Back to Main

Faculty Detail    
Name RONALD M LAZAR
  
Campus Address SC 640 Zip 0017
Phone  (205) 975-4955
E-mail  rlazar@uabmc.edu
Other websites UAB - Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute
     

Education
Undergraduate  New York University    1971  B.A. 
Graduate  Northeastern University    1977  Ph.D. 


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Neurology Chair Office  Neurology Chair Office Professor
Secondary  Neurobiology  Neurobiology Professor
Center  Alzheimer's Disease Center  Alzheimer's Disease Center Professor
Center  Center for AIDS Research  Center for AIDS Research Professor
Center  Center For Exercise Medicine  Center For Exercise Medicine Professor
Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Professor
Center  Comprehensive Stroke Research Center  Comprehensive Stroke Research Center Professor
Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor
Center  Ctr Neurodegeneration & Exp Ther (CNET)  Ctr Neurodegeneration & Exp Ther (CNET) Professor
Center  Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute  Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute Professor
Center  Integrative Center for Aging Research  Integrative Center for Aging Research Professor

Biographical Sketch 
A graduate from New York University with a prize in Psychology and a PhD graduate in Psychology from Northeastern University, he completed post-doctoral training at Georgetown University and the Eunice Shriver Center in Massachusetts, before being awarded an Andrew W. Fellowship to study the neuropsychology of cancer at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. After serving as Assistant Professor of Neurology at SUNY/Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, he became Professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology and Neurological Surgery in the Stroke Service at the Columbia University Medical Center, and Director of the Richard & Jenny Levine Cerebral Localization Laboratory at the New York Neurological Institute. In June 2017, he began at UAB, as the Evelyn F. McKnight Endowed Chair in the department of Neurology, Director of the UAB McKnight Brain Institute, and Director of the Neuropsychology division.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Neurological Association  Fellow  www.myana.org 
American Stroke Association/American Heart Association  Fellow  www.heart.org 
American Psychological Association  Fellow  www.apa.org 
American Academy of Neurology  Fellow  www.aan.com 
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Description
Dr. Lazar is a neuropsychologist with broad interests in aging and vascular disease, with emphases on reversible causes of cognitive decline, risk-factor modification to promote cognitive resiliency, and recovery after stroke. Dr. Lazar is Principal or Co-Principal (MPI) of Cerebral Hemodynamics and Neurocognition in Aortic Valve Disease (NINDS/NIA), the NINDS-funded Blood Flow and Cognition in Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Disease, the NINDS-funded Carotid Revascularization for Primary Prevention of Stroke – Hemodynamics (CREST-H), and the NINDS-funded Co-Investigator and Cognitive Core Leader for the Carotid Revascularization for Primary Prevention of Stroke (CREST-2) trial. His other NIH grants have been funded by NHLBI, NICHD, NIDDK, NCI, and NIAID. His publications have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Circulation, Brain, Neurology, Lancet Neurology, JAMA Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Stroke, JAMA Internal Medicine, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, among many others. He has served as a permanent member of NIH study section and FDA advisory panel. He was Editor-in-Chief of Neuropsychology Review. His book, Neurovascular Neuropsychology (Springer), was published in 2009, with the next edition expected in 2018.