Marwan N. Sabbagh, MD, a leading Alzheimer’s disease investigator, has been named Director of Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Dr. Sabbagh will join the center in May, succeeding Jeffrey L. Cummings, MD, ScD, who has guided the center since 2010, and will hold the title of Founding Director while continuing in an advisory capacity.

Dr. Sabbagh served most recently as Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders division at Barrow Neurological Institute at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, where he held the Karsten Solheim Chair for Dementia.

“Dr. Sabbagh is an outstanding choice for our center’s next chapter,” says Keep Memory Alive Chairman & Founder Larry Ruvo. “He is an eminent clinician, researcher and author, with an emphasis on proactive steps that young people can take toward brain health. Of course, he has big shoes to fill in succeeding Dr. Cummings, but approaches brain health with a similar philosophy.”

At the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Dr. Sabbagh will oversee sites in Las Vegas and Florida and at Cleveland Clinic’s main campus in Cleveland. He will work closely with Dr. Cummings to improve the lives of patients and caregivers affected by dementia and pursue translational research aimed at identifying new treatment options.

“I am very excited at the opportunity to lead this outstanding, rapidly growing center,” says Dr. Sabbagh. “With the passion and dedication of the Ruvos and the excellent programs built by Dr. Cummings, employees and staff, there are few neurological centers in America that rival the impact, scope and reach of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.”

In fact, coming to the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health is a homecoming of sorts for Dr. Sabbagh.

“I trained under Dr. Leon Thal, who delivered Lou Ruvo’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and managed his care,” he said. “Now, I have an opportunity to serve Nevadans and all who benefit from Camille and Larry Ruvo’s philanthropic vision for the center that bears Lou’s name.”

Dr. Sabbagh received his residency training in neurology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and completed his fellowship in geriatric neurology and dementia under two renowned Alzheimer’s disease experts: the late Leon Thal, MD, and the late Robert Katzman, MD, at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Dr. Thal worked closely with Larry Ruvo in creating the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and this history creates a remarkable connection among Dr. Thal, Dr. Sabbagh and the center.

Dr. Sabbagh has authored more than 300 medical and scientific articles on Alzheimer’s disease research and has four books to his credit, including “The Alzheimer’s Answer: Reduce Your Risk and Keep Your Brain Healthy,” with a foreword by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Photo: Dr. Sabbagh, courtesy of Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health