Newswise — LOS ANGELES (June 6, 2012) – Wengui Yu, MD, PhD, a research scientist and clinician specializing in stroke treatment and neurocritical care, has been named director of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Neuroscience Critical Care Unit, one of the most advanced in the state.
The recently expanded 24-bed unit, part of the Department of Neurology and Department of Neurosurgery, treats a high volume of patients with neurological disorders.
Yu’s current research is focused on brain hemorrhage and treatment of severe traumatic brain injury. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals on stroke, endovascular interventions such as intracranial stenting, and basic cellular research. As an educator, he has overseen the training of more than 60 resident physicians and clinical fellows.
“We are extremely fortunate to attract a nationally recognized leader of Dr. Yu's stature. Together with the top-notch team already in place, our critical care unit is now among the elite in the country,” said Patrick D. Lyden, MD, chair of the Department of Neurology and the Carmen and Louis Warschaw Chair in Neurology. “Dr. Yu will expand our unit, attract promising young clinician-scientists and allow our unit to continue its fantastic growth and leadership.”
Yu joins Cedars-Sinai from Dallas, where he served as an associate professor and division chief of Neurological Critical Care at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and as medical director of the Surgical ICU at UT Southwestern University Hospital – Zale Lipshy, a neurosciences specialty hospital affiliated with the University of Texas Southwestern University Hospital. He also has worked at the University of California, both in San Francisco and Irvine.
Yu, who is board-certified in neurology, neurocritical care and vascular neurology, earned his MD at Jiangxi Medical College in Nanchang, China, and his PhD degree at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He was a research associate in Beijing, China, and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School. He completed an internship in internal medicine and a residency in neurology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, before entering a two-year fellowship in neurocritical care and stroke at UCSF.
The Neuroscience Critical Care Unit is on the eighth floor of the state-of-the-art Saperstein Critical Care Tower.
Cedars-Sinai is an Approved Stroke Center of the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency and a regional referral center capable of providing comprehensive care for complicated or critically ill patients, those with hemorrhagic strokes, and those who may benefit from advanced technologies.
In 2008, the Stroke Program earned Primary Stroke Center Certification from The Joint Commission, an independent, nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies health care organizations and programs. Based on recommendations published by the Brain Attack Coalition and the American Stroke Association’s statements and guidelines for stroke care, Primary Stroke Center Certification recognizes a center’s commitment to following national standards and guidelines that can significantly improve outcomes.
The Stroke Program also has received the Get With the Guidelines Gold Plus award, the highest achievement in the American Stroke Association’s initiative to improve outcomes for patients suffering strokes. The Gold Award is given to centers that maintain high performance levels for two years or more; Plus designation represents additional compliance in certain quality measures.
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