Allison Brashear, MD, MBA

Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, is a globally recognized neurologist and transformative leader in academic medicine. As vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo (UB), she is driving innovation through interdisciplinary collaboration and strategic partnerships across the health sciences. She also serves as president and CEO of UBMD Physicians’ Group, advancing clinical excellence and integrated care.

In these roles, Brashear leads the strategic integration of interprofessional education, collaborative research, and clinical programs across UB’s health sciences schools — medicine, dental medicine, nursing, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, and public health and health professions — as well as partnerships with the university’s hospital and clinical affiliates.

She also serves on the university’s senior leadership team, working with the president, provost, deans, and other key leaders to advance UB’s mission of excellence in education, research, and engagement.

In 2025, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in health and medicine, recognizing her leadership in academic medicine and neuroscience.

A leading authority on ATP1A3-related diseases—a group of rare neurological disorders—Brashear has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2008. Her groundbreaking research has led to the approval of three botulinum toxin therapies for post-stroke spasticity and other neurologic conditions. She was the first to describe rapid-onset dystonia-Parkinsonism (RDP) and led the pivotal clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrating the efficacy of botulinum toxin in treating wrist and finger spasticity after stroke.

Before joining UB, Brashear served as dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, where she led the school to national recognition for diversity, primary care, and research, achieving record research funding of $368 million. Prior to that, she was professor and chair of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, where she held the Walter C. Teagle Endowed Chair, expanded the department, and co-led a NeuroNEXT clinical trial site funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

She earned her medical degree and completed a neurology residency at Indiana University School of Medicine. Her training in health-sector management was completed at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, where she earned an MBA. She is also an alumna of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program and the physician leadership program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

A respected national voice in academic medicine, Brashear contributes through board service and thought leadership. She serves as a trustee of the McKnight Brain Research Foundation and sits on the boards of the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Western New York Women’s Foundation. She is also a member of the AAMC Council of Deans Administrative Board and was named chair-elect in 2024.

In 2023, she was honored with the ATHENA Leadership Award by the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, recognizing her professional excellence, community leadership, and commitment to mentoring women.

She also supports the work of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) through her leadership in the Council of Deans LCME Advisory Group, helping to shape the future of medical education accreditation in a rapidly evolving academic landscape.