By Raya Tahan
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Bridging the medical school with the University of Arizona's main campus Ÿ to "cross Speedway" Ÿ is the goal of the College of Medicine's new Neurology Department head.
Dr. Bruce Coull, who took over as department head in July, said he would like to utilize the talents of people in undergraduate and graduate areas, including electrical and mechanical engineering. One of the advantages of a campus like this, he said, is the ability to involve the medical school faculty with the main campus facility.
Coull said the study of language disorders can be advanced by working with the communication and speech departments.
Prior to joining the College of Medicine, Coull was the chief of neurology at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Portland, Ore.
He replaced Dr. Allen Rubins, who retired in December 1994.
"I'm happy to be here," he said. "Unlike in Oregon, we have a complete university, the challenge and opportunity of which is to involve what we do here with what happens on the campus."
He came to Arizona, he said, because he saw many opportunities to develop clinical neuroscience. He would like the medical school to advance scientific frontiers including diagnosing and curing illness.
Because Arizona has a large retiree population, Coull said, he would like to advance the research of diseases which affect the aging, such as strokes, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Dr. James Dalen, the Dean of the College of Medicine said, "Dr. Coull is an outstanding clinical neurologist who is nationally recognized for his research in the treatment of strokes."
Coull said he also would like to research diseases that afflict the younger population, including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy. He would like to work with the Tucson Muscular Dystrophy Association.