Dr. Dennis Choi has been selected to lead two major neuroscience initiatives at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.  Dr. Choi was Chair of the Department of Neurology at Washington University from 1991 until 2001.  He was founding director of the Center for the Study of Nervous System Injury, which led in part to the creation of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders in 2005.

 The following article is from Emory University (http://whsc.emory.edu/_update/2007_07.html#1):

Dennis Choi, MD, PhD, a neuroscientist renowned for his groundbreaking research on brain and spinal cord injury, has been recruited to lead two major neuroscience programs at Emory: the Neuroscience, Human Nature and Society Initiative within the university-wide strategic plan, and the Comprehensive Neuroscience Center within the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.

A former president of the Society for Neuroscience, Dr. Choi served as head of the neurology department at Washington University School of Medicine from 1991 until 2001 and as neurologist-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. From 2001 until 2006 he was Executive Vice President for neuroscience at Merck Research Labs, leaving to join Boston University, where he has been a professor of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics. He comes to Emory as a professor in the Department of Neurology on August 1.

As Executive Director of Emory’s strategic neurosciences initiative, Dr. Choi will oversee the development of four key areas: neuroscience education, behavioral neuroscience and cognition, brain therapeutics, and molecular and translational imaging research. Each program builds on strengths across multiple units of the university and existing neuroscience programs, including Emory’s Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, an NIH-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, a neuroimaging research center, neurosciences programs at Yerkes, the Fuqua Center for Late-life Depression, and research programs funded through the collaborative Center for Behavioral Neurosciences.

As Director of the Comprehensive Neuroscience Center in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Dr. Choi will help integrate research, patient care, and education in neuroscience, one of five areas in the Vision 2012 strategic plan charged with developing a new model for patient-centered care as well as distinctive health services based on discovery, innovation, and measurable impact on patients’ health.

Dr. Choi is a member of the Institute of Medicine and its Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the executive committee of the Dana Alliance for Brain Research. He is former vice president of the American Neurological Association.

His research on the mechanisms of neuronal cell death and the underlying mechanisms of brain and spinal cord injury has been recognized by several awards, including the Silvio O. Conte Decade of the Brain Award, the Christopher Reeve Research Medal, and the Ho-Am Prize in Medical Science.

Dr. Choi has served on numerous scientific and advisory boards, including the National Academy of Science Board on Life Sciences, and as chairman of the U.S./Canada Regional Committee of the International Brain Research Organization. He has held membership in multiple editorial boards, including a founding co-editorship of the journal, Neurobiology of Disease.