Ralph Lewis Sacco (1957– January 17, 2023) was an American neurologist. He held the Olemberg Family Chair in Neurological Disorders, Miller Professor of Neurology, Public Health Sciences, Human Genetics, and Neurosurgery at the

Miller School of Medicine The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, officially Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, is the University of Miami's graduate medical school in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1952, it is the oldest medical school in the state of Florida. ...

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

and Chief of the Neurology Service at

Jackson Memorial Hospital Jackson Memorial Hospital, also referred to as Jackson or abbreviated MJMH, is a non-profit, tertiary care hospital, and the primary teaching hospital of the University of Miami's School of Medicine. As of 2021, it is the largest hospital in t ...

. In 2020, Sacco was named

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''

Stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

'' journal and the inaugural recipient of the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award from the

American Stroke Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and de ...

. Sacco was also the Executive Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. He was the first neurologist to become president of the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

and the first former AHA president to become president of the

American Academy of Neurology The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is a professional society representing over 40,000 neurologists and neuroscientists. As a medical specialty society it was established in 1948 by A.B. Baker of the University of Minnesota to advance the a ...

. He died on 17 January 2023 due to brain tumor.

Early life and education

Sacco was born and raised in

Margate City, New Jersey Margate City is a city (New Jersey), city situated on the Jersey Shore on Absecon Island, within Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, on the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

and attended Holy Spirit High School in

Absecon, New Jersey Absecon (, ) is a city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,137, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 726 (+8.6%) from the 2010 census count of ...

. He was the oldest of five siblings born to a middle-class Italian family and was the first in his family to go to medical school. Sacco was encouraged by his aunt, who worked in a physician's office, to attend medical school. Sacco attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

for his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in bio-electrical engineering and enrolled at

Boston University School of Medicine The Boston University School of Medicine (formally the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine) is the medical school of Boston University, a private university, private research university in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in ...

for his medical degree. He pursued his medical residence at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he began working with J.P. Mohr on the NINDS stroke databank, and with W. Allen Hauser, with whom he honed his skills in

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

Career

In 1991, Sacco co-authored a study investigating the high rate of stroke risk among African Americans. This led to him assisting in the launch of Power To End Stroke, an initiative to heighten awareness of stroke risk among African Americans, through the

(AHA). He was also the principal investigator of the Northern Manhattan Study, a research study of stroke and stroke risk factors in the Northern Manhattan community. During his final year at Columbia, Sacco received the AHA's Chairman’s Award for his "pioneering role in Power To End Stroke, an initiative to heighten awareness of stroke risk among African Americans." In 2007, Sacco was hired as chairman of the department of neurology at the

. While serving as the Olemberg Family Chair in Neurological Diseases at the

and chief of the neurology service at

, Sacco became the first neurologist to be named president of the American Heart Association. Upon completing his term, Sacco was honored by the University of Miami with the 2015 Provost’s Award for Scholarly Activity and appointed Executive Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute. In this role, he oversaw the Florida Puerto Rico Collaboration to Reduce Stroke Disparities and was a co-investigator of multiple other

NIH grants In the United States, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are the primary government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research. They award NIH grants through 24 grant-awarding institutes and centers. The NIH supports $31 b ...

. By 2017, he became the first former AHA president to become president of the

. In recognition of his academic achievements, Sacco was elected a member of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

and honored with Boston University's 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in North America The first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in North America were reported in the United States on 23 January 2020. Cases were reported in all North American countries after Saint Kitts and Nevis confirmed a case on 2 ...

, Sacco was named

of the ''

'' journal. He was also the inaugural recipient of the Edgar J. Kenton III Lecture Award from the

Personal life

Sacco lived with his partner, pharmacist Scott Dutcher, in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

Death

Sacco died of

glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...

on January 17, 2023, in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, New York, at age 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacco, Ralph L. American neurologists American people of Italian descent People from Margate City, New Jersey Holy Spirit High School (New Jersey) alumni Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Boston University School of Medicine alumni Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health alumni Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health faculty University of Miami faculty Members of the National Academy of Medicine Medical journal editors 1957 births 2023 deaths LGBTQ physicians