Saint Barnabas Medical Center (SBMC) is proud to announce the addition of David K. Kung, M.D., to RWJBarnabas Health. Dr. Kung is a cerebral vascular, endovascular and general neurosurgeon who, in February 2021, was appointed as the new co-director of endovascular neurosurgery across the hospital system. And Dr. Kung is thrilled to join the team.
“A lot of great work has already been done here, but there is a lot of opportunity to grow and build,” says Dr. Kung on joining SBMC. “The benefits of endovascular technique for stroke has been proven since 2015, but the execution still requires optimization, so there is plenty of opportunity for research in the field of neurosurgery and for providing more optimal care for patients in New Jersey.”
Dr. Kung’s subspecialty is vascular neurosurgery, in which he treats patients with “strokes, brain aneurysms and blood vessel abnormality affecting the brain and spine such as carotid artery stenosis and arteriovenous fistula [an abnormal connection of the arteries and the veins],” he says. “The other key diseases that I treat include brain tumor, back pain and neck pain.”
Dr. Kung’s office is based at the Barnabas Health Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) on the Livingston campus. In addition to meeting with patients and performing surgical procedures there, Dr. Kung also collaborates with the stroke neurology team at SBMC. “Modern stroke care requires coordination with emergency medical services, neurologists and other physicians, physical and speech therapies, rehab specialists, social workers, etc.,” says Dr. Kung. “For the best care, we need to get patients to the right places at the right time.”
Before arriving at SBMC, Dr. Kung worked at Penn Medicine for six years as a physician and as the neurosurgical director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has recent ties to SBMC through his wife, Kristen Yoo, D.O., who completed her neurosurgery residency at SBMC. Additionally, their son was born at SBMC while Dr. Yoo was a resident.
“As the population ages, stroke or vascular disease in the brain is going to become more prevalent,” Dr. Kung concludes. “Right now, it’s the fifth-leading cause of death, so my main focus is to optimize treatment and modernize those efforts.”