Laverne and Joyce Rider Professor to find the cause and the cure for Parkinson’s disease."
Pahwa has helped expand the treatments available for people with Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, said Richard Barohn, professor of neurology and chair of the department.
"We're proud to have Dr. Pahwa in the Department of Neurology," Barohn said. "Awarding him the professorship acknowledges the strides he's made in Parkinson's disease. He has advanced clinical research for the field while serving as the physician for thousands of patients."
For some of those patients, a treatment Pahwa helped pioneer known as deep brain stimulation has provided the best solution to control the effects of the disease. For the procedure, an electrode is implanted in a patient's brain and connected under the skin to a battery device in the chest. The patient is awake during brain surgery and can even help the surgeon determine the best place to target in the brain. Because the stimulation helps to control tremor, stiffness, slowness and other uncontrollable movements, the patient can gain a greater quality of life, Barohn said.
"It's a miraculous treatment that has changed people's lives," he said.
Pahwa earned a degree in medicine at Seth G. S. Medical College, University of Bombay, India. He completed an internship in medicine and a residency in neurology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. After completing a fellowship in movement disorders at KU in 1992, he joined the faculty of the Department of Neurology.
The Rider Professorship is named for the late Joyce Rider, a longtime Kansas City, Mo., resident, and for her mother, Laverne Stapp Rider, who battled Parkinson's disease for many years.
Joyce Rider, who died in 2004, bequeathed financial support for the professorship to the Kansas University Endowment Association. Prior to her death, the former Kansas City Country Club Plaza hotel office manager said her experiences helping her mother and knowing others with the disease inspired her to create the professorship.
Bahron said that Rider had been unaware of the strides KU had made in the treatments for the disease when she spoke with department officials about creating the professorship.
"When Joyce Rider wanted to give part of her estate to support Parkinson's research, she couldn't have come to better place," Barohn said. "We're very grateful for her commitment."
Rider's gift counted toward the goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the third and largest fund-raising campaign for the University of Kansas. KU Endowment conducted KU First on behalf of KU from 1998 until 2004 and raised more than $653 million for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support. KU Endowment serves as the independent, non-profit fund-raising and fund-management organization for KU.
Email this article | View All Highlight Stories
