Michael Racke, MD, Chair
Neurology focuses on education, clinical care and research of neurological diseases. With regard to education, the Department teaches the neurology clerkship in the College of Medicine and stimulates medical students in the neurosciences. Last year, 13 students from the College of Medicine matched in Neurology. The Department was recognized by the Association of University Professors in Neurology for having more medical students enter this discipline at Ohio State than any other program in the country. Neurology also instructs house staff. In research, the Department participates in clinical trials in a number of areas, including epilepsy, stroke, movement disorders, neuromuscular diseases and multiple sclerosis.
Ongoing Research Programs
- Neurology has a strong clinical and research program in spinal muscular atrophy and has recruited Dan Battle, PhD, from the University of Pennsylvania, to contribute to these efforts.
- Investigators in the Neuromuscular Division identified a patient with two separate trinucleotide repeat expansions, resulting in coincident myotonic dystrophy and spinocerebellar ataxia type 6. To expand its research effort in the genetics of neurologic disorders, the Division recruited Yasushi Kisanuki, MD, from the University of Michigan.
- Investigators in the Neuroimmunology Research Group study basic disease mechanisms in animal models and participate in parallel studies examining samples from patients with multiple sclerosis. Investigators also participate in clinical trials. Recent recruits include Aaron Boster, MD, who trained in neurology at the University of Michigan and did fellowship training at Wayne State University, and David Pitt, MD, who did his neurology training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his fellowship training at Washington University in St. Louis.
Research Accomplishments of 2008
- The Stroke Program, led by Andrew Slivka, MD, participated in several high-profile publications evaluating strategies to prevent stroke.
- Bassel Shneker, MD, and J. Layne Moore, MD, of the Epilepsy Division, published studies examining issues regarding the epidemiology of epilepsy.
- The Neuroimmunology Research Group, led by Michael Racke, MD, spearheaded efforts to understand how natalizumab may cause progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. A study published in PLoSOne showed that natalizumab-treated patients demonstrate evidence of reactivation of HHV-6, another virus that may participate in facilitating JC virus replication within the central nervous system.
- Michael Yu, MD, was named a Resident of the Year by the graduating medical school class.
- Michael Racke, MD, co-organized the 9th International Congress of Neuroimmunology, which was held in Fort Worth, Texas, from Oct. 26-30, 2008.
- More than half of the Neurology faculty were named in the 2008 “Best Doctors in America.”