The Boca Raton Regional Hospital (BRRH) is seeking a board certified neurologist with expertise in memory disorders and dementia to serve as the Director of the Center for Memory Disorders and Alzheimer’s disease at the new, state-of-the-art, $52 million Marcus Neuroscience Institute (MNI). The 56,000 square foot facility will serve as a new, state-of-the-art nexus of care for neurologic and neurosurgical patients, transforming the landscape of clinical and research capabilities available in the region. The incoming Director will also serve as the Endowed Chair for the Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center, a State-designated Memory Disorder Clinic and the first dementia-specific adult day care to be named a “Specialized Alzheimer’s Services Center” by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration’s Division of Health Quality Assurance.

The leader of MNI’s Memory Disorders & Alzheimer’s Disease program will oversee the first academically oriented neurology program in the area dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment and research associated with the full spectrum of memory disorders. The program will serve an immediate catchment population of approximately 1.5 million people residing within Boca Raton and Palm Beach County. This catchment population has a higher propensity for age-related diseases such as memory disorders or Alzheimer’s disease, due in part to the fact that the median age of the catchment population is 43 years old, 7 years greater than the national average. Other aspects of the position include:

Academic Faculty Appointment

The Boca Raton Regional Hospital is the primary teaching hospital for Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine; thus, incoming candidates will have a full academic faculty appointment at the FAU Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery via the Marcus Neuroscience Institute.

Protected Time for Research and Administration

The Neurologists and Neurosurgeons at the MNI will enjoy a standard (minimum) 20% protected time for academic activities such as clinical teaching, research projects, publications, etc.

Leadership Opportunity

The incoming Director of Memory Disorders will play a significant leadership role in the programmatic development of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute’s clinical and research enterprise, with an exclusive focus on memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. With the assistance and participation of the large cadre of neuroscientists described below, the Director of the Memory Disorders and Alzheimer’s disease will also be at the forefront of developing the division’s vision for research and education.

Research Opportunity

For individuals with research interests, the Marcus Neuroscience Institute has sufficient lab space and resources to support the full of spectrum clinical and/or basic science research. The Institute has dedicated a significant portion of an adjacent 16,000 square foot facility which has been repurposed for research and academic initiatives. MNI’s physicians will also benefit from the strategic partnerships and affiliations that have been established for the purpose of collaboration and mentorship from the world-renowned neuroscientists at the nearby Scripps Research Institute and the endowed ‘Marcus Neuroscience Scholars’ at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, as well as the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies Florida, and the Vaccine Gene Therapy Institute of Florida.

Required Qualifications

Qualified candidates will be board certified/eligible neurologists with fellowship training in memory disorders. Candidates must have at least three (3) years of post-training experience to qualify. Prior leadership experience is ideal, but not required. The incoming director will demonstrate a strong clinical acumen, a track record of academic productivity, and an ability to mentor and lead the energetic team of neurologists and mid-level providers. Candidates must be eligible for medical licensure in the state of Florida.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will be an accomplished memory disorders neurologist seeking the opportunity to build and lead one of the country’s premier academically oriented memory disorders and Alzheimer’s disease programs in the United States through clinical excellence, novel research therapies, and mentorship of jr. faculty and extenders.

Marcus Neuroscience Institute

$25 Million Grant

In 2012, the Boca Raton Regional Hospital received the largest, single philanthropic grant in the organization’s history when Bernie Marcus, co-founder and former CEO of The Home Depot, initiated a $25 million grant to create the Marcus Neuroscience Institute on the Hospital’s main campus. Now a resident of Boca Raton, Mr. Marcus is a noted billionaire philanthropist whose largess has benefited myriad causes including the Marcus Autism Center for children with brain and developmental disorders, the Grady Health System in Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and the Marcus Community Bridge Program at the Sheppard Center in Atlanta to assist patients with spinal cord and brain injuries as they return to their homes, workplaces and communities.

Mr. Marcus’s original grant has been supplemented by other philanthropic gifts to raise a total of $52 million toward the creation of a world-class neuroscience institute that melds nationally renowned physicians with the finest technology and unparalleled infrastructure and resources to create the premier destination for neurological care and research in Florida and throughout the country. The Marcus Neuroscience Institute will serve as a new, state-of-the-art nexus of care for neurological and neurosurgical patients when it opens in December 2014.

