Renowned Stroke Researcher to Chair Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Patrick D. Lyden, MD, joins Cedars-Sinai
Los Angeles - July 17, 2009 – Patrick D. Lyden, MD, a highly respected neurologist who has conducted extensive research into cerebrovascular disease and potential treatments for stroke, has been named chairman of the newly designated Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Prior to his appointment, Lyden served the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego as professor and vice chairman for Clinical Neurology, and served the UCSD Medical Center as clinical chief of Neurology and director of the Stroke Center.
“The selection of a leading clinician, educator and scientist with Dr. Lyden’s expertise reflects Cedars- Sinai’s commitment to providing the highest quality, most advanced care while seeking innovative approaches to treatment of strokes and other neurological disorders. His research, which has brought about an enhanced understanding of post-ischemic changes to brain microvessels, seeks to devise innovative therapies that will interrupt degenerative processes,” said Shlomo Melmed, MD, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Medical Faculty at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
The Cedars-Sinai Stroke Program and neurology services have increased in scope and prominence in recent years with the recruitment of highly respected neurologists and neurosurgeons, as well as investments in innovative interventional tools and therapies. The stroke program recently received its second consecutive Gold Award from the American Stroke Association – recognition of sustained performance achievement – and received certification as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission.
As a reflection of this growth, neurology, which previously was a division of the Cedars-Sinai Department of Medicine, has evolved into a department, with Lyden its inaugural chairman Lyden also will hold the Carmen and Louis Warschaw Chair in Neurology.
“Dr. Lyden’s appointment further strengthens Cedars-Sinai’s standing as one of the most progressive centers for neurological care and research in California,” Melmed said. Lyden, a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, has consistently been funded by the National Institutes of Health, and has published more than 200 journal articles and abstracts, edited a textbook on stroke intervention, and made multiple presentations at national and international conferences.
He helped lead the pivotal trial of the only proven treatment for stroke – the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA – and shared a prestigious “Cine” award with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for producing and directing a training video that is now used around the world. Dubbed into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Chinese, among other languages, the video has been viewed by over 100,000 stroke nurses and physicians in North America alone.
A peer reviewer for several professional journals, he is on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Stroke, The Stroke Interventionalist, and the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease.
Lyden received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine before completing an internship at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in San Diego. He completed a neurology residency and stroke fellowship at the UCSD Medical Center.