Forward-Thinking Leadership

Ali Rezai, MD, is a functional neurosurgeon whose career has been dedicated to advancing the care of people with neurological and mental health conditions. Dr. Rezai is the Associate Dean of Neuroscience at West Virginia University (WVU) and executive chair and director of the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI). Since its inception in 2018, Rezai has developed the RNI into a world-class patient care, education, and research institute with 230 faculty in five departments, and over 1,500 professionals providing neurological and mental health care for 250,000 patients annually.

After graduating from UCLA, Dr. Rezai earned his medical degree with honors from the University of Southern California, underwent neurosurgical training at New York University, and completed functional neurosurgery fellowship training at the University of Toronto. He began his academic career at New York University as the director of the Center for Functional Neurosurgery. He was then recruited to the Cleveland Clinic to direct the functional neurosurgery program, was appointed the Seidman Chair, and founded the Center for Neurological Restoration. Prior to the RNI, he was the Ross Chair in Neuromodulation and inaugural director of the Ohio State University Neurological Institute.

A board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Rezai’s clinical practice focuses on neuromodulation for movement disorders, chronic pain, nervous system injury, and neurobehavioral disorders. He has been named one of the best doctors in America in Castle Connolly’s Guide to America’s Top Doctors for 21 consecutive years from 2001-2022. His research focuses on rapid cycle innovation and application of new neuromodulation technologies in Parkinson’s, brain/spinal cord injury, addiction, Alzheimer’s, and other conditions. Holder of 60 US patents, Dr. Rezai facilitates partnerships with academic, government, and industry leaders collaborating on development and deployment of neuromodulation technology for patient care.

Author of over 200 scientific publications with a h-index of 89, including Nature, JAMA Neurology, Lancet Neurology, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Rezai has served on the editorial board of multiple scientific journals. He is the co-editor of the three-volume textbook Neuromodulation as well as Surgery for Psychiatric Disorders. Dr. Rezai has been the principal/co-investigator on seven NIH grants. He has trained over 50 neurosurgical fellows and delivered more than 500 lectures internationally. He is a sought-after speaker at medical conferences as well as popular tech venues including Collision, SXSW, TED, and Web Summit. Dr. Rezai was invited to present his research to the President of the United States, as well as to members of the US Senate and House of Representatives on Capitol Hill and four state governors.

Dr. Rezai is the past president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS), and the American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ASSFN). Dr. Rezai has received numerous awards including being named the Cleveland Clinic and Ohio State University innovator of the year and received the NANS Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Dr. Rezai’s neuromodulation research is frequently featured in a range of prominent media including The Washington Post, BBC, CBS, CNN, PBS, Good Morning America, Harper’s, NBC Nightly News, Today, Discovery Channel, Scientific American, Financial Times, TechCrunch, MIT Technology Review, among others.

James H. Berry, DO, is director of addiction services and chair of the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry in the West Virginia University School of Medicine. He is a nationally recognized expert in addiction psychiatry. He is the director of the WVU Medicine Chestnut Ridge Center’s Comprehensive Opioid Addiction Treatment (COAT) program and conducts training throughout the state on evidence based management of addiction. Dr. Berry received his Doctor of Osteopathy degree from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He then completed a psychiatry residency at the WVU School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in addiction psychiatry at the University of Hawaii Manoa. He is board certified in psychiatry and addiction psychiatry.

Victor Finomore, PhD, director of research, development, and data analytics, also serves as assistant professor in the WVU Department of Neuroscience and an adjunct professor in the WVU Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

Dr. Finomore received his BS degree in Psychology at the University of Dayton in 2003 and his MA (2006) and PhD (2008) in Experimental Psychology from the University of Cincinnati.

Prior to coming to West Virginia University in 2018, Dr. Finomore served as Technical Advisor for the Warfighter Effectiveness Research Center at the United States Air Force Academy where he led a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers along with cadets to carry out cutting-edge research focused on improving human performance. Before his appointment at the United States Air Force Academy, Dr. Finomore was an Engineering Research Psychologist in the Warfighter Interface Division, 711th Human Performance Wing, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory where he focused on multimodal displays, human performance, neuroergonomics, and advanced technology integration for Battlefield Airmen, Command and Control, and Cyber Operators.

