Kathleen Poston, MD, MS

Neurologist, Movement disorders specialist


Edward F. and Irene Thiele Pimley Professor of Neurology and the Neurological Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery

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Biography


Dr. Kathleen Poston is Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences and (by courtesy) Neurosurgery at Stanford University Medical Center. She received her Bachelor's of Science in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, her Master's Degree in Biomedical Engineering and her MD at Vanderbilt University. She completed her Neurology residency training at UCSF, where she was Co-Chief Resident. She also completed a fellowship in clinical Movement Disorders under the mentorship of Dr. Stanley Fahn at Columbia University and post-doctoral research training in Functional Neuroimaging with Dr. David Eidelberg at the Feinstein Institute.

Dr. Poston's research focuses on develop imaging and biological biomarkers to advance our understanding of the pathophysiology underlying the cognitive, behavioral, and motor symptoms characteristic of Parkinson’s disease and related movement disorders. Her current studies focus on cognitive and memory problems in people with Parkinson’s disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. She has been awarded grant funding by the NIH and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s disease research. She is Co-Director for the Pacific Udall Center, which is an NINDS funded Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson’s disease Research. She serves on the Executive Steering Committee for the Michael J Fox Foundation sponsored Parkinsons Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI). She is also the Research Education Component (REC) Leader for the Stanford Alzheimer’s disease Center (ADRC), which is funded by the National Institute for Aging and focuses on early cognitive problems in both Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Professional Summary


Education & Certifications
  • Fellowship: Columbia University Medical Center (2008) NY
  • Residency: University of California San Francisco (2006) CA
  • Internship: University of California San Francisco (2003) CA
  • Medical Education: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (2002) TN
  • Board Certification: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Neurology (2007)
  • Post-Doc, Feinstein Institute, Functional Neuroimaging (2009)
  • BSE, University of Pennsylvania, Bioengineering
  • MS, Vanderbilt University, Bioengineering (1998)

Honors & Awards
  • Lysia Forno Award for Teaching Excellence, Stanford University (2009-2010)

Administrative Appointments
  • Chief, Movement Disorders Division (2021 - Present)

Publications

Practice Locations


Stanford Neuroscience Health Center Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto, CA

213 Quarry Road

Palo Alto , CA 94304

(650) 723-6469

Make An Appointment More Clinic Information » Getting Here »

Movement Disorders Center Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto, CA

213 Quarry Road

Palo Alto , CA 94304

(650) 723-6469

Make An Appointment More Clinic Information » Getting Here »

Patient Ratings

(57 Ratings)

Overall Rating
4.9/5

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4.9/5
Friendliness
Friendliness/courtesy of the care provider
4.9/5
Explanations
Explanations the care provider gave you about your problem or condition
4.9/5
Listens
Concern the care provider showed for your questions or worries
4.9/5
Care provider's efforts to include you in decisions about your care
Care provider's efforts to include you in decisions about your treatment
4.9/5
Recommended to others
Likelihood of your recommending this care provider to others
0.0/5
Wait times
Wait time at clinic (from arriving to leaving)

How Our Ratings Work

The Patients Ratings and comments are gathered from our Patient Satisfaction Survey and displayed in their entirety.

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Patient Reviews

(101 reviews)

