Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., M.S., former professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University and an internationally renowned expert on stroke, joined the Miller School of Medicine in April as chairman of the Department of Neurology.

Sacco, who served as associate chair of neurology for clinical research and training at Columbia and director of the Stroke and Critical Care Division at New York Presbyterian Hospital, received his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and a master’s degree in epidemiology from the Columbia University School of Public Health.

Sacco is on the editorial boards of the journals Stroke, Neuroepidemiology, and Nature Clinical Practice Neurology, and has more than 475 original articles, case reports, book chapters, and abstracts to his credit. He was the lead author on the most recent guidelines from the American Heart Association on how to prevent a second stroke in patients. Sacco is also the co-chair of the world’s largest secondary stroke prevention trial and has been involved in numerous stroke clinical trials.

Sacco is a fellow of the Stroke and Epidemiology Councils of the American Heart Association, a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, and a member of the American Neurological Association. He is currently a member of the board of directors for both the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Neurology.