Jacobs School names Woo chair of neurology

Daniel Woo, professor of neurology and rehabilitation medicine in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and associate director of clinical research at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute, has been appointed the Irvin and Rosemary Smith Endowed Chair of the Department of Neurology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, effective Dec. 1.

He will also be president and CEO of UBMD Neurology of the UBMD Physicians’ Group.  

“Dr. Woo brings extensive experience, expertise and a passion for advancing neurological care, making him a vital addition to our leadership team,” says Allison Brashear, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. “A pioneer in the genetic epidemiology of stroke who ranks among the top-funded investigators in neurology, Dr. Woo has been highly sought after for leadership roles across the country. We are delighted that he chose to join UB because of our shared mission, vision and values.”

An internationally recognized leader in stroke research, Woo has been one of the most consistently funded researchers by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke over the past decade. Woo, whose focus is intracerebral hemorrhage, led the first large-scale, genome-wide association study that identified a novel genetic risk factor for it.

Woo’s research is groundbreaking, particularly in addressing the disproportionate stroke risk among African Americans and Hispanics, who are not only twice as likely to suffer from intracerebral hemorrhage but are affected on average 10 years earlier than other populations, leading to higher rates of disability. His work has also revealed variations in traditional risk factors based on race/ethnicity and sex.

Expanding his research beyond the acute phase of stroke, Woo’s studies have uncovered that brain hemorrhage may trigger a chronic, neurodegenerative process in some survivors — a discovery that challenges the traditional view of stroke as a singular event.

In addition to his academic and clinical work, Woo is dedicated to serving underserved communities. He co-founded a clinic offering free health care to uninsured individuals in Greater Cincinnati, and he provides neurologic subspecialty care to patients with limited resources.

An active member of the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky stroke team, Woo has provided in-person and telemedicine stroke coverage across 19 hospitals and three states. He has founded multiple service lines, including a transcranial doppler monitoring service and a community-wide hypothermia protocol for cardiac arrest patients.

Over the past 10 years, Woo has guided multiple investigators to independent research awards, developed nine career development awards and served as a mentor on several national platforms. He also leads a highly successful T32 fellowship program that offers training for scholars and clinicians interested in clinical and translational research.

In addition to serving as associate director of clinical research for the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute, he also was associate director of the UC Center for Environmental Genetics and vice chair of clinical research in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine.

Woo earned his medical degree and a master’s in molecular genetics from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He did his residency at the Cleveland Clinic and a fellowship in cerebrovascular disorders at the University of Cincinnati.