By Linda Satter
Aug. 9, 2021 | Rohit Dhall, M.D., MSPH, CPE, a professor of neurology who is director of neurodegenerative disorders at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has been named the first-ever vice chair for clinical research in the College of Medicine’s Department of Neurology.
Dhall was recruited to UAMS in 2016 from the Parkinson’s Institute in California, where he was their director of clinical research and the director of the institute’s National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence. He is also a former director of the National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence at the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and is working to help UAMS attain Center of Excellence status.
“He has extensive experience in not just running clinical trials but also in designing them,” said Robert L. Archer, M.D., professor and chair of the department who, along with UAMS Executive Vice Chancellor and College of Medicine Dean Susan Smyth, M.D., Ph.D., named Dhall to the new position.
“He is sought after by pharmaceutical companies and other institutions, like Stanford, to help with their research designs in the area of Parkinson’s disease treatment,” Archer said. He added that Dhall also serves as medical director for UAMS’ Translational Research Institute.
“Dhall also receives rave reviews for his teaching from students and residents, and patients laud his kind and thoughtful approach to their care,” Archer said. “He does not hesitate to help others with their clinical research, so naming him to this position recognizes all the work he has already done to help us move forward in this area.”