Bruce Ovbiagele is a Nigerian-American vascular neurologist, biomedical researcher, health systems executive, academic leader, organization founder, and scientific journal editor. [1] He serves as Professor of Neurology and Associate Dean at the University of California, San Francisco, Chief of Staff at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, [2] Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Heart Association. [3] and Founding President of the Society for Equity Neuroscience. [4] [5] He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Neurology, [6] World Stroke Organization, [7] and Northern California Institute of Research and Education. [8]
Ovbiagele was born in Lagos, Nigeria. [9] His elementary education was at Corona School, Ikoyi. He attended Igbobi College, Federal Government College, Ijanikin and King's College, Lagos for middle and high school education. Ovbiagele received a medical degree from the University of Lagos; Master of Science in Clinical Research from the University of California, Los Angeles; Master of Advanced Studies in Leadership of Healthcare Organizations from the University of California, San Diego; Master of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Master of Legal Studies from Washington University, St. Louis; Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School; and Global Executive Certificate in Leadership from the Yale School of Management. [10] Ovbiagele completed a general neurology residency at the University of California, Irvine, and a fellowship in vascular neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Ovbiagele served as professor and chairman of the Neurology Department at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) from 2012 to 2018. There, he held the Pihl Professorship in neuroscience and led the Department of Neurology. He was the 2021 C. Miller Fisher Visiting Professor of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. [11] Prior to MUSC, he served in various professorial roles within the University of California system. He is an adjunct professor at Favaloro University, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and University of Ibadan.
Ovbiagele was appointed Associate Dean at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine in 2018. [12]
Ovbiagele's work focuses on improving stroke outcomes for disparate populations around the world through epidemiological surveillance, pharmaceutical clinical trials, genomics, and implementation science. He has led several National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded programs that address critical aspects of stroke management for vulnerable and underserved populations, locally, nationally, and globally. [13] Ovbiagele led the Stroke PROTECT program, which served as a basis for the Get with the Guidelines – Stroke, a national and international in-hospital initiative for improving stroke care by promoting adherence to evidence-based guidelines. [14] [15] Ovbiagele led the national policy writing group that projected that annual costs of stroke in the United States would rise substantially in the future requiring a greater emphasis on implementing effective preventive, acute care, and rehabilitative services. [16]
Ovbiagele has an h-index of 100+, published over 650 peer-reviewed articles with 30+ as sole author and 300+ as lead or senior author. [17] He is a highly ranked scholar in the field of stroke [18] and has edited six textbooks. [19]
Ovbiagele's scientific mentoring emphasizes the research training of individuals globally underrepresented in medicine and science. He has spearheaded neuroscience workforce development initiatives, including the Training in Research for Academic Neurologists to Sustain Careers and Enhance the Numbers of Diverse Scholars (TRANSCENDS), [20] Training Africans to Lead and Execute Neurological Trials and Studies (TALENTS), [21] ENgaging Leaders In Global and local HealTh Equity in Neurology (ENLIGHTEN), [22] and Editors-in-Training [23] [24] [25] programs.
Ovbiagele founded the Health Equity and Actionable Disparities in Stroke: Understanding and Problem-solving (HEADS-UP) Symposium, [26] African Stroke Organization Conference (ASOC), [27] and World Federation of Neurology (WFN) open access journal. [28] [29]
Ovbiagele chaired the International Stroke Conference from 2016 to 2018 during which he created several new initiatives including the Game of Strokes Session, Crossfire Debates Session, and Outstanding Stroke Research Mentor Award. [30] [31] [32]
Ovbiagele developed and directed several educational courses for the American Academy of Neurology including the “Health Equity for Neurologists”, “Stroke Update”, “Secondary Stroke Prevention”, and “Therapy Program: Stroke”. [33]
Ovbiagele served as the inaugural national medical spokesperson for the American Heart Association “Power-to-End-Stroke” campaign, which focused on raising awareness about the disproportionate burden of stroke experienced by African Americans, [34] and national spokesperson for the National Stroke Association “Steps Against Recurrent Stroke” Campaign. [35]
Ovbiagele has given 250+ invited academic lectures and 30+ invited community outreach presentations around the world. [36]
Ovbiagele served as a member of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Advisory Council, [60] National Institutes of Health Council of Councils, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee. He is an honorary life member of the Stroke Society of Australasia [61] and Korean Stroke Society. [62]
Ovbiagele is the son of Bruce Ovbiagele Snr, a media broadcaster, [94] and Helen Ovbiagele a novelist and journalist. [95] [96]
Stanley Ben Prusiner is an American neurologist and biochemist. He is the director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Prusiner discovered prions, a class of infectious self-reproducing pathogens primarily or solely composed of protein, a scientific theory considered by many as a heretical idea when first proposed. He received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1994 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1997 for research on prion diseases developed by him and his team of experts beginning in the early 1970s.
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. They are known for publishing guidelines on cardiovascular disease and prevention, standards on basic life support, advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), pediatric advanced life support (PALS), and in 2014 issued the first guidelines for preventing strokes in women. The American Heart Association is also known for operating a number of highly visible public service campaigns starting in the 1970s, and also operates several fundraising events.
The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University. It was established in 1829 after the Montreal Medical Institution was incorporated into McGill College as the college's first faculty; it was the first medical faculty to be established in Canada. The Faculty awarded McGill's first degree, and Canada's first medical degree to William Leslie Logie in 1833.
