Robert J. Plunkett, MD
Surgical Director, Comprehensive Movement Disorders Center
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
University at Buffalo Neurosurgery
State University of New York at Buffalo
Dr. Plunkett, a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine, completed his residency training in neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University Hospital. Prior to coming to the University at Buffalo, Dr. Plunkett spent four years as a senior staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health where he studied tissue implantation as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. Since coming to Buffalo, he established stereotactic surgery at Kaleida Health's Buffalo General Hospital, and helped form the Comprehensive Movement Disorders Center at the same hospital.
Dr. Plunkett performs surgical procedures to implant Intrathecal Baclofen pumps to treat spasticity and to implant deep brain stimulators to treat Parkinson's disease. His laboratory efforts involve the implantation of genetically modified cells as potential therapy for Parkinson's disease.
I was fortunate to have found my calling during my Fellowship at the NIH, while conducting a research project involving Parkinson's and observing the dramatic results of treatment. To this day, the most rewarding part of my work is seeing the remarkable change in patients' quality of life over the course of their treatment here at the Center. As our research and treatments advance with time and effort, I think we will be able to manage movement disorders more effectively, perhaps halting the progression of and even curing the disease surgically.
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