Wolf Delivers 2016 AHA Distinguished Scientist Lecture

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Philip A. Wolf, MD

Philip A. Wolf, MD, professor of neurology and research professor of medicine (epidemiology and preventive medicine) at BUSM, recently delivered the American Heart Association (AHA) 2016 Distinguished Scientist Lecture.

Presented during Scientific Session 2016 in New Orleans, LA, the Distinguished Scientist Lectureship was established in 2006 and is viewed as a major honor and recognition of excellence by the AHA.

Wolf was co-principal investigator on the Framingham Heart Study Physical Examination, Testing and Surveillance awarded by the National Heart Lung Blood Institute (NHLBI) to BUSM from 1983 to 1989 and was the principal investigator (PI) from 1989 until 2014. Up until 2014 he was PI of continuously funded research grants, Precursors of Stroke incidence and Prognosis from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke from 1981 and Epidemiology of Dementia from the National Institute on Aging from 1989.

In 2002, he stepped down from the post of chief of the Cerebrovascular Disease Section of the department of neurology at Boston Medical Center, a post he held for more than 30 years. In that role he participated in a number of international cooperative clinical studies of stroke. He was a PI or executive committee member for several key projects: the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Data Bank; the Ticlopidine-Aspirin Stroke Study (TASS); Boston Area Anticoagulation Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (BAATAF); North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET); and the Clopidogrel-Aspirin Prevention of Ischemic Events Study (CAPRIE).

Wolf served on Executive Committees and Data Safety Monitoring Boards for a number of National Institute of Health (NIH) and industry supported studies of Stroke: BRAVO, VISP, TRENDS, WHI Stroke Study, and PRoFESS. He serves on the Monitoring Boards of two NHLBI observational studies, the Cardiovascular Health Study and The Jackson Heart Study. He is a member of the Stroke Council and Epidemiology and Disease Prevention Councils of the AHA and served on the Executive Committees of both councils. He was a member of the Science Affairs Council of the AHA and of the Scientific Issues Committee of the American Academy of Neurology.

In 1992, Wolf was selected by the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council to receive a Jacob A. Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award and was the first to receive the Humana Award for Excellence in Clinical Stroke of the Stroke Council of the AHA. He was selected as the Connor Memorial Lecturer in 1992 by the AHA. He also received the Mihara Cerebrovascular Disorder Research Fund Mihara Award of the International Stroke Society in 1996. He was the recipient of the American Stroke Association New England Chapter’s C. Miller Fisher Award in 2000.

Wolf’s publications focused on the topics of the epidemiology of stroke, dementia and cognitive decline and he has authored or co-authored more than 350 original articles, as well as book chapters, and abstracts. His research has appeared in such journals as The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Neurology, Stroke and The American Journal of Epidemiology. He has served on the editorial boards of Stroke-A Journal of Cerebral Circulation, and Neuroepidemiology.

He has been elected to a number of professional associations including the American Neurologic Association, the American Epidemiologic Society, and the American Academy of Neurology.

Wolf received his medical degree from the State University of New York College of Medicine at Syracuse cum laude and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He completed his residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In 2010, he received the honorary Doctor of Science degree from his alma mater.