Linda M. Liau, MD, PhD, is the new neurosurgery department chair at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles. She is the second woman ever to chair an academic neurosurgery department in the U.S.
Here are seven key points:
1. Dr. Liau moves into the new position after serving as interim department chair since January.
2. She has dedicated two decades to glioblastoma treatment research, funded by the National Institutes of Health. The National Cancer Institute gave Dr. Liau's team $11.4 million in Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant money for brain tumor research.
3. She has written 150-plus research articles as well as book chapters and textbooks.
4. The inventor of a brain cancer vaccine that prompts the immune system to fight remaining cancer cells, Dr. Liau has served as lead investigator for various brain cancer clinical trials.
5. Dr. Liau also oversees more than 50 neurosurgeons, neuroscientists, residents, fellows and other specialists.
6. For the past decade, Dr. Liau has served as editor-in-chief of Journal of Neuro-Oncology.
7. Dr. Liau completed her neurosurgery residency and PhD in neuroscience at UCLA.