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Lazar, R.M., Pavol, M., Browndyke, J., Bormann, Dwyer, M.G., Kraemer, C., White, R., Zivadinov,R., Wertheimer, J.C., Thöne-Otto, A., Ravdin, L.D., Naugle,R., Mechanic-Hamilton, D., Garmoe.W.S., Stringer. A.Y., Bender, H.A., Kapadia, S.R., Susheel Kodali, S.K., Ghanem, A., Linke, A., Mehran, R., Virmani, R., Nazif, T., Parhizgar, A., Leon, M.B. Neurocognition and Cerebral lesion burden in High Risk Patients before Undergoing TAVR: Insights from the Sentinel Trial, JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2018 Jan 27. pii: S1936-8798(17)32218-5.[Epub ahead of print].   29397361 
Agarwal S, Presciutti A, Roth W, Matthews E, Rodriguez A, Roh DJ, Park S, Claassen J, Lazar RM. Crit Care Med. 2018 Feb;46(2):e141-e150.   29135522 
Marshall, R.S., Asllani, I., Pavol, M.A., Slattery, P., Cheung, Y.C., Lazar, R.M. Regional Altered cerebral hemodyamics and cortical thinning in asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis, PLoS One. 2017 Dec 14;12(12):e0189727.   29240808 
Gorelick PB, Furie KL, Iadecola C, Smith EE, Waddy SP, Lloyd-Jones DM, Bae HJ, Bauman MA, Dichgans M, Duncan PW, Girgus M, Howard VJ, Lazar RM, Seshadri S, Testai FD, van Gaal S, Yaffe K, Wasiak H, Zerna C; American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Defining Optimal Brain Health in Adults: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Stroke. 2017 Oct;48(10):e284-e303.   28883125 
Lazar, R.M., Boehme, A.K. Aphasia as a predictor of stroke outcome. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2017 Sep 19;17(11):83.   28929424 
Cukierman-Yaffe, T., Gerstein, H.C., Miller, M.E., Launer, L.J., Williamson, J., Horowitz, K., Ismail-Beigi, F., Lazar, R.M. Cognitive function predicts incident CVD in people with diabetes: an analysis from the ACCORD-MIND study, J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017 Jun 1. doi: 10.1210/jc.2016-3480. [Epub ahead of print]   28575229 
Howard, V.J., Meschia, J.F., Lal, B.K., Turan, T.N., Roubin, G.S., Brown, R.D., Voeks, J.H., Barrett, K.M., Demaerschalk, B.M., Huston, J., Lazar, R.M., Moore, W.S., Wadley, V.G., Chaturvedi, S., Moy, C.S., Chimowitz, M., Howard, G., Brott, T.G. Carotid revascularization and medical management for asymptomatic carotid stenosis: Protocol of the CREST-2 Clinical Trials, International Journal of Stroke. 2017;12(7):770- 778.  28462683 
Pavol, M.K., Stein, J., Kabir, F.M., Yip, J., Sorkin, L.Y., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M. Understanding the connection between cognitive impairment and mobility; what can be gained by neuropsychology assessment? Rehabil Res Pract. 2017;2017. Epub 2017 Apr 27.   28536658 
Yaghi, S., Herber, C., Boehme, A.K., Andrews, H., Willey, J.Z., Rostanski, S., Khan, M., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M., Boden-Albala, B. NIHSS score Components Predict Infarct Volume in Minor Ischemic Stroke. Journal of Neuroimaging. 2017, [Epub ahead of print]   28066971 
