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Two named to chair departments at SUNY Upstate Medical University

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - David Feiglin, M.D., an expert in nuclear diagnostic techniques, has been named chairman of the Department of Radiology and Jeremy Shefner, M.D., Ph.D., a leading researcher on Amyotophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease, has been named chairman of the Department of Neurology. The appointments were announced by Steven J. Scheinman, MD, executive vice president of SUNY Upstate Medical University and dean of the College of Medicine.

In announcing Feiglin's appointment, Scheinman said: "David Feiglin has provided excellent leadership in the Department of Radiology for over a year as interim chair at a time of major challenges. In this role he has been imaginative and collegial in addressing a number of critical problems successfully, and has earned the confidence of the department's faculty and of the broader campus.

Feiglin, who has served as interim chair of the radiology department since January 2004, joined the SUNY Upstate faculty in 1995 as an associate professor in Department of Nuclear Medicine and clinical director of the Magnetic Resonance Research Laboratory. He was promoted to full professor of radiology and medicine in 1997. He has held several leadership positions within the department, including co-director of the Division of Nuclear Medicine (1999-2005); co-director of the Radiology Residency Training Program (1999-2003); director of the Division of Nuclear Medicine (2001 to 2005); and director of the Nuclear Radiology Fellowship Program (2001-2005).

The recipient of numerous grants, funded externally and internally, his clinical interests involve non-invasive techniques using magnetic resonance (MR) and nuclear medicine (NM) in measuring bi-ventricular functional parameters of the heart. His research interests are related to the application of molecular imaging (MR, PET and NM) in the evaluation of the diseased heart and more accurate diagnosis of breast cancer; and clinical evaluation of radio-labeled monoclonal antibody imaging.

In announcing Shefner's appointment, Scheinman said: "Jeremy Shefner is a nationally-recognized leader in research on ALS and in the care of patients with this disorder. He has served ably as interim chair of neurology for the past year. A national search brought candidates, and Dr. Shefner emerged with the endorsement of the committee for this leadership position. In addition to his role in the department of neurology, I have appointed him to the Dean's Research Cabinet and he will have an important role in our new Neurosciences Institute."

Shefner has served as site investigator for dozens of clinical trials and studies related to ALS. In 1995, he founded the Northeast ALS Clinical Trials Consortium, the largest ALS clinical trials group in the country. He has also been the principal or co-principal investigator of six multicenter trials, and is currently leading research efforts into new treatment therapies for ALS that will bring in more than $1 million to SUNY Upstate. Shefner serves as director of SUNY Upstate's ALS Research and Treatment Center, one of 33 in the nation designated by the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Shefner who has served as interim chair of the neurology department since February 2004, joined the SUNY Upstate faculty in 1996.

He has published more than 100 chapters or abstracts, many devoted to his work on ALS and is the author of Fundamentals of Sensation and Perception (Brooks Cole, Second Edition, 1991).

Feiglin and Shefner reside in Manlius.

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