Taking another step toward improving the health and health care of Nevadans while further cementing the partnership agreement signed in 2014, the University of Nevada School of Medicine and Renown Health announce that J. Ivan Lopez, M.D., FAAN has been appointed to a joint leadership role of director of the Institute for Neurosciences at Renown Health and the chair of the Department of Neurology at University of Nevada School of Medicine.

Previously, Lopez was the director of the Renown Stroke Center and professor of neurology and of internal medicine at the School of Medicine. He has a long series of academic accomplishments including Director of Headache Medicine Fellowship, Director of the Vascular Neurology Training Program and Director of Neurology Clerkship at University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has an active clinical research program in studies related to acute stroke and prevention of secondary strokes.

"I am really excited by the affiliation between Renown Health and the School of Medicine," said Lopez. "This partnership will only bring benefits to both institutions and to our community. The best hospitals are always teaching hospitals, and the community will benefit from the state-of-the-art medicine practiced at Renown."
Lopez's appointment to a dual leadership role highlights the successful academic and clinical partnership between Renown Health and the School of Medicine.

Last year, Lopez was recognized for his humanitarian work in the U.S. Army and named a Healthcare Hero of Northern Nevada by Nevada Business magazine.

In July 2014, the School of Medicine and Renown's Institute for Neurosciences formed the new Department of Neurology at the medical school. This new unit represents a full academic and clinical department, as described in a proposal approved by the Renown Health Board of Directors, the University of Nevada, Reno and the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents.

With the formation of a new academic department comes new opportunities for medical student and resident education as well as clinical research and new clinical care programs. This builds on the existing training and research activities at Renown Health and lays a foundation for a new third-year medical student clinical rotation in neurology.