Dr. Poston's experience comes through in not only her treatments but her thoughtful and detailed communication plus delightful demeanor.
Dr. Poston takes her time, is responsive and fully engaged with her patients,
Thank you for your thorough assessment of Padma's condition.
She was very nice to talk to but
Dr Poston is wonderful and experienced.
Friendly, through, on time, very efficient
Listens and has good suggestions.
I have recommended Dr.Poston to others.
Dr Poston is kind, caring and knowledgeable.
Dr Poston is a caring and comfortable doctor. She always listens to my concerns
Dr. Poston is excellent. She can be my neurologist forever!
Kathleen Poston is an excellent Dr. She is knowledgeable and caring and she listens well. She thinks about how different symptoms may or may not relate to my Parkinson's. I would highly recommend her.
Dr. Poston is wonderful and knowledgeable,
Dr. Poston was informed, helpful, friendly, and efficient.
Great doctor. Very happy to have her on my team!
Excellent doctor
She is a wonderful, knowledgeable, caring doctor. A credit to her profession.
Dr Poston is an excellent Dr.
Dr. Poston is very professional, pleasant, and communicative. We are continually impressed with her.
She’s great. She always makes sure all of my concerns are addressed by asking if I have any questions and summarizes her impressions to me. Her manner is welcoming and she seems genuinely glad to see me.
The medical care and attention I received was excellent, thoughtful, personally attentive, and timely.
Dr Poston always listens and is honest in what is available.
She took the time to cover a very large range of topics!
Kathleen is so knowledgeable about treatment, current research and implications for diagnosis and treatment. She is friendly and efficient!
Dr. Chatree and Dr. Poston are great. They took lots of time with me and answered all our questions.
Dr Poston is very intensive. See listens to my needs and explains why things are happening.
Very personable answered my questions very professional and would highly recommend her to others
I would definitely recommend Dr. Poston to others.
Dr. Poston was friendly and answered all my questions and concerns thoughtfully and courteously.
I wish you could clone Dr. Poston.
Dr. Poston is an excellent provider. 6. I have done this.
Dr. Poston diagnosed my problem years ago after numerous other specialist had failed to do so & had consistently discussed treatment options at our annual visits while honoring my decision to stick with conservative approach.
So happy with the time and care taken to reply to my many questions.
Dr. Poston is the best! Always feel comfortable and look forward to my annual visit.
Cannot say enough good things about Dr. Poston. She is a wonderful doctor.
I have recommended Dr. Poston to friends. She is the best!
A wonderful physician.
Dr. Poston is the best of the best! We are so pleased to be working with her as we care for our son.
Dr. Poston is the only reason we drove 2-3 hrs. to see her.
I have recommended Dr. Poston to others.
Dr. Poston and her staff are the absolute best! Always answers all of my questions w/detail and possible options. Very easy to communicate with. I always look forward to my annual visit!
Dr. Poston is the best of the best!
I HAVE recommended this doctor to others.
Dr. Poston is extremely caring, thorough, and informative.
Don't want to go to anyone else. Dr. Poston's wonderful.
Dr. Poston has always been excellent. Goes way out of her way to follow up. Really cares.
A good experience!!
Dr. Poston is knowledgeable, courteous, & had a great sensitivity & genuine concern for my issues.
#10. I have recommended Dr. Poston to others.
Very good experience. Dr. Poston and her staff are the best!
Dr. Posten treats Steve like he is her only pt. I especially appreciate her compassion this appt. when she explained his cognative decline gently and in a way that he understands.
Dr. Poston is an excellent care giver & a wonderful person.
Dr. Poston - Great communicator.
Dr. Poston is great - Very knowledgeable, personable, & professional who obviously cares for her patients. I observed her providing coaching to a physician under her supervision - well done, respectful.
Dr. Poston might be the very best doctor our son has ever had at Stanford! We have nothing but great things to say about her and her team.
Entire staff was friendly, open, courteous, and caring.
Could not ask for better care.
Dr. Poston is one of the very best drs. we've ever had for our son!
Dr. Poston is always personable, pleasant, & very knowledgeable. GREAT patient teaching.
This doctor is outstanding! This doctor is consistent. She is ALWAYS interested. I have recommended her to others and she is currently seeing him.
Dr. Poston is a very communicative & caring. Any questions we have are very thoughtful & informative - we are lucky to have her as our physician.
Always very good.
I truly appreciate the care Dr. Poston is providing my husband.
Dr. Poston and her residents are always very pleasant and takes extra time to make sure my husband and I understand my concerns, and care plan.
Honesty, the best physician my husband and I have ever had.
Seemed to remember prior appointment even though a year apart.
Dr. Posten does not talk down to patients. She looks them in the eye and uses words patients can understand.
Dr. Poston has always been excellent. One can tell she really cares about her patients.
My husband has been seeing Dr Kathleen Posten since 2009. She is great.
Very good.
LOVE Dr. Poston! She is unhurried (although I know she's very busy), attentive, & always answers any questions fully, offering solid information.
Dr. Poston is beyond excellent in his knowledge, care, concern, and empathy. I feel lucky to have hes as my husband's neurologist (considering the difficulties in dealing with PD & LBD.
Dr. Poston is wonderful. She is very caring, communicates clearly & listens well. I'm lucky to have her.
Dr. Poston is excellent.
Consistent excellent care.
Dr. Poston is a very knowledgeable doctor. We love her, she's very professional, kind and very understanding. She uses language we can easily understand.
Dr. Posten is awesome
Dr. Poston is excellent!
Dr. Postor took her time to access my condition. She is very courteous and easy to talk to.
Dr. Poston & staff are a pleasure to see.
Dr. Poston's time approach, & ability to communicate are much appreciated - an excellent provider.
my mom tends to get sad over her condition, but dr posten's attitude is so positive and my mom really adopts it---HUGE DEAL! we try to tell my mom to look at the bright side, eh she listens--but when the doctor encourages, she takes it like medicine!
No test or examination has been ordered to reaffirm the diagnosis.
We love Dr. Poston. She always listens carefully, provides good information, helpful, kind, caring. Would have liked more info on potential side effects of increasing med because we had a problem w/this.
Dr. Poston is the best doctor I have ever had. I am 78 years old and have seen many doctors. She is the best!!
Dr. Poston & Kara Richardson were lovely, brilliant, gracious and a dynamic team. We feel blessed to have worked with them.
Dr. Poston ranks as one of the best physicians I've seen in terms of knowledge, experience, health teaching... & accessibility. I'm so pleased to be in her care. Thanks!
Provider is specialist in rare illness.
N/A trial work.
The best!
Experience in all and the best thank you so very much God bless - will recommend.
We are very pleased with Dr. Poston. She has been superior in every way.
Dr. Poston is great! She listens, educates, & makes time for my questions & concerns. She's also clearly enthusiastic & current in her knowledge. MUCH appreciated.
Provider is great in my specific health care problem and instills confidence in her coverage.
Unqualified recommendation!!
Excellent, I'm always impressed by Dr. Poston's manner & teaching. I ALWAYS learn something.
Dr. Poston gave me my life back.
I go home with a positive feeling & filled with hope. Great.
We drive 500 miles round trip to see Dr. Poston.
Highly recommend! Dr. Poston gets an A +.
Dr. Poston and her complete staff are the best!

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