Rajesh Pahwa, M.D.

Rajesh Pahwa, M.D., is the Laverne and Joyce Rider Professor of Neurology, Chief of the Parkinson's and Movement Disorder Division and Director of Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence at the University of Kansas Medical Center. 

Dr. Pahwa received his M.B.B.S. (M.D.) degree at Seth G.S. Medical College, University of Bombay, India. He completed an internship in medicine at Baylor College of Medicine followed by a residency in Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He then completed a one-year fellowship in movement disorders at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Pahwa joined the faculty of the Department of Neurology as an Instructor in 1992 and is currently a Professor of Neurology. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

In 2005, Dr. Pahwa was named the inaugural recipient of the Laverne and Joyce Rider Professorship. This 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 University of Kansas Endowment Association.

Dr. Pahwa's research interests are centered around the various aspects of Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. He is currently involved in studies related to medical and surgical forms of therapies for Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. Dr. Pahwa has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles, chapters and abstracts in leading neurology and movement disorder journals. He has conducted more than 75 clinical trials related to Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. He is the co-editor of "Handbook of Parkinson's Disease," 3rd and 4th editions; "Therapy of Parkinson's Disease," 3rd edition; and "Handbook of Essential Tremor and other Tremor Disorders." He is co-author of the book "Parkinson's Disease: Questions and Answers," 4th edition.

The Movement Disorders Clinic, directed by Dr. Pahwa, offers diagnostic and treatment services for persons with Parkinson's disease and related disorders such as progressive supranuclear palsy and multiple system atrophy as well as tremor disorders, primary essential tremor.