Marc W. Haut, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified, clinical neuropsychologist who most recently served as professor and chair of WVU’s Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry. He joined the WVU faculty in 1989 as an assistant professor and has been an active clinician, educator and researcher. In previous roles, he directed neuropsychology training and services and headed the psychology section.

In his current role he has focused on expanding clinical psychiatric and behavioral health services to underserved areas of the state through Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) programs and telepsychiatry. In addition, he is dedicated to expanding clinical services to address the current opioid epidemic. WVU is utilizing grant funding and collaborations throughout the state to expand Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) through the use of ECHO and a hub and spoke model. Additionally, he has been building the research infrastructure of the department to support development of novel treatment programs to improve outcome for addiction and other mental health services. He is working with Dr. Ali Rezai and others at the RNI to expand the role of neuromodulation in the treatment of psychiatric disease, including addiction.

Neuroscientist Randy Nelson, PhD, PhD, is the inaugural chair of the new Department of Neuroscience; he holds the Hazel Ruby McQuain Chair for Neurological Research in the WVU School of Medicine and is the Executive Director of Basic Neuroscience Research in the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. He also leads the Neuroscience PhD Program, one of the seven biomedical science PhD programs at the WVU Health Sciences Center.  Nelson also is the Director of the new cross-campus Center for Foundational Neuroscience Research and Education.

Dr. Nelson earned a PhD in psychology and a second PhD in endocrinology from the University of California Berkeley. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Austin.

He came to WVU from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, where he was Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience. He held the Dr. John D. and E. Olive Brumbaugh Chair in Brain Research and Teaching and had a joint appointment as professor of psychology. Nelson was basic science director of the Neurological Research Institute, where he oversaw the research efforts of more than 280 neuroscientists at Ohio State. He also directed the Chronic Brain Injuries Discovery Theme as the faculty lead and co-directed the Neuroscience Graduate program prior to becoming the chair. Nelson served on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University from 1986-2001, when he moved to Ohio State.

He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed articles and 11 books, including “Introduction to Behavioral Endocrinology,” an internationally recognized textbook. Nelson was instrumental in developing the undergraduate program in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins, as well as an undergraduate major and minor in neuroscience at Ohio State. He has received numerous national honors and awards, including the 2017 Award for Education in Neuroscience by the Society for Neuroscience.

Michael Sweet is the assistant vice president of neuroscience at West Virginia University Hospitals. Sweet is from Parkersburg, West Virginia, and begin his career at WVUH in 2002 as a clinical staff pharmacist.

Sweet served as the first dedicated emergency room pharmacist in the state of West Virginia. He then served in many roles including quality pharmacist, director of quality and most recently the interim chief quality officer of WVU Health System. He earned his of Doctor of Pharmacy from WVU School of Pharmacy in 2002, then completed a pharmacy postgraduate year two in infectious diseases at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in 2008.

Sweet assists in the neuroscience administrative aspects of the RNI, including the academic departments, multidisciplinary patient care, and outreach across the state and region.

David Watson, MD, is a board-certified clinical headache specialist who serves as professor and chair of the Department of Neurology. He founded and previously directed the WVU Headache Center. He joined the WVU faculty in 2008 as assistant professor of neurology and has been an active clinician, educator, and researcher. His clinical work focuses on patients with headache disorders, including migraine and cluster, as well as access to clinical care in underserved populations. He has also been active in clinical research focused on new treatment options for headache patients.

Watson earned his medical degree from the WVU School of Medicine and completed a residency in neurology and a fellowship in headache medicine at the University of North Carolina. In previous roles, he served as an assistant professor of neurology at the University Headache Center at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a clinical instructor in neurology at the University of North Carolina.

Watson is a member of the Advocacy Committee of the American Academy of Neurology, chairs the Advocacy Engagement Subcommittee of the AAN. He is a member of the AMA Opioid Task Force, the NCAA Headache Task Force, and the AAN Gender Disparities Task Force. He founded and chaired Runnin’ For Research, a charitable organization dedicated to headache and migraine disorders research, until 2019 when it became part of Miles for Migraine. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Palatucci Advocate of the Year award in 2017 by the American Academy of Neurology.