Research

The primary goal of the Department of Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh is to improve patient care and treatment - this is accomplished through state of the art research practices. The department has sustained a commitment to excellence in the three major components of academic medicine: teaching, clinical care and research that help advance medical knowledge and therapies.

Grants & Awards

The number of funded research projects increased by 31% in 2022. Research funding totaled $16,937,056, a 16% over 2021. 53% of the projects were funded by the NIH. Five new UPMC clinical trials were initiated in 2022 with costs per participant enrolled listed in Appendix B. This substantial increase in funding was the result of recruitment of new faculty including Raul Nogueira, an internationally recognized leader in clinical stroke research and the completion of the transfer of the Chair’s awards to the University. The department received 12 NIH new or competing renewal awards in 2022. 

Research Findings & Publications

There were 232 unique publications by faculty in 2022, an increase of 43% from 2021. 56 of these manuscripts were published in journals with an impact factor (IF) >10, an increase of over 300% from last year. All divisions were well-represented in these publications. The substantial increase in the number of high impact publications is due in large part to recruitment of new faculty in Cerebrovascular Diseases and other divisions. Some of this striking improvement in the number of high impact papers is also due to the increase in the journal Neurology’s IF to over 10 in 2022. Most of the research in the department is translational, but papers with special implications for clinical care are indicated by gray highlighting in appendix A.

Clinical & Basic Research

With a significant number of patients with neurological diseases rising and enrolling in clinical trials, clinical research within the department continues to expand. The publicity of participating in clinical trials is an invaluable resource for not only the continued development of research, but also attracting patients to our medical center (UPMC). The department’s clinical research program has two major research centers: The UPMC Stroke Institute and the NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Other clinical research concentrations include epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, headache and neuromuscular disorders.

The department’s basic research has a strong program that aims to understand the molecular mechanisms of neurological diseases and develop new treatment strategies for these disorders. The Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Geriatric Research Education Center and Clinical Center make up the department’s basic research program; other areas of focus include neuromuscular disorders, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and epilepsy.