Neurological Patient Demographics in South Florida

The residents of Boca Raton and the Palm Beach / Broward Counties have a significantly higher probability for neurological symptoms or disorders than the rest of the country due in part to the population’s median age of 43, which is 7 years greater than the national average. The latest data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show that with an aging population one of the largest anticipated needs in healthcare will be in the neurosciences, including vascular disease of the brain, Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and brain tumors.

The MNI has specific and advanced programs designed to address each of these afflictions, all in one place and under one roof. The MNI is creating a new paradigm of care for the neurological or neurosurgical patient – combining state-of-the-art technology, nationally-renowned medical and support staff, and a strategically, stand-alone Neuroscience Institute specifically designed around patient needs, to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of diagnosis and the treatment and support we provide.

Marcus Neuroscience Institute Overview

The Marcus Neuroscience Institute (MNI) is a brand new, $52 million, 56,000-square-foot facility that houses a 22-bed Neuro Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Step-Down unit and four dedicated operating rooms equipped with intraoperative MRI and CT scanners providing surgeons with real-time imaging capability in the OR. Only a handful of programs across the country offer this operating room technology. Outside the OR, interventional procedures are supported by a biplane angiography suite and Flash CT capabilities which provide accurate, ultra-high speed, low exposure scanning by acquiring 256 slices simultaneously. Each patient room in the MNI is private with special monitoring capabilities that provide vital information on both the patient’s neurological and cardiovascular functions. Clinics are spacious, patient friendly and physician accommodating while maximizing the efficiency of patient throughput.

Director of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute – Robert M. Levy, MD, PhD
The Institute is led by Robert Levy, MD, PhD, who comes to Boca Regional after serving as Professor and Chairman of Neurological Surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville and Co-Director of the Shands-Jacksonville Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Levy is a prolific researcher and author including three books and more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in such prestigious publications as The New England Journal of Medicine and Annals of Neurology. Previously, Dr. Levy also spent 24 years at the Northwestern School of Medicine where he was a tenured Professor in three disciplines, Chief of the Section of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Director of the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Gamma Knife Center.

Neurology and Neurosurgery Programs at the Marcus Neuroscience Institute
The Institute’s medical staff will include highly experienced and qualified clinicians in all facets of the neurosciences including neurologists, neurosurgeons, neurointerventionalists, a neuropsychologist, and a Research Director. The staff will also include three (3) neurointensivists with specialty training in neurocritical care to attend within the 22-bed NeuroICU.

Patients at the MNI will also benefit from its synergistic relationship with BRRH’s Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute (LCI), offering patients with neurologic malignancies the most advanced radiation and medical oncology therapies available at the Institute’s renowned and award-winning facility. The combination of LCI with the Marcus Neuroscience Institute on the Boca Regional campus will make for a tandem of facilities, programs and services among the finest in the nation. The institute’s clinical services will include: vascular neurology, neuro-oncology, movement disorders, memory disorders, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, neurocritical care, etc. The MNI Clinical Centers include:

• Comprehensive Stroke Center
• Center for Movement Disorders
• Epilepsy Center
• Center for Memory Disorders and Alzheimer’s Disease
• Multiple Sclerosis Center
• Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation
• Marcus Neuroscience Institute Research Center, In conjunction with the Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

Memory Disorders Center of Clinical and Academic Excellence

It is a statistically demonstrable fact that a large number of people in the immediate area have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or present symptoms indicative of the disease. The foresight to establish a world-class memory disorders center preceded by over 10 years the more recently implemented vision to do likewise for the overarching MNI. As explained in detail below, the Louis and Ann Green Memory and Wellness Center, was initially established in 2001 through the combination of a generous philanthropic gift from Louis and Ann Green, start-up funding from the NIH and ongoing funding from the State of Florida’s Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative. The mission of the memory center is to positively impact people suffering from memory loss and their caregivers on a day-to-day basis while supporting the education of those who will serve this population in the future, including students of nursing, medicine, social work, exercise science, communication disorders, health administration and other disciplines.

The Memory and Wellness Center averages 16,000 visits per year and offers a wide range of services and programs to individuals with mild to moderate memory disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. Visits begin with a comprehensive memory evaluation. The evaluation results often help diagnose a memory disorder and develop a treatment plan in cooperation with a patient’s physicians.

