Omar Khan, M.D., professor of Neurology, has been appointed interim Chair of the Wayne State University Department of Neurology.Dean Valerie M. Parisi, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., announced the appointment Jan. 30. Dr. Khan takes over the department Feb. 1. He will serve as interim Chair while a search committee is convened to identify candidates for the position.
"Dr. Khan is a widely published and internationally respected neurologist and clinical researcher," Dean Parisi said. "He is the ideal leader to maintain the high quality research and much sought-after patient care for which the department is known."
Dr. Khan, a resident of West Bloomfield, replaces Robert Lisak, M.D., who is stepping down as chair after leading the department for 25 years to join the faculty.
"It is a great honor to lead a department that is amongst the best in the country in teaching, education, research and patient care," Dr. Khan said.
The director of the Wayne State University Multiple Sclerosis Center and Magnetic Resonance Image Analysis Laboratory, Dr. Khan joined the department in 1998. He also serves as neurologist-in-chief for the Detroit Medical Center and associate chief medical officer for the Wayne State University Physician Group. Dr. Khan recently served on the Executive Committee of the School of Medicine Faculty Senate and the Budget Advisory Committee of the School of Medicine.
He received his medical degree in 1987 from the Allama Iqbal Medical College, University of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan. Following initial residency training in Pakistan, he performed an internship in Internal Medicine at the Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati (1990-1991). He then completed a Neurology residency at the Medical College of Virginia, and dual fellowships in Neuroimmunology and Neuroimaging at the University of Maryland and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baltimore. He served on the Neurology faculty at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, from 1996 until he joined Wayne State University.
Since joining the School of Medicine, Dr. Khan has secured more than $8 million in research funding. He has served as principal investigator in more than 55 studies and is the principal investigator in more than 15 current clinical trials and investigator-initiated studies. He directs the Wayne State University Multiple Sclerosis Center, one of the top five MS centers in the country, with a patient population of more than 4,000.
Internationally recognized in the field of therapeutic development, genetics and imaging in multiple sclerosis, he established the largest African-American Multiple Sclerosis Clinic in the U.S. and is the founding member of the African-American Initiative in Multiple Sclerosis, a Detroit community-based endeavor. Dr. Khan's MRI Analysis Laboratory focuses on mechanisms of tissue injury and repair in various neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Khan serves on the Translational Research Committee of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and is a member of the society's Medical Advisory Board. He is one of the few neurologists in the U.S. serving on the European Charcot Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis Research. He previously served on study sections of the National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Health Research Institute and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, as well as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration CNS Drug Advisory Committee. He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the International Genetic Consortium in Multiple Sclerosis, and is an elected member of the American Neurological Association.
Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.