Brett Kissela, MD, Named To Clinical Research Leadership Positions

CINCINNATI—Brett Kissela, MD, has been named senior associate dean for clinical research at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine and chief of research services for UC Health. The appointment is effective Nov. 15.

In these roles, Kissela will oversee and coordinate clinical research management activities at the College of Medicine, UC Health and UC Physicians, the 850-member faculty group practice of the college. At UC Health, Kissela will oversee the Office of Clinical Research, investigational pharmacy, research billing and the clinical laboratory for healthcare delivery. He will serve as the liaison with the college’s Center for Clinical & Translational Science & Training (CCTST) while working with leadership to bridge the academic clinical research environment and clinical research implementation at UC Health facilities. 

"Dr. Kissela is an especially effective leader and researcher and has significantly contributed to the improvement of operations and partnership for both the College of Medicine and UC Health,” says William Ball, MD, UC senior vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine. "We believe that he will continue to strengthen the collaboration between our organizations and, with his colleagues, will support and facilitate continued world-class clinical research.”

The academic health system receives nearly $11 million in funding for hundreds of clinical trials involving patients at UC Health.

"This new leadership in research aligns directly with the core four strategies of UC Health and directly contributes to UC Health’s responsibility and privilege as the region’s academic health system,” says Richard Lofgren, MD, president and chief executive officer of UC Health.

Kissela currently serves as the Albert Barnes Voorheis Chair of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at the College of Medicine, a position he will retain with his new roles. He joined the College of Medicine in 2000 and became chair of the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine in January 2014. Since 2015, he also has served as medical director for the UC Health Office of Clinical Research.

A specialist in stroke care and research, Kissela received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and later earned a master’s degree in epidemiology from UC. Following an internship at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a neurology residency at the University of Michigan, he completed a one-year fellowship at UC in cerebrovascular disease.