Parkinson's Disease Care Team | Neurology | UC Davis Health

Medical Director, DBS Program
Co-Director Center of Excellence

Lin Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. is a clinical professor of Neurology at UC Davis.  His primary clinical and research interests are in Parkinson's disease (PD), tremor, ataxia, and other movement disorders. As the medical director of the DBS program at UC Davis, he is particularly interested in the clinical applications of DBS. Under his direction the DBS program of UCDavis has become a referral center that offers implantation surgery weekly and clinical programming visits daily, serving the greater Sacramento area and northern California.

Co-Director Center of Excellence

Norika Malhado-Chang, M.D. is an associate clinical professor of Neurology at UC Davis. She has specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as Parkinson's disease, focal and generalized dystonia, tremor, Restless Legs Syndrome, and Parkinson's Plus Syndromes such as multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy.  

Program Director, DBS Program
Coordinator - Center of Excellence

Laura Sperry has been in clinical practice as an adult nurse practitioner since 2004. She started her career working with the U.C. Davis Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Urogynecology.  In 2012, she joined the U.C. Davis Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) program.  Laura assists patients and families throughout the surgical process, conducting the pre-surgical “On” and “Off” testing and programming the stimulators after the DBS device is implanted. In addition, she is one of the facilitators for the post-DBS Parkinson support group, Staying Healthy with Deep Brain Stimulation.

Sasha Duffy, D.O. is an assistant clinical professor of Neurology at UC Davis. As a fellowship-trained neurologist specializing in Movement Disorders, she has expertise in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, including deep brain stimulation, and she is experienced in the management of Dystonia, including neurotoxin injection treatment. She also has specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of essential tremor, Parkinson's Plus Syndromes, Ataxias, and Restless Leg Syndrome.

Jonathan Snider, M.D. is a Movement Disorders specialist in the Department of Neurology. He specializes in the diagnosis and management of all types of adult movement disorders, including (but not limited to) Parkinson's Disease and its mimics, tremors, gait instability, Dystonia, Chorea, Ataxia, and Functional Movement Disorders. He also has expertise in the use of botulinum toxin and Deep Brain Stimulation for the treatment of these conditions.