Department Overview

Section of General Neurology

Faculty:

Steven Lewis, MD, Section Head		Jacob Fox, MD, Chairman		Jordan Topel, MD
Madhu Soni, MD		Megan Shanks, MD		Allison L. Weathers, MD
Robert Wright, MD

The Section of General Neurology includes six full-time general clinical neurologists and two full-time nurse clinicians. The general neurology faculty have a variety of clinical and academic interests. Each member of the section has extensive experience caring for patients with a wide range of neurological problems. The general neurologists maintain active clinical practices at Rush University Medical Center.

The Section of General Neurology is dedicated to the clinical education of house staff and to the development of residents' decision-making skills. One of the most important responsibilities of the section is our commitment to the neurology residents' ambulatory clinic. During each resident clinic, a member of the section works closely with residents in the evaluation of patients. Every patient examined by a resident is presented to, discussed with, and re-examined by the attending general neurologist. Each attending general neurologist supervises the same resident clinic each week to assure continuity of care by the resident and attending staff.

Steven L. Lewis, MD, graduated from Yale University with a BA in Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics, received his medical education at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and did his medical internship and neurology residency at the University of Chicago. He is Professor of Neurological Sciences at Rush University Medical Center, where he serves as Associate Chairman of the department, Head of the Section of General Neurology, and Director of the Neurology Residency Program. He is Section Co-Editor for Continuing Medical Education for the Journal Neurology, serves on the Editorial Board of Continuum: Lifelong Learning in Neurology, and is immediate past-Chair of the A.B. Baker Section of Neurologic Education for the American Academy of Neurology. He was Neurology Book Editor for the Medical Knowledge and Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP 13 and 14) for the American College of Physicians, and is the author of the book Field Guide to the Neurologic Examination published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. His main clinical and academic interests are general clinical neurology, transient global amnesia, and neurologic education.

Jacob H. Fox, MD, is chairman of the Department of Neurological Sciences at Rush University Medical Center and co-director of the Rush Neuroscience Institute. A native of Chicago, he graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1967. Following an internship in medicine at Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital, Dr. Fox did his neurology residency at Barnes Hospital (Washington University) in St. Louis, Missouri. He was subsequently named chief of neurology at DeWitt Army Hospital in Belvoir, Virginia.

"Jack" joined Rush's medical staff and faculty in 1973. He served as co-director of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center from 1985 until August 1998. He began a 2-year term as president of the Medical Staff of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center on July 1, 1997. In this capacity, he was elected Trustee and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. Dr. Fox served as Provost, Rush University, February 2002 to June 30, 2004.

Dr. Fox is board certified in neurology. His longtime professional interest is in cerebral decline as it relates to aging. Committed to resident education, Dr. Fox's favorite time of the week is spent with the residents, reviewing interesting cases at noon conference.

Allison L. Weathers, MD, was raised in South Florida and completed her undergraduate work in 3 years at the University of Miami, graduating as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. She then attended the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and served as president of the AOA Alpha Chapter of Florida. Following graduation from medical school she moved to Chicago where she completed her internship in medicine at the University of Chicago and neurology residency at Rush University Medical Center. She did one year of post-residency training in the field of neuro-oncology and then returned to Rush where she completed a fellowship in advanced general neurology.

Dr. Weathers is now an assistant professor of neurological sciences at Rush. She is also associate medical director for medical services within the Department of Information Services. In this exciting new role, she is involved in Rush's implementation of an electronic medical record system, with concentration on the role and responsibilities of housestaff. Her main clinical and academic interests are general clinical neurology, neurologic education, and medical informatics.

Megan Shanks, MD, joined Rush University Neurologists in December 2004. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Northwestern University in 1988 and went on to obtain her medical degree from Rush Medical College in 1993. After finishing a residency in neurology at UC San Diego in 1997, Dr. Shanks went on to receive advanced training as a neurophysiology EMG fellow at the Cleveland Clinic in 1998. She practiced general neurology from 1998 to 2003 in the Chicago north shore area. During that time she treated a wide range of neurologic disorders, in particular stroke and neuromuscular disease, lectured at public health fairs, and served as an examiner for the ABPN.

At Rush from 2004 through 2006 she specialized in neurocritical care and stroke. Since 2006 she has focused on neuromuscular disease, and is proud to be a part of the muscular dystrophy team at the Rush MDA clinic. She is board certified in neurology, clinical neurophysiology, and vascular neurology, and ASN certified in neurosonology. Dr. Shanks' specialty interests are in nerve and muscle disease. Dr. Shanks is delighted to be an active participant in residency education and patient care.