Dr. Doris Wang is an Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Her clinical interests focus on treating movement disorders using neuromodulation and ablative procedures, and her research focus is to map the neural architecture of human motor learning using an implanted, bidirectional DBS device and develop targeted, closed-loop therapies to restore motor skill learning in patients with brain diseases and injuries. Some of Dr. Wang’s current research seeks to understand the role of neural oscillations in cortico-striatal interactions during motor skill learning, in both healthy and dysfunctional states. Using chronic bidirectional implants, she has examined patterns in neural oscillations as Parkinson’s Disease patients complete a motor learning task. Recent findings suggest that low-frequency cortico-striatal interactions may be associated with improvements in reaction time during a motor sequence learning task in a PD patient. These oscillations might be a biomarker of sequence learning and serve as a potential target for improving motor learning behavior.
Dr. Wang received her undergraduate degree from Yale University, before completing her M.D, Ph.D., neurosurgery residency, and clinical fellowship in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, all at UCSF.