Nneka Ifejika, M.D., M.P.H.

Biography

Nneka Ifejika, M.D., M.P.H., is a Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She serves as the Section Chief of Stroke Rehabilitation and is the only African American woman physician in the United States with this distinction.

Dr. Ifejika earned her medical degree at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and completed a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine. She completed research training at the UTHealth McGovern Medical School under neurologist James Grotta, M.D., with whom she completed a National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke supplement to promote diversity in health-related research.

Certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in physical medicine, rehabilitation, and brain injury medicine, Dr. Ifejika joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2018. She previously served as Director of Neurorehabilitation at McGovern Medical School, where she led an integrated stroke rehabilitation and vascular neurology program for more than 10 years.

A Texas Health Resources Clinical Scholar, Dr. Ifejika's research focuses on acute stroke rehabilitation, including transitions of care, outcomes, and health disparities.

Her clinical work in stroke rehabilitation involves providing evidence-based rehabilitation paradigms through all levels of stroke care.

Among her many honors and accolades, Dr. Ifejika received a three-year NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Institutional Career Development Award through the UTHealth Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences. She has also received two United States Congressional commendations for her innovative work with underserved populations affected by cerebrovascular disease. She is a recipient of the Best Neurological Rehabilitation Research Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R). She was also selected as an inaugural AAPM&R Leadership Fellow. In 2019, Dr. Ifejika became the first UT Southwestern and first African American recipient of the Association of Academic Physiatrists Early Career Academician Award.

Dr. Ifejika has been named a Super Doctor by Texas Monthly every year since 2018.

Currently, Dr. Ifejika is the only female physical medicine and rehabilitation physician who is a Fellow of the American Heart Association’s Stroke Council. She is an Assistant Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Stroke. She serves on the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Advisory Committee and the Board of Governors for the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.