Faculty Directory
Robert E. Gross, MD, PHD

Professor, Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology
MBNA-Bowman Chair in Neurosurgery
Director, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Epilepsy Surgery
Director, Laboratory for Neural Repair
Emory University School of Medicine
EMAIL: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
PHONE: 404-778-5770
Biography
Dr. Gross’s research interests include: restorative approaches (including cell and gene therapy) for Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders; physiology of movement disorders (Parkinson's disease, tremor, dystonia); novel surgical techniques for epilepsy (e.g. deep brain stimulation, cell and gene therapy). In particular, he has been elucidating the role of axon guidance molecules in the development and reconstruction of the nigrostriatal pathway, which degenerates in P.D. This approach, which encompasses molecular and cellular engineering in combination with neurotransplantation, may be generally useful in reconstructive approaches for many types of nervous system degeneration and injury.
In July of 2007, Dr. Gross, along with Steve M. Potter, Ph.D. of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, was the recipient of a prestigious grant from The Epilepsy Research Foundation (ERF) for translational research funding awards supporting innovative epilepsy products. The grant supports the development of a novel electrical stimulation approach that directly controls the activity of the brain to attain a more stable state from which seizures will not arise.