The Memory Center is strategically located on the adjacent campus of the Florida Atlantic University as to maximize the effectiveness of a memory disorders center of clinical and academic excellence.

Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center

Located on FAU’s Boca Raton campus, the Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center offers a wide range of services and programs to individuals with mild to moderate memory disorders. The adult day center provides an active and secure place for families to bring spouses or parents who are experiencing memory loss, and the caregiver support programs have a positive impact on life at home.

College of Nursing faculty conduct research projects at the Memory and Wellness Center, including caregiver communication, the effects of chronic disease on memory loss, and more. Students from FAU’s College of Nursing, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the School of Social Work, the Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion, the Department of Communications Sciences and Disorders, and others complete work-study assignments and internships at the Center throughout each semester.

The Center opened in November 2001 with a start-up grant from the National Institute of Health, Administration on Aging. The Center moved into its new building in December 2004. Funding for the facility came from a very generous gift from Louis and Anne Green which was matched by the State of Florida. The building was specifically designed to house a diagnostic clinic, a dementia-specific adult day center, counseling and educational activities and research activities. In 2005, the Memory and Wellness Center became a State-designated Memory Disorder Clinic under the State of Florida’s Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative. As such, the Center participates actively in the State network of 15 Memory Disorder Clinics.

In January 2013, the Florida Atlantic University’s Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing was named a “Specialized Alzheimer’s Services Center” by Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration’s Division of Health Quality Assurance. The dementia-specific adult day center is the first to receive the designation. Among other criteria, organizations seeking the designation must demonstrate that each participant has a dementia diagnosis from a physician, physician’s assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner and an individualized plan of care; that nursing care be available on-site during operating hours; and that staff members meet education and experience requirements. There must be a staff-to-participant ratio of one to five; a daily schedule filled with at least 70 percent therapeutic activities; and a caregiver education program.

Boca Raton Regional Hospital

Boca Raton Regional Hospital (BRRH) is a not-for-profit, advanced tertiary medical center with 400 beds, over 2,100 employees and more than 800 primary and specialty physicians on staff. The Hospital, located 1 mile from the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) campus, serves as the primary academic teaching hospital for FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. The Hospital is a recognized leader in oncology, cardiovascular disease and surgery, minimally invasive surgery, orthopedics, women’s health, emergency medicine and the neurosciences, all of which offer state-of-the-art diagnostic and imaging capabilities. The Hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission and is one of only four hospitals in Palm Beach County to be designated by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) as a Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Boca Raton Regional Hospital is the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ by Healthgrades® for the 10th year in a row. Only 24 of the nation’s 4,500 hospitals have earned such a consecutive distinction. The Hospital has also been recognized by Healthgrades® as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and as one of the 2013 America’s Best 100 Hospitals for Cardiac Care and Gastrointestinal Care. Healthgrades® has also awarded the Hospital with the 2013 Women’s Health Excellence Award™ for the fourth consecutive year and the 2012 Emergency Medicine Excellence Award™ for the third year in a row. Boca Raton Regional Hospital was also recognized for the third consecutive year in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-2014 Best Hospitals listing as a top-ranked hospital in the South Florida metropolitan area.

The Marcus Neuroscience Institute will benefit from the synergy that results from the Hospital’s other nationally recognized institutes of excellence, including:

• Heart and Vascular Institute – The Hospital’s Christine E. Lynn Heart and Vascular Institute has been named twice as one of the Top Hospitals with Great Cardiovascular Programs by Becker’s Hospital Review. In 2013, the publication also recognized the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute as one of the 100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Oncology Programs.
• Cancer Institute – Home to Boca Regional Hospital’s Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute, the Harvey & Phyllis Sandler Pavilion opened in November 2008. The award-winning $73 million, 98,000 square-foot facility houses the hospital’s imaging, radiation, chemotherapy and cancer support services as well as its clinical research capabilities.
• Women’s Health Institute – The hospital’s Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute and its Center for Breast Care is internationally renowned and performs over 90,000 procedures a year. It was named as one of the Top Women’s Imaging Centers to Watch in 2009 by a leading trade journal.
• Sports Medicine – Boca Regional Hospital is the official Sports Medicine provider of Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) athletics department. The hospital provides healthcare for FAU’s more than 450 student athletes, pre-competition physicals and other screenings required by the NCAA.