Lansky, A.J., Messé, S.R., Brickman, A.M., Dwyer, M., van der Worp, B., Lazar, R.M., Pietras, C.G., Abrams, K.J., McFadden, E., Petersen, N.H., Browndyke, J., Prendergast, B., Ng, V.G., Cutlip, D.E., Kapadia, S., Krucoff, M.W., Linke, A., Moy, C.S., Schofer, J., van Es, G.A., Virmani, R., JPopma. J., Parides, M., Kodali, S., Bilello, M., Akar, J., Furie, K.L., Gress, D., Voros, S., Moses, J., Greer, D., Forrest, J.K. , Holmes, D., Kappetein, A.P., Mack, M., Baumbach, A.M.D. Standardized Neurologic Endpoints for Cardiovascular Clinical Trials: An Academic Research Consortium Initiative (NeuroARC), Eur Heart J. 2017 Feb 7. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 28171522, and J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017 Feb 14;69(6):679-691.  28183511 
Cramer, S.C., Wolf, S.L., Adams Jr, H.P., Chen, D., Dromerick, A.W., Dunning, K., Ellerbe, C., Grande, A., Janis, S., Lansberg, M.G., Lazar, R.M., PhD, Palesch, Y.Y., Pautler, M., Richards, L., Roth, E., Savitz, S.I., Wechsler, L.R., Wintermark, M., Broderick, J.P. Stroke Recovery & Rehabilitation Research: Issues, Opportunities, and NIH StrokeNet, Stroke. 2017 Mar;48(3):813-819.   28174324 
Mokin, M., Zivadinov, R., Dwyer, M.G., Lazar, R.M., Hopkins, L.N., Siddiqui, A.H. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement – Perioperative Stroke and Beyond. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2017 Apr;17(4):327-334.  27786568 
Kapadia, S.R., Kodali,, S., Makkar, R., Mehran, R., Lazar, R.M., Virmani, R., Anwaruddin, S., Thourani, V.H., Nazif, T. Mangner, Woitek, F., Krishnaswamy, A., Mick, S., McCabe, J.M., Lowell, L., Zajarias, A., Wilson, Y., Szeto, W.Y., Svensson, L., Alu, M.C. MS, White, Kraemer, C., Parhizgar, A., Leon, M.B., Linke, A. Embolic Protection During Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2017 Jan 31;69(4):367-377  27815101 
Schambra, H., Martinez-Hernandez, I.E., Slane, K.J., Boehme, A.K., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M. 2016. The neurophysiological effects of single-dose theophylline in chronic stroke patients. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 2016;34(5):799-813.   27567756 
Asllani, I., Slattery, P., Fafard, A., Pavol, M., Lazar, R.M., Marshall, R.S. Measurement of Cortical Thickness Asymmetry in Carotid Occlusive Disease. Neuroimaging. 2016. 12:640-644.   27722088 
Boehme, A.K., Martin-Schild. S., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M. The Effect of Aphasia on Acute Stroke Outcomes, Neurology, 2016. Neurology. 2016 Nov 29:87(22):2348-2354.   27765864 
Marshall, R.S., Pavol, M.A., Cheung, Y.C., Strom, S., Slane, K., Asllani, I., Lazar, R.M. Dissociation among hemodynamic measures in asymptomatic high grade carotid artery stenosis. Journal of Neurological Sciences. J Neurol Sci. 2016 Aug 15;367:143-7.   2742357 
Dunn, L.E., Schweber, A.B., Lendaris, A.R., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M. Variability in Motor and Language Recovery during the Acute Stroke Period. Cerebrovascular Disease EXTRA. 2016 Mar 22:6(1):12-21.   27099611 
Gutierrez, J., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M. Arterial stiffness as a predictor of cognitive performance in subjects with and without vascular disease. JAMA Neurology. 2015 Mar 1:72(3):309-15.  25599130 
Spruill, T.M., Williams, O., Teresi, J.A., Lehrer, S., Pezzin, L., Waddy, S.P., Lazar, R.M., Williams, S.K., Jean-Louis, G., Ravenell, J. Penesetti, Favate, A., Flores, J., Henry, K.A., Kleiman, A., Levine, S.R., Sinert, R., Smith, T.Y., Stern, M., Ogedegbe, G. Comparative effectiveness of home blood pressure telemonitoring (HBPTM) plus nurse case management versus HBPTM alone among Black and Hispanic stroke survivors: Study protocol for the stroke telemonitoring trial. Trials. 2015 Dec:16(1):605. doi: 10.1186/s13063-015-0605-5. Epub 2015 Mar 15.  25778602 
