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The Early Years

In 1885, when the USC School of Medicine was founded, the Los Angeles County Hospital had one trained neurologist on staff. When the attending staff was officially organized in 1917, separate sections for neurology and psychiatry were included in the Department of Medicine. The first neurology outpatient clinic was opened in 1923. Dr. Cyril Courville, who was to have a great impact on neurology at the Los Angeles County Hospital, was one of the first appointed as an assistant resident in 1929.

The first independent Department of Neurology at USC was established in 1931 and headed by Dr. Samuel Ingham. He was joined that year by his soon-to-be-renowned associate, Dr. Johannes M. Nielsen. The following year, Dr. Courville was appointed head of neuropathology at the County Hospital and director of the Cajal Laboratory of Neuropathology. His distinguished neuropathologic studies lent special luster to the department. These three men, Drs. Ingham, Nielsen, and Courville, and the physicians they attracted to the neurology service at the Los Angeles County Hospital made this an outstanding service for the era.

Elinor Ives, M.D. arrived at the Los Angeles County Hospital for her internship in 1933 and in 1946 became the first woman on the neurology staff. In 1953, she moved to the voluntary staff when she entered private practice, but she continued her involvement with the Department of Neurology until her death in 2001.

Following World War II, there was a great increase in the number of inpatients treated at the Los Angeles County Hospital. The peak census was in 1954-l955 when the average number of patients treated on the service reached 111. Dr. Nielsen became head of the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry at USC when Dr. Ingham retired during the l950s, and he remained on the attending staff at the County Hospital until 196l. Dr. Karl Von Hagen assumed the chairmanship of the Department of Neurology at the USC School of Medicine in 1954.

A dual service by Loma Linda University and USC was maintained until 1965 when Loma Linda moved its medical school away from Los Angeles. From 1960-1969, Dr. Howard Barrows served as head physician of the neurology service for the hospital where there were two residents and twelve attending physicians. Dr. Barrows added much to the training of the residents, particularly the teaching of a careful and detailed neurologic examination. Among the staff he recruited were Dr. Ruth McCormick (1959-1979) and Dr. J. Eric Holmes, a master teacher who was here until l982. Dr. Barrows himself (long at the University of Southern Illinois) is recognized internationally as an innovator in the field of medical education.

An additional increase in full-time staff improved the neuromedicine service, and six residents comprised the neurology residency in the 1960s. There were four wards for neuromedical patients, each with a resident, two interns, and usually a full-time physician in charge. An intensive care ward for both neuromedical and neurosurgical patients and a neuroradiology service were established on the hospital's fifth floor.

Dr. Harry Fang joined the faculty in 1965 and in 1973 was named director of the Division of Neurological Sciences at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, a position he held until his retirement in 1991. Dr. Findlay E. Russell, noted herpetologist, was recruited in 1966. Still the only departmental alumnus to have had a snake named in his honor, he conducted an active program in pharmacology and toxicology until he moved to Arizona in 1981. Also joining the neurology faculty during this time was Dr. James Keane, (internationally recognized for his observations in neuro-ophthalmology) who is still active.


A New Era

Dr. Joseph P. Van Der Meulen was appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Neurology at the USC School of Medicine and chief physician in charge of the hospital neuromedical service in 1971 when Dr. Von Hagen retired. Dr. Van Der Meulen worked to modernize the Department of Neurology and the neuromedical service with a greater academic orientation and an increased emphasis on basic research. Recruited during his tenure were Drs. Evelyn Lee Teng (clinical psychologist); Peggy Gott (neurophysiologist); and Theodore Munsat (known for his work in neuromuscular disorders and now at Tufts). Others who rotated through the department during this period were Drs. Stephen Levy, Ronald Andiman, Luis Chui, and Ronald Saul.

Dr. Leslie Weiner was recruited to establish the Grant Neuroscience Laboratories for basic research In 1975. In 1979, when Dr. Van Der Meulen resigned the chairmanship in order to serve as Vice President for Health Affairs for the University on a full-time basis, Dr. Weiner was appointed chairman of the Department of Neurology.

Under Dr. Weiner's aegis, the major emphasis in the department has continued to be education as well as clinical and basic research. His initial actions were to strengthen the programs in pediatric neurology, neuromuscular disorders, neurovirology and neuroimmunology, behavioral neurology, cerebrovascular disease, and epilepsy.
Dr. S. Robert Snodgrass became head of the pediatric division of the Department of Neurology in 1979 when Dr. Robert Sedgwick, who had long maintained the pediatric neurology service at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, became the director of the EEG laboratory there. Dr. Snodgrass was succeeded as division head briefly by Dr. William Goldie, who served as acting head for two year until Dr. O. Carter Snead, III (I989 to 1995) arrived.

In 1997, Dr. Floyd H. Gilles became head of this division, which includes also Drs. Wendy Mitchell, Lan Chen, Verdette Brumm (clinical psychologist), Linda Tseng-Ong. Shanti Thirmumalali, here only briefly, has now moved to Paris.

