Daniel Lowenstein, MD
Dr. Daniel H. Lowenstein is the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, and the Robert B. and Ellinor Aird Professor of Neurology in the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco ( UCSF).
Dr. Lowenstein received his B.A. degree in Mathematics from the University of Colorado in 1973, an M.S. degree in Man-Environment Relations from The Pennsylvania State University in 1978, and an M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1983. Following an internship in Pediatrics at UCSF in 1983-84, he completed his residency in Neurology at UCSF from 1984-87, serving as Chief Resident in the final year. He then did a two-year fellowship in Stanley Prusiner's Laboratory, investigating the sequence homology of the PrP gene in various rodent species. He went on to become a faculty member in the Department of Neurology at UCSF, established the UCSF Epilepsy Research Laboratory, and became the Robert B. and Ellinor Aird Professor of Neurology from 1998-2000. He then joined Harvard Medical School (HMS) as the Dean for Medical Education for two and a half years, overseeing a re-organization of curricular governance, the creation of a new educational technology program, the establishment of the HMS Academy (a novel structure for the support of the school’s education mission), and the initial planning for a major revision of the curriculum. In 2003, for family reasons, he moved back to UCSF in his current position.
Dr. Lowenstein is a clinician-scientist who studies both basic science and clinical aspects of epilepsy. His laboratory studies (carried out from 1989 to 2002) have addressed the fundamental mechanisms of neuronal network remodeling that occur during epileptogenesis; i.e. the process in which a normal network transforms into a hyperexcitable network capable of producing or relaying seizure activity. The main efforts of his research group focused on the various forms of cellular reorganization that are observed in humans with temporal lobe epilepsy, and the parallels between reorganization in the adult nervous system and normal developmental processes. Important findings by his team included the discovery that seizure activity in an adult model of temporal lobe epilepsy causes a marked increase in the birth of hippocampal neurons, and the recognition that numerous molecules responsible for normal development are also expressed in this same brain region in the adult. These studies bear not only on the neurobiology of epilepsy, but also on the broader issue of neurodevelopment and the capacity for regeneration in the adult nervous system after injury.
In 2002, Dr. Lowenstein turned his attention toward questions related to the genetic basis of common forms of human epilepsy. Working with colleagues from throughout the world, he helped create the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project (EPGP), an international, multi-institutional, collaborative study that enrolled more than 4,000 participants and created one of the most extensive and detailed phenotype datasets compiled to date, with the aim of determining the genetic determinants of various forms of epilepsy using whole exome and whole genome sequencing. In 2011, Dr. Lowenstein and colleagues were successful in receiving funding for a new NINDS Epilepsy Center Without Walls entitled “Epi4K: Gene Discovery in 4,000 Epilepsy Genomes”, which has as one of its goals the analysis of the EPGP cohorts. This joint work of EPGP and Epi4K has yielded major new insights into the genetic basis of both common forms of non-acquired epilepsy, the epileptic encephalopathies (a particularly devastating form of epilepsy), and epilepsy due to specific malformations of cortical development. EPGP and Epi4K were also the basis for the current large-scale epilepsy genetics initiative, Epi25, which is an international, collaborative effort that aims to carry out exome sequencing of over 25,000 patients with epilepsy, and for which Dr. Lowenstein is a member of the leadership team.
Dr. Lowenstein's main clinical research to date has been on the management and treatment of patients with status epilepticus; i.e. unusually prolonged seizures. He was the Principal Investigator of a prospective, multi-centered, NINDS-sponsored clinical trial looking at the potential benefits of active treatment of patients in status epilepticus in the pre-hospital setting. This five-year study, completed in 1999, helped define the optimal therapy for these patients nationally. Dr, Lowenstein currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator and member of the Neurological Emergency Treatment Trials (NETT) Clinical Coordinating Center, which oversees a network of academic centers and affiliated hospitals in the U.S. carrying out numerous clinical trials related to acute neurological disease. As part of this effort, he was Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Robert Silbergleit for the recently completed Rapid Anticonvulsant Medications Prior to Arrival Trial (RAMPART) study, which successfully demonstrated the utility of intramuscular benzodiazepine treatment of status epilepticus in the pre-hospital setting. RAMPART was selected as the “2013 Clinical Trial of the Year” by the Society for Clinical Trials.
Dr. Lowenstein’s efforts in epilepsy research were recognized by the American Epilepsy Society’s 2001 Basic Research Award, an honor given each year to the foremost basic science investigator whose research “contributes importantly to understanding and conquering epilepsy.” He also served as president of the American Epilepsy Society in 2003-04, and was selected as the 2012 recipient of the Lennox Award, given to “a clinician-scientist who is felt to be among the most outstanding investigators in the field of epilepsy research." This year, he received an Ambassador Award from the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) “in recognition of outstanding international contributions to the cause of epilepsy.” He was also recently appointed as Chair of the ILAE Genetics Commission for the next four years.
Dr. Lowenstein has also been actively involved in defining scientific policy at the national level, having served a 4-year term as a member of the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and Chair of the NINDS Clinical Trials Subcommittee from 2000-2004. He was also the Chair of the NINDS Epilepsy Benchmarks Committee since its inception in 2000 until 2016, and Chair of the NINDS Epilepsy Common Date Elements (CDE) Committee since its formation in 2008 until 2018.
In 2017, Dr. Lowenstein was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of his numerous contributions to academic medicine.
In addition to his research interests, Dr. Lowenstein is an avid and highly-regarded teacher, and he has had an active role at UCSF concerning issues related to cultural diversity and civil rights. In recognition of his leadership at UCSF in these areas, as well as his long-standing advocacy for students, staff and faculty of all backgrounds, he received the 1998 Black Student Health Association’s Faculty Award, the 1998 UCSF Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, the 2006 Holly Smith Award for Exceptional Service to the UCSF School of Medicine, the 2009 UCSF Chancellor’s Award for Public Service, and the 2015 UCSF Chancellor’s Award for Disability Services. In 2013, he was selected by the UCSF community to deliver “The Last Lecture” (see: http://youtu.be/ymAlnYRuBOA).
Regarding his teaching accomplishments, Dr. Lowenstein has received essentially every major award related to medical student education granted both locally at UCSF and nationally. He received multiple awards from the 1st and 2nd year classes at UCSF, including those for "A Major Contribution to Teaching," "Outstanding Lecture," "Outstanding Lecture Series," and "An Outstanding Role Model." Other major awards include the 1992 UCSF Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, the 1993 and 1998 UCSF Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching, the UCSF Class of 1995 John V. Carbone Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Faculty Teaching Awards in 1994 and 1996. Dr. Lowenstein has given the Keynote Address for graduating medical students at Commencement Ceremonies at UCSF six times. In 1996, the UCSF students awarded him the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. He went on to receive the AMSA 1997 National Golden Apple for Teaching Excellence Award, which is given to one medical school teacher in the country each year. In addition, the American Neurological Association (ANA) named him the first recipient of the ANA Distinguished Teacher Award in 1997, and in 1998 he was granted the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award by the American Association of Medical Colleges.
In addition to his professional activities, Dr. Lowenstein is an avid skier and wilderness traveller who has hiked, climbed and canoed extensively throughout the world, including mountaineering and canoe expeditions in Asia, Central and South America, Canada and the United States.