Schor Named NINDS Deputy Director
Pediatric neurologist Dr. Nina Schor was recently appointed as deputy director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She officially joined the institute in January.
Before coming to NINDS, Schor served as chair of the department of pediatrics and pediatrician-in-chief at Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester in New York.
“Dr. Schor’s experience running a large university department and children’s hospital, along with her extensive basic research background and clinical work, make her an ideal candidate for this position,” said NINDS director Dr. Walter Koroshetz. “We are delighted to welcome her and look forward to working with her to advance the NINDS mission as it relates to neuroscience and neurological disease research.”
As deputy director, Schor will work with Koroshetz in program planning, budgeting and guiding the institute’s scientific and administrative functions.
“It is truly an honor and a pleasure to assume the position of NINDS deputy director,” said Schor. “NINDS is uniquely poised to ensure that the best of biomedical science is applied to make tomorrow’s state-of-the-art better than anything of which we dare to dream today. What a privilege it will be to work to improve the lives of people with neurological disorders across a national stage.”
Born in Bayside, N.Y., Schor earned her undergraduate degree from Yale University, her Ph.D. in medical biochemistry from Rockefeller University and her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medicine. She completed residency programs in neurology and pediatrics at Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Following her residencies, she was a professor, chief of child neurology and associate dean for medical student research at the University of Pittsburgh.
Schor was the principal investigator on numerous NIH-funded grants. Her research focused on neuroblastoma—a type of pediatric cancer—and neuronal death caused by oxidative stress, which occurs when harmful forms of oxygen molecules damage cells.
Throughout her career, she has mentored more than 80 postdoctoral fellows and graduate, medical and undergraduate students. While at the University of Rochester, she was the first director of the Translational Biomedical Science Ph.D. Program and played an integral role in developing the program and recruiting graduate students.
Schor has earned numerous awards and honors including the American Neurological Association Distinguished Neurology Teacher Award, being named a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and serving on the board of directors for neurology at the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She has been an active member of many professional societies including the Society for Pediatric Research, American Society of Pediatric Department Chairs and the American Neurological Association.
In addition to her research, Schor is a poet whose work has been published in the Neurology journal and in a poetry chapbook.