Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Umar Akbar

Biography

Dr. Akbar is currently a senior (second year) fellow in movement disorders at University of Florida, where he was awarded the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation fellowship grant to study diffusion tensor imaging in dystonia patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS).  Dr. Akbar dedicated the first year of his fellowship to learning phenomenology, diagnosis, and management of common and rare movement disorders, as well as the concepts of botulinum toxin injections, DBS patient selection, intra-operative targeting and micro-electrode recording, and post-op DBS programming.  His current focus includes mastery of DBS programming and troubleshooting for neurological as well as psychiatric conditions. Following his undergraduate education in business management at Rutgers University, Dr. Akbar attended medical school in Nevis and subsequently completed neurology residency training at University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ/Cooper University Hospital).  Curiosity of research during his residency lead to the publication of several peer-reviewed papers.   Dr. Akbar remains self-motivated and feels committed to a career in academic neurology.   Besides patient care, research and teaching residents/students, Dr. Akbar enjoys spending time with his family in the Sunshine State and is a proud member of the championship-winning kickball team, D.B.S. (Direct Ball Strikers).

Research Interest

Intervertebral disc tissue; Nucleus pulpous; Degenerative disc disease; Adult spinal disc stem cells; Adult stem cell biology; Matrix biology; Tissue engineering; Regenerative medicine