Steven R. Levine, MD

Steven R. Levine, MD, is a SUNY Distinguished Professor of Neurology and serves as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Department of Neurology. He is also the Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Faculty Development at the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. Dr. Levine was raised on Long Island, NY, and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for his undergraduate education. He graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed his neurology training at the University of Michigan. Following this, he undertook a two-year fellowship in stroke at the Henry Ford Health Sciences Center and the NIH Center for Stroke Research in Detroit.

Before joining SUNY Downstate in 2010, Dr. Levine held faculty positions at the Henry Ford Health System and Wayne State University, where he directed their Comprehensive Stroke Centers. He also worked at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Medical Center in New York.

Dr. Levine is a vascular neurologist who is involved in new treatments through clinical trials, having established multiple clinical trial networks at SUNY including emergency neurology trials (NETT and SIREN), acute and preventive stroke trials (as site PI for the Columbia/Cornell StrokeNET Regional Coordinating Center), and other neurological diseases (through SUNY NeuroNEXT). He is a pioneer in the concept of Telestroke. He has investigated the epidemiology of putative stroke risk factors such as antiphospholipid antibodies.

Dr. Levine has maintained 34 consecutive years of NIH funding, and he has published over 240 peer-reviewed original papers, authored three books, written 68 book chapters, contributed 75 reviews/invited articles, and penned 38 editorials. He has mentored more than 30 stroke fellows, 60 neurology residents, and numerous medical students. Throughout his career, he has received several awards for his contributions to teaching, research, and clinical care, and has been listed as one of America’s Top Doctors for 20 years. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Heart Association, and the American Neurological Association.

Dr. Levine has three children and five grandchildren. His hobbies, apart from time with family, include playing chess, making music (guitar and piano), walking, and reading.

Education

• Undergraduate: University of Michigan, B.S.
• Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
• Internship: Wayne State University Affiliated Hospitals-Sinai Hospital of Detroit
• Residency: University of Michigan Medical Center
• Fellowship: NIH Center for Stroke Research at Henry Ford Hospital & Health Sciences Center

Research Interests

• Cerebrovascular disease
• Stroke
• Clinical trials
• Antiphospholipid syndrome
• Digital technology for stroke
• Post-stroke fatigue

• IFeldmann E, Wilterdink JL, Kosinski A, Lynn M, Chimowitz MI, Smith HH, Nichols, Rogg J, Cloft, Wechsler L, Saver J, Levine SR, Tegeler C, Adams R, Sloan M, and the The Stroke Outcomes and Neuroimaging of Intracranial Atherosclerosis (SONIA) Trial Investigators: The Stroke Outcomes and Neuroimaging of Intracranial Atherosclerosis (SONIA) Trial. Neurology 2007;68: 2099-2106.
• Demchuk AM, Khan F, Hill MD, Barber PA, Silver B, Patel S, Levine SR: Importance of leukoaraiosis on CT for tPA decision making: Evaluation of the NINDS rt-PA Stroke Study. Cerebrovasc Dis 2008;26:120-125.
• Cucchiara BL, Tanne D, Levine SR, Demchuk A, Kasner SE: A risk score to predict intracerebral hemorrhage after rt-PA for acute ischemic stroke. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2008;17:331-3.
• Turan TN, Maidan L, Cotsonis G, Lynn MJ, Romano JG, Levine SR, Chimowitz MI, for the WASID Investigators: Failure of antithrombotic therapy and risk of stroke in patients with symptomatic intracranial stenosis. Stroke 2009;40:505-509.
• Rajamani K, Chaturvedi S, Jin Z, Homma S, Brey RL, Tilley BC, Sacco RL, Thompson JLP, Mohr JP, Levine SR, on behalf of the PICSS/APASS Investigators. Patent foramen ovale, cardiac valve thickening and antiphospholipid antibodies as risk factors for subsequent vascular events: The PICSS-APASS Study. Stroke 2009;40:2337-42.
• Cucchiara B, Kasner SE, Tanne D, Levine SR, Demchuk A, Messe SR, Sansing L, Lee KR, Lyden P, for the SAINT Investigators: Factors associated with intracerebral hemorrhage following thrombolytic therapy for ischemic stroke: pooled analysis of placebo data from the SAINT-I and SAINT-II trials. Stroke 2009;40:3067-72.
• Rhoney DH, Coplin WM, Lin Y, Frankel M, Lyden PD, Levine SR: Time of day, outcome, and response to thrombolytic therapy: The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator Stroke Trial experience. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2010;19:40-48.
• Chan, YF, Nagurka R, Richardson L, Zaets S, Brimacombe M, Levine, SR: Effectiveness of stroke education in the emergency department waiting room, J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2010;19:209-15.
• Moskowitz A, Chan Y-F Y, Bruns J, Levine SR: A Survey of emergency physician and stroke specialist beliefs and expectations regarding telestroke. Stroke 2010; 41:805-9.
• Haley EC, Thompson JLP, Grotta JC, Lyden PD, Hemmen TM, Brown DL, Fanale C, Libman R, Kwiatkowski TG, Llinas RH, Levine SR, Johnston KC, Buchsbaum R, Levy G, Levin B, for the TNK in Stroke Investigators: Phase IIB/III trial of tenecteplase in acute stroke: Results of a prematurely terminated randomized clinical trial. Stroke 2010;41:707-711.
• Messé SR, Kasner SE, Cucchiara BL, Demchuk A, Tanne D, Ouyang B, Levine SR; for the NINDS t-PA Stroke Study Group: Dosing errors did not have a major impact on outcome in the NINDS t-PA Stroke Study. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2010;19: In Press.
• Cucchiara B, Kasner SE, Tanne D, Levine SR, Demchuk A, Messe SR, Sansing L, Lees KR, Lyden P, for the SAINT Investigators: Validation assessment of risk scores to predict postthrombolysis ICH. Int J Stroke 2010, In Press.