Robert Kalb was born in New York City. His father sold women’s clothing on the Lower East side of Manhattan for much of his adult life and his mother was an elementary school teacher. He graduated from medical school in 1982 and obtained postgraduate training in Neurology. Subsequently, he did a basic science postdoctoral fellowship and opened his own lab in 1990.
At present, most of his time is spent running a wet laboratory engaged in basic science research focusing on: 1) Motor neuron diseases of children (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) and adults (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and 2) Nervous system development and its potential relationship to childhood intellectual disabilities and autism.
His lab has had continuous support from the National Institutes of Health for ~25 years. In addition, he is a practicing Clinical Neurologist who sees adult patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia VA Hospital. He also sees adolescent patients at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.