Through recent years, several others have come and gone at CHLA: Dr. Mark Citron added a basic science component to the service, which was furthered by Drs. Tallie Baram; Leslie Brody (EEG), and Ken Huff (developmental biology). Dr. Snodgrass return for a short period before moving to UCLA, Dr. Tallie Baram (now at UC Irvine); D. Rebecca Hanson (also now at UCLA), and Dr. Douglas Hyder (oncology--now at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children).

Most of the present faculty have been recruited during Dr. Weiner's tenure: Drs. W. King Engel and Valerie Askanas came from the NIH and George Washington University respectively to head the department's division of neuromuscular disorders and to establish the USC Neuromuscular Center at Good Samaritan Hospital. Dr. Mark Fisher, now chair of neurology at the University of California at Irvine, was recruited to develop the stroke service. Dr. Helena Chang Chui and Dr. Victor Henderson (now directing a research program in Alzheimer Disease at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) joined the faculty to add a behavioral neurology component.

Dr. Stephen Stohlman was added to strengthen the virology/ immunology activities. Several basic scientists joined the department: Drs. Peter Syapin (now at Texas Tech in Lubbock); Lynn Perlmutter (a neurobiologist who left for industry); Connie Bergmann (neurovirology); Wendy Gilmore (neuroendocrinology and neuroimmunology), Roel van der Veen (neuroimmunology), and Brett Lund (neuroimmunology), Michael Jakowec (molecular biologist studying neuroplasticity) and in 2001, Dr. Zhiquin Tan (molecular neuroscientist now at UC Irvine)..

Specialty service recruits included Dr. Said Beydoun (neuromuscular disorders), Drs. Christopher DeGiorgio (now vice chair of neurology at UCLA), David Ko, Christi Heck, and Laura Kalayjian (EEG and epilepsy). Dr. Shri Kant Mishra was added as liaison with the Veterans Outpatient Clinics in downtown Los Angeles and was joined later by Dr. Carmie Puckett Robinson. Drs. Cheryl Waters (now chief of clinical neurology at Columbia University) and Mark Lew (now division head), Mickie Welsh, R.N., DNSc (a clinical nurse specialist concerned with Quality of Life and Outcome for patients with chronic neurological disorders) and Drs. Giselle Petzinger and Allan Wu were recruited for movement disorders. Dr. Gregory Chang was recruited to head the service at LAC+USC Medical Center following Dr. Henderson's resignation.

Others recruited include Drs. Scott Grafton (PET and neuroimaging--now at Dartmouth), Steven Schreiber (molecular neurobiology--now at UC Irvine and chief of neurology at Long Beach Veterans Hospital), Norman Kachuck (multiple sclerosis therapy), Carol McCleary (neuropsychology), Diana Van Lancker (neurolinguistics--now chair of the Department of Speech-Language and Audiology at New York University), Patricia Anderson (Alzheimer disease--who moved to UCLA), Raji Grewal (neurogenetics--now Neuroscience Institute of New Jersey), Margaret Burnett (neurodegenerative disease), Bryan Spann (movement disorders--now behavioral neurology), and Robert Cowan (headache--who later entered private practice in Sedona, Arizona).

A number of other people have come and gone through the years: Dr. Karen Altman was part of the epilepsy service in the early 1990s. In the late 1990s, Dr. Robert Young (world renowned neurophysiologist—now retired) was here briefly to help initiate a program for surgical intervention for patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Dr. Tiffany Chow added luster to Dr. Chui’s neurobehavior division for a brief time before moving on to the Rotman Research Insititue in Toronto.

Additional faculty added were Dr. Glenn M. Fischberg and Dr. Gene Y. Sung to develop a stroke program following Dr. Fisher's departure; Dr. Marc C. Chamberlain, a neurooncologist, to work with neurological surgery and medical oncology to develop a neurooncology program; and Dr. Soma Sahai-Srivstava, who assumed responsibility for the General Neurology Outpatinet Clinic following Dr. Gregory Chang’s resignation in 2002, to return to Korea.

It is perhaps relevant to note that an academic department such as this one necessarily not only educates medical students, residents, and fellows as they rotate through their training but also the faculty itself. In furthering their careers and developing their evolving interests, faculty also must sometimes move to another academic environment. One measure of the success of the department then becomes the places and positions presently occupied by former members of the faculty.

Another Beginning

Effective June 1, 2004, Helena Chang Chui, M.D., McCarron Professor of Neurology and Professor of Neurology and Gerontology, was named Chair of the department. She had served as Interim Chair since August 2003, when Dr. Weiner had ended his twenty-four year tenure in the position to concentrate on patient care and research—both basic and clinical.

Dr. Chui's leadership qualities were immediately evident. Within the first few months as Interim Chair, she conducted an internal review of the department--its strengths, weakness, needs, and goal. As Chair, she has implemented a new organizational structure aimed at achieving a national rank among the top ten departments of neurology. Under her direction and reflecting the stated mission of the University of Southern California, the
Department of Neurology continues to strive for excellence.

