OSU Neurology Department chief hired from Michigan

A leading University of Michigan multiple sclerosis researcher and neurology professor has been chosen to run Ohio State’s Department of Neurology and co-direct the Wexner Medical Center Neurological Institute.

Dr. Benjamin Segal is currently the director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center and Program in Neuroimmunology at Michigan, where he has worked for more than a decade. He will join Ohio State in July, the university announced Wednesday.

Segal will join Dr. Russell Lonser as co-chairmen of the neurological institute. Lonser is a neurosurgeon and chairman of the department of neurological surgery. His co-director position was announced earlier this year, said Wexner Medical Center spokeswoman Eileen Scahill.

As chairman of the Department of Neurology, Segal will replace Dr. John Kissel, who retired at the end of June.

Segal began his career at the National Institutes of Health, conducting research in MS and immunology. He moved to the University of Rochester as division director of MS before he was recruited by Michigan in 2007. He is internationally recognized for his work in MS and neuroimmunology and has directed numerous clinical trials focusing on relapsing and progressive forms of MS, Ohio State’s announcement said. Annual NIH funding for Segal’s ongoing research is more than $1.3 million.

In a statement, Segal said he is “committed to working with the faculty in (Ohio State’s) Department of Neurology and the neuroscience community to build on existing strengths, introduce innovative translational programs, and strengthen the bridge between bench and bedside in advancing that goal.”

Segal and Lonser follow prominent neuroscientist Ali Rezai, who left the Wexner Neurological Institute in 2017 to join West Virginia University as executive chairman and vice president of neurosciences.

“Ben Segal is an innovative leader who will further Ohio State’s reputation as a referral center for patients with complex neurological diseases and — together with other leaders — grow our neurology and neuroscience program to one of the top in the country,” Dr. K. Craig Kent, dean of Ohio State’s College of Medicine, said in a statement.