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is a professional society representing over 40,000 neurologists and neuroscientists. As a medical specialty society it was established in 1948 by A.B. Baker of the University of Minnesota to advance the art and science of neurology, and thereby promote the best possible care for patients with neurological disorders. It is headquartered in Minneapolis and maintains a health policy office in Washington, D.C.
Helen Aiyeohusa Ovbiagele is a Nigerian novelist. She was born in Benin City, and after attending C.M.S. Girls' School, Benin City, and St. Peter's College, Kaduna, she studied English and French at the University of Lagos and studied at the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni in London. Her work is associated with the romance genre, published in Macmillan's hugely popular Pacesetter Novels series, but her heroines are said to be a bit older and more independent than normal for that form. She was the Woman Editor of the Vanguard newspaper for 30 years. Ovbiagele is the mother of Bruce Ovbiagele, founder of several global neuroscience organizations and programs; and Desmond Ovbiagele, screen writer, film/documentary director, and movie producer.
Orla Hardiman (BSc MB BCh BAO MD FRCPI FAAN FTCD MRIA is an Irish consultant neurologist. She was appointed Professor of Neurology by Trinity College University of Dublin in 2014, where she heads the Academic Unit of Neurology, housed in Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute. She leads a team of over 40 researchers focusing on clinical and translational aspects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and related neurodegenerations. She was the Health Service Executive National Clinical Lead for Neurology between 2019 and 2024. Hardiman has become a prominent advocate for neurological patients in Ireland, and for patients within the Irish health system generally. She was a co-founder of the Neurological Alliance of Ireland, an umbrella organisation for over 24 advocacy groups in Ireland.
Daniel H. Lowenstein is an American neurologist who is the Robert B. and Ellinor Aird Professor of Neurology and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He is known for his work in the field of epilepsy including laboratory-based and clinical research, the clinical care of patients with epilepsy, and advocacy for the needs of patients and family members living with epilepsy. He was the originator of the “Academy of Medical Educators” concept, and is the recipient of teaching awards both at UCSF and nationally. He has served as the Dean for Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, and as President of the American Epilepsy Society. In 2017, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of his contributions to American medicine.
William W. Seeley is an American neurologist. He is a Professor of Neurology and Pathology at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He leads the Selective Vulnerability Research Lab at UCSF. He is a 2011 MacArthur Fellow.
Bruce H. Dobkin is an American Professor of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, medical director of the UCLA Neurologic Rehabilitation and Research Program, and Co-Director of the UCLA Stroke Center. He serves as editor-in-chief of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.
Sandra Elizabeth Black, is a Canadian physician and neurologist known for her work in "contributing to improved diagnosis and treatment of vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease and stroke". She is currently a Senior scientist at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She holds the Brill Chair in Neurology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Kameshwar Prasad is an Indian neurologist, medical researcher, academic and the head of the Department of Neurology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (AIIMS), known as a proponent of evidence-based medicine (EBM) and evidence-based healthcare (EBHC). The government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 1991.
Michael Jeffrey Aminoff is a clinical neurologist and neurophysiologist whose later clinical work focused on treating Parkinson's disease and related movement disorders. He retired in 2022 and lives in San Francisco, California.
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo is an American epidemiologist and physician. She is the 17th Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the JAMA Network. She is Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Lee Goldman, MD Endowed Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco. She is a general internist and attending physician at San Francisco General Hospital.
Charlotte Jane Sumner is an American neurologist. She is a professor in the Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Sumner cares for patients with genetically mediated neuromuscular diseases and directs a laboratory focused on developing treatments for these diseases. She co-directs the Johns Hopkins Muscular Dystrophy Association Care Center, the Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and the Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) clinics, which deliver multidisciplinary clinical care, engage in international natural history studies, and provide cutting edge therapeutics.
Amytis "Amy" Towfighi is Professor of Neurology, Director of Neurological Services and Innovation for Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and Chief of Neurology and Associate Medical Director of Neurological Services at LAC+USC Medical Center.
David Hillel Gutmann is an American neurologist-neuroscientist. He teaches at Washington University in St. Louis, where he is the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor, and Director of the Washington University Neurofibromatosis Center. He is an international expert in Neurofibromatosis, pioneering the use of preclinical models to understand brain tumors and neurodevelopmental delays in children with NF1.
Ralph Lewis Sacco was an American neurologist. He held the Olemberg Family Chair in Neurological Disorders, Miller Professor of Neurology, Public Health Sciences, Human Genetics, and Neurosurgery at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami and Chief of the Neurology Service at Jackson Memorial Hospital. In 2020, Sacco was named editor-in-chief of the Stroke journal and the inaugural recipient of the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award from the American Stroke Association.
Jeffrey L. Saver is an American neurologist who is the Carol and James Collins Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
Donna Ferriero is Distinguished Professor, emeritus, of the Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics at the University of California-San Francisco. From 2010 to 2017, she was Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Physician-in-Chief of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. She has published over 300 peer-reviewed publications and is an internationally recognized expert in neonatal neurology.
Justin C. McArthur is an UK-born American neurologist. He currently holds the John W. Griffin Professorship and serves as the Chair/Director of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also holds the position of neurologist-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Additionally, he founded and led the Sheikh Khalifa Stroke Institute at Johns Hopkins.