The Department of Neurology continues to advance its mission, capabilities, and reputation for academic, clinical and research activities. We strive to foster a working environment that supports and encourages the development and growth of our faculty and staff's professional careers.  From July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007, there were 52 faculty members with primary appointments in Neurology, an increase of 8 over the previous year. We expect additional faculty to join us next year. The Department welcomed 7 new faculty members with a variety of specialties: Eric Hoffman, PhD and Samay Jain, MD, Movement Disorders Division; Chitharanjan Rao, MBBS, MRCP (UK) and Michelle Stevens, DO, Neuromuscular Diseases Division; Renu Pokharna, MD, Neuroimmunology/Multiple Sclerosis Division; Barbara Vogler, MD, Headache Division and Firas Sioufi, MD and Colin Sanner, MD, General Neurology Division. Secondary appointments were extended to William E. Klunk, M.D., Ph.D., Mary Ganguli, M.D., and Robert Sweet, M.D., all of whom are members of the Department of Psychiatry, in recognition of their close clinical and research interactions with the Department of Neurology. Many faculty members maintain secondary appointments throughout the University providing clinical and research collaborations.

The Department has made significant advances in patient care, teaching, and clinical and basic neuroscience research, consistent with the mission of the Neurology Department, the School of Medicine, and University of Pittsburgh Physicians (UPP). Key areas of excellence include the UPMC Stroke Institute; the UPMC Headache Center; the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (PIND); the Morris K. Udall Center for Excellence for Parkinson’s Disease Research; the American Parkinson Disease Association Advanced Center for Parkinson’s Research; and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Center for Detection, Diagnosis, and Intervention in Dementia (DDID). The Neuromuscular, Epilepsy, Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Neuro-immunology/Multiple Sclerosis and General Neurology divisions provide key clinical diagnosis and treatment.

We are committed to providing compassionate, comprehensive, timely and high quality service to our patients. We maintain a policy of making an appointment within three days of the request. Our clinical faculty receives a large number of referrals for sub-specialty care from community neurologists, other community specialists, and other clinical department faculty physicians.

Our clinical and research faculty value the role of providing education and support for future physicians and researchers. We provide our residents, medical students, graduate students and postdoctoral student researchers with an enriched and supportive professional environment that creates a high-value educational experience. The Department conducts weekly Neurology Grand Rounds; our program in 2006-2007 featured 32 speakers--9 from other institutions. In addition, multiple conferences and lectures were overseen by our clinical divisions or research centers.

Clinical research activities benefit our current patients, allow access to cutting-edge therapeutic trials, and provide significant advances in the overall field of clinical neurology and our clinical research programs have grown significantly. We develop, maintain, and promote innovative and integrated research programs that promote fundamental discoveries in basic science areas.

The Department of Neurology faculty and staff are very involved with medically related organizations on the local, national, and international levels. This involvement extends beyond the medical realm to groups providing support to patients and caregivers, organizing and supporting fundraising efforts for voluntary health organizations and raising awareness of neurological diseases. Many of our faculty members and staff have national leadership positions on NIH advisory or research review committees, in voluntary health organizations, and professional societies.