Yaghi, S., Herber, C., Willey, J.Z., Andrews, H., Boehme, A.K., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M., Boden Albala, B. Itemized NIHSS subsets predict positive MRI strokes in patients with mild deficits, Journal of Neurological Sciences. 2015 Nov 15:358(1-2):221-5.   26375623 
Bruening, E.D., Dharssi, S., Lazar, R.M., Marshall, R.S., Isllani, I. Improved Partial Volume Correction Method for Detecting Brain Activation in Disease Using Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) fMRI. Conference Proceeding of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. 2015 August. 2015:5441-4.   26737522 
. Hugenschmidt, C.E., Lovato, J.F., Ambrosius, Bryan R.N., Gerstein, H.C., Horowitz, K.R., Launer, L.J., Lazar, R.M., Murray, A.M., Chew, E.Y., Danis, R.P., Williamson, J.D., Miller, M.E., Ding, J. The cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of diabetic retinopathy with cognitive function and brain MRI findings: The Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) Trial. Diabetes Care. 2014 Dec:37(12):3244-52.   25193529 
Willey, J.Z., Demmer, R.T., Takayama, H., Colombo, P.C., Lazar, R.M., Cerebrovascular disease in the era of left ventricular assist devices with continuous flow: risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014 Sep:33(9):878-87, ePub ahead of print.  24997495 
Bryan, R.N., Bilello, M., Davatzikos, C., Lazar, R.M., Murray, A., Horowitz, K., Lovato, J., Miller, M.E., Williamson, J., Launer, L.J. Effect of Diabetes on Brain Structure: The Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes MR Imaging Baseline Data. Radiology. 2014 Jul:272(1):210-216.   24779562 
Marshall, R.S., Festa, J.R., Cheung, Y.K., Pavol, M.A., Derdeyn, C.P., Clarke, W.R., Videen, T.O., Grubb, R.L., Slane, K., Powers, W.J., Lazar, R.M.; RECON Investigators. Randomized Evaluation of Carotid Occlusion and Neurocognition (RECON) trial: main results. Neurology. 2014:82:744-751.   24477109 
Williamson, J.D., Launer, L.J., Bryan, R.N., Coker, L.H., Lazar, R.M., Gerstein, H.C., Murray, A.M., Sullivan, M.D., Horowitz, K.R., Ding, J., Marcovina, S., Lovato, L., Lovato, J., Margolis, K.L., Davatzikos, C., Barzilay, J., Ginsberg, H.N., Linz, P.E., Miller, M.E.; Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes Memory in Diabetes Investigators.Cognitive function and brain structure in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus after intensive lowering of blood pressure and lipid levels: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2014:174:324-333.  24493100 
Cumming, T.B., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M. Stroke, cognitive deficits, and rehabilitation: still an incomplete picture. International Journal of Stroke: official journal of the International Stroke Society. 2013:8:38-45.   23280268 
Kitago, T., Liang, J., Huang, V.S., Hayes, S., Simon, P., Tenteromano, L., Lazar, R.M., Marshall, R.S., Mazzoni, P., Lennihan, L., Krakauer, J.W. Improvement after constraint-induced movement therapy: recovery of normal motor control or task-specific compensation? Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 2013:27:99-109.   22798152 
Merino, J.G., Latour, L.L., Tso, A., Lee, K.Y., Kang, D.W., Davis, L.A., Lazar, R.M., Horvath, K.A., Corso, P.J., Warach, S. Blood-brain barrier disruption after cardiac surgery. AJNR American Journal of Neuroradiology. 2013:34:518-523.   229184 
Marshall, R.S., Festa, J.R., Cheung, Y.K., Chen, R., Pavol, M.A., Derdeyn, C.P., Clarke, W.R., Videen, T.O., Grubb, R.L., Adams, H.P., Powers, W.J., Lazar, R.M. Cerebral hemodynamics and cognitive impairment: baseline data from the RECON trial. Neurology. 2012:78:250-255.   22238418 
