David Hafler leaves Harvard to become chair of neurology at Yale

Medical Leader at the Ivies

On September 1, David Hafler, M.D. ’78, became chair of the Yale School of Medicine’s neurology department as well as chief of neurology at Yale-New Haven Hospital. For
the previous 25 years, Hafler had been a highly regarded Harvard Medical School neurologist known for his work on the genetic basis of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Widely viewed as an expert on the mechanisms of autoimmunity and inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system, Hafler has spent more than three decades focusing on the debilitating central nervous system disease, which has no cure. “As a medical student, I knew I wanted to study multiple sclerosis,” says Hafler. During his Miller School days, his summers were spent working with the National Institutes of Health’s MS branch.

Hafler’s new duties at Yale ideally situate him to further his investigatory quest. “This new position will allow me to conduct my research while running and really expanding the Department of Neurology at Yale,” Hafler says. “This position will also allow me to indulge my passion for training physician-scientists.

“A major problem facing the future of medicine is the lack of physician-scientists,” Hafler says with conviction. “We’re not bringing along the next generation of physician-scientists, and the NIH has recognized this. The M.D./Ph.D. programs work well, but in the next stage—after you get your diploma—getting one’s clinical training is very difficult. We need to really nurture these individuals and develop better pathways to promote their careers.”

Along with MS, Hafler says he plans to build programs that study brain tumors, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and related areas. “Yale is making a major investment in neurology,” Hafler says. “We have space for young and senior scientists to come and join us.”

Hafler has plans to recruit five new physician-scientists over the next few years, along with several new clinicians. “There’s a great group of clinicians already here, but we’re very much in expansion mode,” he says.

When Hafler moved from Harvard to Yale, a $4 million NIH grant issued under the Recovery Act Limited Competition program moved with him. It’s a genetics grant related
to multiple sclerosis.

His wife, Janet, also accompanied him to Yale Medical School, where she serves as an assistant dean for educational scholarship. “I married my wife while I was a University of Miami medical student,” Hafler recalls of his spouse, who has a doctorate in education from Harvard University and was a Jackson Memorial Hospital pediatrics nurse during their first encounter. “Janet was at the Calder Library, and I met her through a common friend. “The library—a great place to meet your future wife!” laughs Hafler.

Although he’s a longtime Ivy Leaguer, Hafler’s ties to South Florida remain strong. For
one thing, he grew up in Miramar and his parents still reside in the region. Then there are the many fond remembrances from his medical student days.

“I still remember where I was sitting on the sofa when I had my interview with (Miller School dean emeritus) Dr. (Bernard) Fogel,” Hafler says. “What a wonderful man! God—I’ll never forget my interview with him!

“I have memories of sleeping in the Alamo before it was moved,” Hafler continues. “And the clinical training that I received at UM/Jackson was absolutely outstanding.”

When Hafler earned his M.D. and went onstage to pick up his degree, he carried his 2-week-old son, Brian, with him. Earlier this year, after Brian Hafler graduated from Harvard with M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, he drolly informed his dad: “Gee, this is the second time I’ve gotten a medical degree!”

Hafler’s other son, Jason, is completing a Ph.D. in genetics at Cambridge University in England. That’s fortuitous, given how critical genetics is to David Hafler’s research. He stays in contact with Margaret (Peggy) Pericak-Vance, Ph.D., the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Professor of Human Genomics and director of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics.

“Peggy and I have been partnering with other scientists around the world to understand the genetics of multiple sclerosis,” Hafler says. “We’ve been collaborating for about seven or eight years now.”

Given how Hafler’s unwavering focus on MS first started at the Miller School, his work with Pericak-Vance neatly brings things full circle.