Eva Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., to be honored at national Physician of the Year Awards

University of Michigan physician and researcher Eva L. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., will be honored as one of America’s top doctors at the 11th Annual National Physician of the Year Awards on March 21 in New York.

Presented by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., the annual awards recognize and honor exemplary physicians practicing in communities throughout the United States.

Feldman is one of three recipients of the Clinical Excellence Award, which recognizes physicians who exemplify excellence in clinical medical practice.

“It is such an honor to be recognized, but this is truly the result of tremendous teamwork,” says Feldman, the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology. “U-M attracts such talented and dedicated people to serve our patients in every way, through brilliant staff, cutting-edge research and world-class facilities. I feel deeply privileged to be a practicing clinician-scientist at the University of Michigan.”

In addition to her clinical work, she also serves as director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute and director of the Program for Neurology Research and Discovery.

Feldman is on the forefront of applying stem cell research to human disease. She is the principal investigator of the first clinical trial of intraspinal transplantation of stem cells in patients with ALS, which completed Phase 2 in 2014. To date, 30 patients have received up to 16 million stem cells injected directly to their spinal cords. A similar therapy is being studied for use in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

She has published more than 325 original peer-reviewed articles, 60 book chapters and three books. Feldman has more than 25 years of continuous NIH funding and is currently the principal or co-investigator of five major National Institutes of Health research grants, three private foundation grants and one clinical trial focused on understanding and treating neurological disorders, with an emphasis on ALS and diabetic neuropathy.

Feldman has received many honors, including U-M’s Early Distinguished Career Award and Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, along with several scientific achievement awards in the field of diabetes. In 2010 she was elected to the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, and she has been listed in Best Doctors in America for more than 12 consecutive years. She served as President of the American Neurological Association from 2011 to 2013 and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2014.