Dr. Kevin Chen is the Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg Emerging Scholar, and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery with joint appointment in Neurology. Dr. Chen completed his Neurosurgical residency at Michigan Medicine, and additionally completed a fellowship in Stereotactic/Functional Neurosurgery at Stanford University. His clinical interests center on treating dysfunctional neural circuits, and using neuromodulation to help symptoms of movement disorders (e.g., Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia, etc.). Similarly, he has interest in neuromodulation using spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of certain chronic pain syndromes (e.g., complex regional pain syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, etc.), or use of intrathecal drug delivery (e.g., spasticity). He also has expertise in the surgical treatments of epilepsy, including vagal nerve stimulators, stereoelectroencephalography, responsive neurostimulators, deep brain stimulation for epilepsy, laser interstitial thermal therapy, and temporal lobectomy. During fellowship training, he also received training in the use of MRI-guided focused ultrasound, an incision-less approach for the treatment of movement disorders.

Stem cells are a particular focus of Dr. Chen's research, specifically induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). These cells are created from tissue that is easily obtainable from adult patient donors, for example skin cells, and can be quickly grown in a culture dish. By genetically reprogramming these cells, they revert back to a “stem cell” state and can then be formed into nerve cells to form new brain connections. Dr. Chen is studying how these connections may impact ALS, Alzheimer's disease, and other dementias. The ability to regulate nerve activity with new nerve connections could eventually also be applied to other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, as well as other conditions, such as epilepsy, stroke, chronic pain, and psychiatric diseases.