Expert on Neuromuscular Disorders Named Neurology Chair at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Gil I. Wolfe, MD, a leading authority on neuromuscular disorders at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical School, has been named the Irvin and Rosemary Smith Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology in the University at Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Wolfe will join UB in December from UT, where he is the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation Distinguished Chair in Neuromuscular Disease Research, and professor of neurology and neurotherapeutics.

"Dr. Wolfe is an outstanding physician-scientist and educator," said Michael E. Cain, MD, UB vice president for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "His leadership abilities will enable him to expand the department's research, educational and clinical programs and best develop and align with UB 2020's strategic goals a comprehensive clinical program at Great Lakes Health, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and our community."

Wolfe is the seventh new chair or high-level physician that Cain has hired in the past three years, an effort that he says is a critical piece of his strategic vision for the medical school.

A native of New York City, Wolfe received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from UT Southwestern Medical School. He completed an internal medicine internship and trained as a neurology resident and neuromuscular/electromyography fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia.

Wolfe joined the faculty of UT Southwestern as an assistant professor of neurology in 1994. In addition to his current role as Distinguished Chair of Neuromuscular Disease Research and professor, he serves as clinical vice chair of the Department of Neurology and chief of the Neuromuscular Division.

He also is director of the Neuromuscular Medicine Fellowship Program, co-director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinics and director of the Peripheral Neuropathy Clinic at UT Southwestern. He formerly directed the school's neurology residency and neurophysiology fellowship programs.

Wolfe's primary research interests are idiopathic and immune-mediated peripheral neuropathies and myasthenia gravis. He has authored or co-authored more than 80 research papers and 15 chapters on neuromuscular disorders.

His research has been sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, Food and Drug Administration and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in the National Institutes of Health.

Wolfe is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in neurology, neuromuscular medicine and clinical neurophysiology. He was elected to membership in the American Neurological Association in 2004 and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.

He has lectured nationally and internationally, serves on editorial boards of leading medical and scientific journals in his field and holds leadership positions in several professional societies.

Wolfe serves on the medical advisory boards for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, the Neuropathy Association and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association. He has received UT Southwestern's Trephined Cranium Award for Excellence in Residency Teaching on multiple occasions.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.