Richard J. Barohn, MD

Professional Background

Richard Barohn, M.D., is a graduate of the six-year BA/MD program at the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine. He completed his BA degree in 1975 and was awarded his MD degree in 1980. He completed a medicine internship at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas prior to serving as General Medical Officer for the USAF. He completed a neurology residency at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center and a neuromuscular fellowship with Dr. Jerry Mendel at Ohio State University. He served on the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas from 1989 to 1993.

Dr. Barohn then joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 1993. There he was the Co-Director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, myasthenia gravis, and the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis clinics and peripheral neuropathy clinics. In 1998, he became the Lois C.A. and Darwin E. Smith Distinguished Chair in Neurological Mobility Research and the acting chairman of the department. In January 2001, he became the Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. In 2007, he received an endowed chair, and was named as the Gertrude and Dewey Ziegler Professor of Neurology. In 2013, KU named him as a University Distinguished Professor, in recognition of his scholarly work.

Dr. Barohn is board certified in adult neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with added qualifications in clinical neurophysiology and neuromuscular medicine. He is also certified by the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine.
Dr. Barohn holds membership in many professional societies, including the American Academy of Neurology (fellow status), American Neurological Association, and the Association of University Professors of Neurology. He has been listed in The Best Doctors in America, national and central regions.

Dr. Barohn is on the national medical advisory boards for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation and the Guillain-Barre Syndrome Foundation International and The Myositis Association. He was the recipient of the 2000 Alumni Achievement Award for Medicine from the University of Missouri - Kansas City and the University of Kansas Chancellor's Club Research Award in 2012.

• BA, Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City
• MD, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO
• Internship, Internal Medicine, Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, San Antonio, TX
• Residency, Neurology, Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, San Antonio, TX
• Clinical Fellowship, Neuromuscular Disease, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

• Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
• State Medical License, Kansas State Board of Healing Arts
• State Medical License, Missouri State Board of Healing Arts

• Association of American Physicians, Member, 2018 - Present
• ALS Research Group (ALSRG), Member, 2003 - Present
• Northeastern ALS (NEALS) Study Group, Member, 2003 - Present
• Muscle Study Group, Member, 1998 - Present
• American Neurological Association, Member, 1994 - Present
• Association of University Professors of Neurology, Member, 1994 - 2017
• American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, Member, 1988 - Present

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Research

Overview

Dr. Barohn's present research focuses on myopathies (such as polymyositis and muscular dystrophy), motor neuron diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), peripheral neuropathies, and myasthenia gravis.

He is the author of more than 200 journal publications and more than 50 book chapters on various aspects of neuromuscular disease. He has served on the editorial board for Neurology and is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Neuromuscular Disorders. Dr. Barohn was the founding chair of the Section of Neuromuscular Disease in the American Academy of Neurology.