Florida Atlantic University – Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

The Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is the accredited medical school of the Florida Atlantic University (FAU), and the Boca Raton Regional Hospital is the primary academic teaching facility for the new medical school. In 2010, the Florida Board of Governors authorized legislation which enabled FAU to become an independent medical school through the formalized partnership of FAU and Scripps Florida. As a result of this partnership, FAU and Scripps agreed to offer a joint M.D. /Ph.D. degree, with the M.D. degree conferred by FAU and the Ph.D. degree conferred by the Scripps Research Institute’s Kellogg School of Science and Technology. The MD/PhD program received accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and welcomed its inaugural medical school class of 64 men and women in 2011. In 2013, The Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University received notice of accreditation from the national Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for its residency program in internal medicine. The internal medicine residency will bring a total of 96 physicians to FAU, with the first class of 36 residents starting in July 2014. The MNI is dedicated to physician education by providing the clinical basis for residents of FAU, with near term plans of establishing residency and fellowship programs

FAU’s has more than 120 neuroscientists within the Department of Biomedical Sciences, with various research strengths and resources in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, autoimmune diseases, genetic eye diseases, age related eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataracts, neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, behavioral neurobiology, cancer, and infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. The Department of Integrated Medical Science at FAU includes the Division of Psychiatry and Neurology which contains the clinical and physician scientist faculty responsible for applicable teaching programs. FAU’s medical school relies solely upon the MNI to provide sufficient faculty to support its neurology division.

Research Infrastructure

A robust clinical research component will be a feature of the Institute, with MNI physicians having the opportunity to collaborate extensively with the scientists and statisticians at the Scripps Research Institute and the Florida Atlantic University, especially its Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center.

Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is a nonprofit medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California with a sister facility in Jupiter, Florida, the institute is home to 3,000 scientists, technicians, graduate students, and administrative and other staff, making it among the largest private, non-profit biomedical research organizations in the world.
The Florida campus of TSRI operates a 350,000-square-foot state-of-the-art biomedical research facility focusing on neuroscience, cancer biology, medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, biotechnology, and alternative energy development. Approximately 450 faculty, staff and students occupy TSRI’s Florida campus. TSRI Florida is housed on the Jupiter campus of Florida Atlantic University.

In Florida, TSRI occupies 30 acres (120,000 m2) adjacent to the John D. MacArthur campus of Florida Atlantic University in Palm Beach County, Florida.

The grand opening of the new facility took place on February 26, 2009, five years after Scripps Florida started operating, with a public ceremony that drew many dignitaries including then Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

Strategic Partnership – North Shore-LIJ Health System

In early 2014, the Boca Raton Regional Hospital signed an affiliate agreement with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, the largest integrated health care system in New York. BRRH will partner with North Shore-LIJ on patient care, clinical programs, research and workforce education. The strategic partnership will permit both organizations to collaborate and share best practices to better meet the healthcare needs of the populations served, including many of the ‘snow bird’ patients who live in the New York area and spend their winters in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Prior to this agreement, nearly 80% of North Shore-LIJ’s ‘snow bird’ patients were seeking medical treatment at BRRH when they were in Palm Beach; thus the establishment of this new relationship will lead to an integrated EHR system and insurance mechanism that provides a streamlined continuity of care to patients regardless of whether they are in New York or Palm Beach. North Shore-LIJ has 16 hospitals and more than 9,400 physicians.

Location Overview – Boca Raton, FL

Boca Raton is located in the heart of Florida’s Atlantic Ocean Coast between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Boca Raton has a population of more than 200,000 people, and is located in Palm Beach County which has approximately 1.5 million year-round residents. The area is a major attraction to ‘snow birds’ and winter vacationers due in part to an average high temperature of 79 and low of 61 during the months between November and April. As a result, the area typically experiences an averaged 25% increase in temporary residents during the winter tourist season. Many of the temporary residents remain in the area for 2-3 months.

Boca Raton is known for its affluent social community and high income demographic. The ‘Boca’ location, as it’s known to the locals, includes some of the nation’s premier beaches, golf courses, hotels, museums, and shopping. However, Boca Raton also has a number of major companies with operations located in the Palm Beach County area, including Office Depot (headquarters), IBM and Tyco International, collectively employing upwards of 30,000 people in the immediate area. As a result, the Boca Raton area is well suited to young families, with outstanding public and private schools throughout the area.