The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has named Walter J. Koroshetz, M.D., as its Deputy Director. Effective January 2, 2007, he will work with the NINDS Director in program planning and budgeting, as well as oversee Institute scientific and administrative functions.

“Dr. Koroshetz is an internationally renowned neurologist and outstanding investigator and administrator. His leadership skills and recognized expertise in stroke, imaging, training, and neurointensive care will serve the Institute well,” said NINDS Director Story Landis, Ph.D.

Prior to his appointment, Dr. Koroshetz was vice chair of the neurology service and director of stroke and neurointensive care services at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He was also a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and has led neurology resident training at MGH since 1990.

Dr. Koroshetz has been on NINDS intramural review and oversight committees, been involved in various NINDS symposia and clinical trials, and served as the Institute’s representative to the American Neurological Association’s Career Development Symposium. He was a member of the NINDS-chaired Brain Attack Coalition (BAC), a group of professional, voluntary and governmental entities dedicated to reducing the occurrence, disabilities, and death associated with stroke. He led the BAC committee whose work resulted in significantly higher hospital reimbursement for acute ischemic stroke management. As an extramural grantee Dr. Koroshetz received NINDS funding for laboratory and clinical research projects on Huntington’s disease, neuroprotection, and translational research in acute stroke.

He is a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Academy of Neurology, American Neurological Association, Society for Neuroscience, Huntington’s Disease Society, American Society of Neuroimaging, American Stroke Association, and the National Stroke Association. He is associate editor for MRI with the Journal of Neuroimaging and was an associate editor of Cerebrovascular Diseases.

Dr. Koroshetz was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Georgetown University and received his medical degree from the University of Chicago. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Chicago and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Koroshetz trained in neurology at MGH, after which he did post-doctoral studies in cellular neurophysiology at MGH and the Harvard neurobiology department. He joined the neurology staff, first in the Huntington’s Disease unit and then in the stroke and neurointensive care service. During his career Dr. Koroshetz has conducted basic electrophysiology research in cell membranes and in cultures of nerve cells and glial cells (which support nerve cells). His clinical research has focused on finding new treatments for patients with Huntington's disease and stroke. He is the author of more than 100 peer reviewed publications as well as numerous chapters and reviews. He has supervised the training of more than 150 residents and fellows.

He replaces Audrey S. Penn, M.D., who had served as Deputy Director since 1995 and is now Senior Advisor to the NINDS Director.

The NINDS is the nation’s leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. It is one of 27 components of the NIH, the nation’s premier federal agency for biomedical research. The NINDS mission is to reduce the burden of neurological disease — a burden borne by every age group, by every segment of society, by people all over the world. For more information about the NINDS, please visit www.ninds.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health(NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.