Punthakee, Z., Miller, M.E., Launer, L.J., Williamson, J.D., Lazar, R.M., Cukierman-Yaffee, T., Seaquist, E.R., Ismail-Beigi, F., Sullivan, M.D., Lovato, L.C., Bergenstal, R.M., Gerstein, H.C.; ACCORD Group of Investigators; ACCORD-MIND Investigators. Poor cognitive function and risk of severe hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetes: post hoc epidemiologic analysis of the ACCORD trial. Diabetes Care. 2012:35:787-793.   22374637 
Becker, L.B., Aufderheide, T.P., Geocadin, R.G., Callaway, C.W., Lazar, R.M., Donnino, M.W., Nadkarni, V.M., Abella, B.S., Adrie, C., Berg, R.A., Merchant, R.M., O'Connor, R.E., Meltzer, D.O., Holm, M.B., Longstreth, W.T., Halperin, H.R.; American Heart Association Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee; Council on Cardiopulmonary. Primary outcomes for resuscitation science studies: a consensus statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2011:124:2158-2177.   21969010 
Festa, J.R., Jia, X., Cheung, K., Marchidann, A., Schmidt, M., Shapiro, P.A., Mancini, D.M., Naka, Y., Deng, M., Lantz, E.R., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M.. Association of low ejection fraction with impaired verbal memory in older patients with heart failure. Archives of Neurology. 2011:68:1021-1026.  21825237 
Launer, L.J., Miller, M.E., Williamson, J.D., Lazar, R.M., Gerstein, H.C., Murray, A.M., Sullivan, M., Horowitz, K.R., Ding, J., Marcovina, S., Lovato, L.C., Lovato, J., Margolis, K.L., O'Connor, P., Lipkin, E.W., Hirsch, J., Coker, L., Maldjian, J., Sunshine, J.L., Truwit, C., Davatzikos, C., Bryan, R.N.; ACCORD MIND investigators. Effects of intensive glucose lowering on brain structure and function in people with type 2 diabetes (ACCORD MIND): a randomised open-label substudy. Lancet Neurology. 2011:10:969-977.   21958949 
Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M. Pumps, aqueducts, and drought management: vascular physiology in vascular cognitive impairment. Stroke. 2011:42:221-226.   21148438 
Pavol, M., Goldberg, E., Mohr, J.P., Ruff, I., Lazar, R. Severe aphasia following infarction in the territory of the left anterior choroidal artery. Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2011:32:197-198.   21849781 
Zarahn, E., Alon, L., Ryan, S.L., Lazar, R.M., Vry, M.S., Weiller, C., Marshall, R.S., Krakauer, J.W. Prediction of motor recovery using initial impairment and fMRI 48 h poststroke. Cerebral Cortex. 2011;21:2712-2721.   21527788 
Lazar, R.M., Mohr, J.P. Revisiting the Contributions of Paul Broca to the Study of Aphasia, Neuropsychology Review. 2011: 21:236-239.   21833728 
Dhamoon, M.S., Lazar, R.M., Marshall, R.S. Impairment versus activity limitation after incident ischaemic stroke. International Journal of Stroke: official journal of the International Stroke Society. 2010:5:132-133.   20446950 
Festa, J.R., Schwarz, L.R., Pliskin, N., Cullum, C.M., Lacritz, L., Charbel, F.T., Mathews, D., Starke, R.M., Connolly, E.S., Marshall, R.S., Lazar, R.M. Neurocognitive dysfunction in adult moyamoya disease. Journal of Neurology. 2010:257:806-815.   20033200 
Lazar, R.M., Berman, M.F., Festa, J.R., Geller, A.E., Matejovsky, T.G., Marshall, R.S. GABAergic but not anti-cholinergic agents re-induce clinical deficits after stroke. Journal of the Neurological Sciences. 2010:292:72-76.   20172537 
Lazar, R.M., Minzer, B., Antoniello, D., Festa, J.R., Krakauer, J.W., Marshall, R.S. Improvement in aphasia scores after stroke is well predicted by initial severity. Stroke. 2010:41:1485-1488.   20538700 
 

Keywords
Neurovascular Neuropsychology, Cerebrovascular Disease, Cardiac Disease, Cerebral Hemodynamics