Francisco Ponce, M.D., Director of the Barrow Center for Neuromodulation, recently spoke to the ARCS Foundation Phoenix Chapter.  Dr. Ponce is working on deep brain stimulation for treatment of Parkinson’s disease.  This type of treatment has been successful using a battery-powered device similar to a pacemaker that operates leads inserted into the portions of the brain where tremors originate.  Location can vary with individual patients.  The treatment is not a cure as tremors return if the battery is turned off.  Similar devices have been used in a small number of Alzheimer’s patients.  In a very few of these patients memory has been restored.  Deep brain stimulation is opening doors for new treatments in Alzheimer’s disease, movement disorders, spinal injuries and more.  

Originally from Sunnyvale, California, Dr. Ponce completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard University, where he majored in physics. He then pursued graduate work in materials science at Oxford University and earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago in 2004.  During his residency, he obtained specialty training in functional neurosurgery at the university of Toronto with Dr. Andres Lozano. He completed a fellowship at Barrow Neurological Institute in 2011.