Several sub-specialty clinics have been established at the LAC+USC Medical Center. Long-standing is the neuromuscular disorders clinic begun during Dr. Van Der Meulen's tenure. Inaugurated in recent years have been an Epilepsy Clinic, a Movement Disorders Clinic devoted primarily to patients needing Botulinum toxin injections for various dystonias, and a Multiple Sclerosis Clinic providing comprehensive care. In addition, the department is responsible for neurology for both the OB/GYN clinic for high risk pregancy patients and the AIDs Clinic.

Dr. DeGiorgio (at LAC+USC Medical Center and USC University Hospital) and Dr. Snead (at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles) initiated the first surgical epilepsy programs for adults and children, respectively, in the early 1990s. Following Dr. Snead's departure for Toronto, Dr. DeGiorgio continued this program for adults with intractable seizures. These multidisciplinary efforts involving not only neurology and neurological surgery but also neuropsychology, neurophysiology, and speech have continued under the direction of Drs. Christi Heck and Laura Kalayjian. Through their efforts in collaboration with Dr. Michael Appuzzo (Neurological Surgery), a new, multicenter clinical trial of Gamma knife radiosurgery for temporal lobe epilepsy has been initiated at USC.

Early in his tenure here, Dr. DeGiorgio achieved accreditation for the Electrophysiology Laboratories at both LAC+USC Medical Center and the USC University Hospital. In addition, in 2001, the department began providing intraoperatie monitoring for neurological surgery and orthopedics at the Medical Center.

At both LAC+USC Medical Center and through the faculty’s private practice, USC Neurologists, Inc., as well as at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles since the early 1990s, several dozen clinical trials in epilepsy, movement disorders (including Parkinson’s Disease and dystonias), cerebrovascular disease (stroke), multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Disease, and peripheral neuropathies have been undertaken.


Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles

Since 1979, the pediatric division of the department has evolved under its succeeding directors—Drs. Snodgrass, William Goldie, O. Carter Snead, III, and Floyd Gilles. It provides a superb training program and an excellent clinical service. Openings for incoming fellows for the child neurology residency program, directed by Dr. Wendy Mitchell, are filled several years in advance. Despite limited staff, a heavy service is maintained. Completion of an outstanding research facility and initiation of a new program in developmental neurobiology will enable the division to accelerate significantly its basic science activities.


Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center

As director of the rehabilitation activities of the department, Dr. Chui has developed at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center, (now Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center [RLANRC]), a facility long affiliated with the university, a research oriented service with a major focus on neurobehavior and cognitive neuroscience. In addition, she established a multidisciplinary program for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with Alzheimer disease, which includes a daycare center. Recruited for this service were Dr. Chris Zarow, a molecular neurobiologist working to differentiate Alzheimer’s Disease from vascular dementia, and several neurologists: Drs. Ginte Jasculitis and David Saperia (both now exclusively with RLANRC), Jeffrey Victoroff, Lily Atalla, and Arousiak Varpetian (who besides joining Dr. Chui's team assumed responsibility for neurology at the LAC+USC Medical Center AIDS Clinic).


USC Neuromuscular Center

The USC Neuromuscular Center located at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downtown Los Angles is directed jointly by Drs. W. King Engel and Valerie Askanas. The two have pioneered the use of laboratory research in the diagnosis and treatment of motor neuron disorders, particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This division includes basic science laboratories and clinical facilities that attract patients from around the world. Dr. Askanas is a recipient of a coveted ten-year research award from the NIH to further her work in inclusion-body myopathy. The Center affords young basic scientists and clinicial fellows opportunities for advanced training in the mysteries of various neuromuscular disorders. Both Drs. Engel and Askanas have received world wide recognition for their work in this field.

USC Neurologists, Inc.

In 1981 following guidelines developed by the School of Medicine, the department established the faculty practice through which its clinicians see private patients. Through the years, USC Neurologists, Inc. has become a busy, tertiary neurology practice comprising sub-specialty clinics in Alzheimer Disease, Parkinson's Disease and other movement disorders, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases, neuropathies, and ALS as well as general neurology.

Honors and Awards

In 1987. Dr. Weiner was given the Richard Angus Grant, Sr. Chair in Neurology. the first endowed chair in neurology at USC. Funds for this as well as the earlier establishment of the Grant Neurosciences Laboratories were given by the Dan Murphy Foundation. In addition to this award, the department has been the recipient of the following endowments:

• the Appleman Research Fund--Parkinson's Disease
• the Mary J. & Thomas C. Bowles Center for Alzheimer Disease
• the G. Donald & Marian Montgomery Endowment Fund
• the Rita H. Small Endowment for Alzheimer
• the Audette Garnier Epilepsy Research Fund
• the Jerry Price Seizure Clinic Fund (for children)
• the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Affiliates and Associates Chair in Neurology.