The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Department of Neurology was founded in 1928. It was one of the first academic Departments of neurology in the nation and the first to be established west of the Mississippi River. The Department has established an enduring national reputation for excellence in each of its component missions, patient care, education, and research.
As one measure of clinical excellence, the Department is ranked 21st in the nation overall, and 5th among public universities, in the most recent US News and World Report poll. We are also in the top 20 for training academic neurologists. It is ranked highest for the number of important patient services available, and highest for the number of important technologies available. It is also ranked high for patient safety and much better than expected for patient survival. It is a nurse magnet hospital. It has a number of clinical divisions that have reached international prominence for their quality of care including stroke, movement disorders, epilepsy, sleep, neuropsychology and clinical neurophysiology. It also has a strong clinical affiliation with the Veteran's Affairs Hospital, which is just across the street.
The Department places a special emphasis on education at all levels. In the most recent year, Neurology faculty members accounted for one-third of the total nominations of the Junior and Senior medical school classes for the Carver College of Medicine faculty "Teacher of the Year." Similar devotion to educational excellence is evident in our 24-person residency program and the highly successful University of Iowa Graduate Program in Neuroscience, which is directed from within our Department. We are proud of our former Neurology trainees, 14 of whom have gone on to chair an academic Department of neurology and 45 of whom currently hold academic appointments at 26 different medical schools. This production of academic neurologists ranks in the top 20 of all US residency programs. As well, 22 former cognitive neuroscience/neuropsychology trainees hold current academic appointments at 15 different universities.
Funded research in the Department spans a large segment of the spectrum of neuroscience investigation ranging from neuroepidemiology to clinical translational research, molecular biology, and systems cognitive neuroscience. The Department currently hosts 12 individual NIH grants and 16 NIH subcontracts totaling $3.8 million annually in total costs, plus an additional 5 VA Merit Review grants. Many seminal papers have been published by our faculty, many of whom hold positions of prominence in national professional societies.
