Med School Dean Named
Allison Brashear, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been appointed dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine by Chancellor Gary S. May, effective July 22.
Internationally known for her groundbreaking research in movement disorders, she leads a team of neurologists whose clinical, research and innovation focus is on new models of neurological care. She is an active clinician at Wake Forest, where she holds the Walter C. Teagle Endowed Chair of Neurology.
Besides being a physician, she holds a Master’s of Business Administration with a focus in health-sector management.
“Allison has proven to be an excellent executive physician with expertise in health policy, hospital-clinical integration, and academic and research excellence,” said David Lubarsky, UC Davis Health vice chancellor and chief executive officer, to whom Brashear will report. “She is also a lifelong champion of inclusion and patient-centered care.”
Improving our country’s health care
Brashear described UC Davis as “exceptionally strong in key areas that are important for a leading academic health system: translational and basic science, primary care, with nationally ranked clinical programs that build upon an exceptional NIH research portfolio.”
“These strengths combine to make UC Davis poised to be a leader in improving the health of the country.”
She has long been committed to advancing women in leadership across academic medicine and said she looks forward to continuing that effort at UC Davis. “The emphasis on inclusion at Davis, within so many different groups among faculty, staff and students speaks to my lifelong commitment to diversity,” she said.
She spent her undergraduate years at DePauw University in Indiana, where she was an honor scholar and received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1983. She received her medical training at the Indiana University School of Medicine, graduating with her M.D. in 1987 and completing her residency in neurology in 1991 — and she ultimately became a tenured professor of neurology there, serving until 2005 when she was appointed chair of neurology at Wake Forest.
