Awards & Recognitions – August 2025

SB 1741 Passage

In June, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed Senate Bill 1741 into law. This bill allows adults with AHCCCS to receive cochlear implants and outpatient therapy services, which were not previously covered by Medicaid. Barrow Neurotology Program Director and ENT surgeon Shawn Stevens, MD, and speech-language pathologist Carolyn Abraham were among the champions of this bill—alongside the Arizona Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ArSHA).

RLS Quality Care Center

The Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Foundation has certified Barrow Neurological Institute as an RLS Quality Care Center. Barrow is one of 15 institutions across the United States and Europe to receive this certification, and it is the only RLS Quality Care Center in Arizona. The designation recognizes the Institute’s expertise in treating individuals with RLS, as well as our commitment to providing education to patients, families, and other health care providers. As a Quality Care Center, Barrow also partners with the RLS Foundation on quality improvement projects to raise the standard of care for RLS patients everywhere.

MJFF Research Funding

Barrow professor Fredric Manfredsson, PhD, and his collaborators at Binghamton University in New York have received a research grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to study the biological mechanisms underlying anxiety as a symptom of Parkinson’s. The researchers aim to determine whether alpha-synuclein accumulation disrupts amygdala function, leading to anxiety. They will investigate this using a novel preclinical model from Dr. Manfredsson’s lab, which overexpresses human alpha-synuclein.

Newsweek‘s Leading Spine Surgeons

For the second consecutive year, Newsweek has named Juan Uribe, MD, and Jay Turner, MD, PhD, of Barrow as two of the top spine surgeons in the United States. The media company collaborated with the global data intelligence firm Statista, Inc. to identify “America’s Leading Doctors” across 15 surgical specialties, including spine surgery. The firm evaluated a combination of Medicare and commercial data on procedure performance, results of an online survey of tens of thousands of medical professionals, peer quality-of-care assessments, and verification of board certifications.