Section Chief of Stroke Rehabilitation, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurology and Neurotherapeutics and Clinical Sciences
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Dallas, Texas
– United States
Nneka Ifejika, M.D., M.P.H., is an Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UT Southwestern Medical Center, with secondary appointments in the departments of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics and Clinical Sciences. She is also the Section Chief of Stroke Rehabilitation.
Dr. Ifejika earned her medical degree at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and completed her residency in PM&R at Baylor College of Medicine. Her research focuses on transitions of care after stroke, stroke outcomes, and health disparities.
Her research training was chiefly with neurologist James Grotta, M.D., at the UTHealth McGovern Medical School, with whom she completed a National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) supplement to promote diversity in health-related research. Also at McGovern, she served as Director of Neurorehabilitation and led an integrated Stroke Rehabilitation/Vascular Neurology program. A Texas Health Resources Clinical Scholar, Dr. Ifejika joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2018.
Her work in the stroke rehabilitation service line involves providing evidence-based rehabilitation paradigms through all levels of stroke care.
Among her many honors and accolades, Dr. Ifejika received a three-year NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Institutional Career Development Award through the UTHealth Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences. She has also received two United States Congressional commendations for her innovative work with underserved populations affected by cerebrovascular disease. She is a recipient of the Best Neurological Rehabilitation Research Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R). She was also selected as an inaugural AAPM&R Leadership Fellow. Dr. Ifejika is also the 2019 recipient of the Association of Academic Physiatrists Early Career Academician Award. Dr. Ifejika is the only female PM&R physician who is a Fellow of the American Heart Association’s Stroke Council, and she serves on the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal Stroke.
Wednesday, November 6
4:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Friday, November 8
12:45 PM – 2:00 PM