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Steven Small, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor

School
Medical School
Department
Neurology
  • Biography

    Steven L. Small, Ph.D., M.D., Professor of Neurology, is the Ashbel Smith Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Small is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Irvine, where he was the Chair of the Department of Neurology from 2010-2017, and at The University of Chicago, where he founded the first high-field MRI research center in Chicago in 1999.

    As a scientist, Dr. Small has been a pioneer in understanding the anatomy and physiology of the human brain and its relation to function by direct investigation of human subjects, particularly related to language comprehension and production, and with an emphasis on distributed brain networks. This work has encompassed the study of normal adults and children, adults with neurological disease (especially stroke), and children with developmental impairments.

    Dr. Small's translational neurology research focuses on language recovery after stroke in both adults and children. Neurobiologically plausible models of human brain function are typically based on detailed animal models. For human speech and language, the cortical dorsal-ventral network architecture associated with the extended auditory system of nonhuman primates represents a strong model. A postero-dorsal network connects the auditory cortex to the posterior and dorsal part of inferior frontal cortex (IFC) (Brodmann area [BA] 44) via posterior superior temporal (pST) cortex, inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and premotor cortex (PMC), whereas an antero-ventral network traverses anterior superior temporal cortex (aST) to terminate in more anterior and ventral parts of the inferior frontal gyrus (BA 45). Recent findings suggest that language recovery from stroke depends on integration and segregation of these network communities that have been evolutionarily co-opted for language, and that focusing language therapy on these biological networks might have long term advantages. This work has elaborated network-level translational neurology of stroke recovery by way of investigation of imitation-based treatment of aphasia targeting the dorsal language network.

    Dr. Small is the founder of both the Society for the Neurobiology of Language and the MIT Press open access journal, Neurobiology of Language.

    As Dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Dr. Small aims to continue its upward trajectory by expanding and broadening research and education in neuroscience, psychology, and speech and hearing sciences, building partnerships with other educational, industrial, and philanthropic institutions in Dallas, particularly the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and advancing the stature of the premier Carnegie Tier 1 research institution in Dallas-Fort Worth, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States.

    Web: www.drsmall.org

    Twitter: @stevenlsmall

    LinkedIn: slsmall

  • Research Interest
    • Language Disorders after Stroke (Aphasia)
    • Neurobiology of Language
    • Sports-Related Head Impacts
  • Publications

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  • Books

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  • Honors & Awards
    • Ashbel Smith Professor
      Endowed Chair, University of Texas at Dallas (2023)
    • Aage and Margareta Møller Distinguished Professor
      Endowed Chair, University of Texas at Dallas (2019-2023)
    • Founding Editor-in-Chief
      Neurobiology of Language (MIT Press) (2019)
    • Top Doctors
      Orange County, California (2019)
    • Distinguished Career Award
      Society for the Neurobiology of Language (2018)
    • Scientific Program Advisory Committee (SPAC)
      American Neurological Association (2017-2020)
    • Secretary/Treasurer
      Association of University Professors of Neurology (AUPN) (2015-2021)
    • Theodore von Kármán Fellow
      RWTH Aachen University (Germany) (2014)
    • Stanley van den Noort Professor
      Endowed Chair, University of California, Irvine (2010-2019)
    • Editor-in-Chief
      Brain and Language (Elsevier) (2005-2019)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • American Academy of Neurology (1990)
    • American Neurological Association (1999)
    • Society for Neuroscience (1991)
    • Society for the Neurobiology of Language (2009)
    • University of California, Irvine (2010-2017)
    • University of Chicago (1999-2010)