Jayne Ward, Chairperson
The Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology, established July 1, 2000, is an outgrowth of the former neuro-ophthalmology unit that has existed on campus since 1986. The department lead is through the College of Osteopathic Medicine. It offers accredited residency programs in neurology; fellowship programs in neuro-ophthalmology, stroke, neuro-intervention, neurophysiology, epilepsy, and neuro-epidemiology; and clinical and research programs for medical and graduate students. The Department has Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approval for its neurology residency and subspecialty fellowships. It also provides academic oversight for multiple ophthalmology residency programs statewide.
Its broad research portfolio is supported by multiple National Institutes of Health (NH) grants and other extramural funding. Major themes of the department’s research are to use the eyes as a model for brain disease. It also has major research interest in stroke, neuro-intervention, muscle and peripheral nerve disease, neuro-degenerative disease, epilepsy, sports concussion and demyelinating disease. The department shares research and clinical faculty with affiliated clinical and research laboratories on the MSU campus, state and worldwide including sub-Saharan Africa.
The clinical responsibilities of the department are fulfilled by on campus neurologists and neuro-ophthalmologists who have subspecialty training in a number of different disciplines of neurology. To enrich its research, clinical and educational programs, the department also collaborates with numerous clinicians statewide, nationally and internationally. MSU’s International Neurology, Psychiatry and Epidemiology Programs (INPEP) are administered through this unit and has outposts in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa.