Kenneth J. Gaines, M.D., M.B.A., named chair of new Dept. of Neurology at the Boonshoft School of Medicine

A subspecialist in vascular neurology, Kenneth Gaines’ clinical research interests are in improved health care delivery for stroke, and his basic research focus is brain hemorrhage.

DAYTON, Ohio—Following a nationwide search, the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine has named Kenneth J. Gaines, M.D., M.B.A., chair of its new Department of Neurology, effective May 1, 2012. He will also serve as professor of neurology in the Boonshoft School of Medicine and as director of special projects: clinical neuroscience development at Premier Health Partners.

Gaines comes to Wright State from the Ochsner Clinic and Foundation in New Orleans, where he serves as chair of the Department of Neurology. Gaines also served as clinical professor of neurology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. He previously served as professor of clinical neurology and chair of neurology at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, S.C.

A subspecialist in vascular neurology, Gaines’ clinical research interests are in improved health care delivery for stroke, and his basic research focus is brain hemorrhage. He has published numerous articles on his research in national and international journals.

The Department of Neurology is being created as part of a groundbreaking collaboration between Wright State and Premier Health Partners, the Dayton region’s leading hospital system. In 2010, Wright State and Premier announced the creation of the WSU & PHP Neuroscience Institute, a unique public-private partnership uniting the hospital system’s clinical resources with the university’s strengths in biomedical research. Directed by Timothy Cope, Ph.D., Brage Golding Distinguished Professor of Research and chair of WSU’s Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology, the institute is home to several key groups of neuroscientists including a team funded by a Program Project Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

“The Premier hospitals and our Wright State University partners are very excited to have Dr. Gaines on board to lead the Neuroscience Institute,” said Molly Hall, M.D., vice president of academic affairs with PHP. “Dr. Gaines’ credentials and leadership experience ensure that we will become the center for cutting-edge treatments across a range of neurological illnesses—stroke, epilepsy and movement disorders, among others. New discoveries from the neuroscience research institute will benefit not only our community and the region but also patients suffering all across America.”

In addition to hiring a core team of faculty, as chair and director of special projects: clinical neuroscience development at Premier Health Partners, Gaines will play a key role, along with Cope, in directing the institute’s research focus areas, including meaningful, ongoing collaborations among basic scientists and clinicians working in close proximity. He will also enjoy full support for the establishment of a Neurology Residency Program in partnership with the hospitals of Premier Health Partners. The department’s clinical facilities will be housed in PHP hospitals and in the new Medical Office Building under construction on the Wright State campus. Gaines will direct the neurology undergraduate medical education program a major component of both the preclinical and clinical curricula in the medical school.

“The institute, which has already earned recognition as a University System of Ohio Center of Excellence, will bring together top-caliber neurologists and neuroscientists to collaborate on cutting-edge, grant-funded research in basic and clinical neuroscience,” said Howard Part, M.D., dean of the Boonshoft School of Medicine. “With his extensive experience in developing neurology programs at several major institutions and his research expertise in stroke, Dr. Gaines will play an essential role in forging the identity and building the reputation of the institute.”

Gaines earned his M.D. at the University of Tennessee and completed his residency at the University of Tennessee, where he served as chief resident. He is board certified in both neurology and vascular neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is a fellow in the American Academy of Neurology and the American EEG Society.