Richard Rudick, MD

Professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
Hazel Prior Hostetler Chair of Neurology, Cleveland Clinic
Director, Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research, Cleveland Clinic
Vice Chairman, Research and Development in the Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Rudick graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1975. Following internship and residency in medicine at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Rudick trained in Neurology at the University of Rochester. During a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Center for Brain Research at the University of Rochester, studies focused on neurologic consequences of immune complex disease in animal systems and immunologic abnormalities in MS patients. Dr. Rudick's subsequent studies on cerebrospinal fluid in multiple sclerosis were supported by an NIH clinical investigator career development award. In 1987, Dr. Rudick became Director of the Mellen Center. He has played key roles in several MS clinical trials, including pivotal registration trials of IFNß-1a (Avonex) and natalizumab (Tysabri) for relapsing remitting MS. He continues studies on immunologic changes in MS patients, has led development of new clinical and imaging measures for MS trials, and maintains a consultative clinical practice at the Mellen Center. Dr. Rudick has maintained continuous competitive grant funding from the NIH and National Multiple Sclerosis Society for over 25 years. In addition to Director of the Mellen Center, Dr. Rudick is Vice Chairman of Research and Development in the Neurological Institute, Interim Director of the Center for Brain Health, and Co-Principal Investigator of a city-wide Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative.