Stephen Back, M.D, Ph.D

Dr. Back is a graduate of Pomona College.  He received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 1989 and his M.D. in 1990 from the University of California, Irvine.   Dr. Back completed residency training in Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine and in Pediatric Neurology at Boston Children's Hospital-Harvard Medical School. 

Dr. Back is on the faculty at OHSU-Doernbecher Children's Hospital in the Division of Pediatric Neurology.  

Dr. Back is Director of the Division of Pediatric Neuroscience Research and holds the Clyde and Elda Munson Professorship in Pediatric Research. His laboratory studies the causes of brain injury in preterm babies with cerebral palsy and adults with multiple sclerosis or various forms of dementia.

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Dr. Back has published more than 75 original articles. He is a recipient of a Young Investigator Award from the Child Neurology Society, a Bugher Award from the American Heart Association and a Javits Merit Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. His research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health,  the March of Dimes and the American Heart Association.  

Dr. Back has given numerous talks throughout the world to both clinicians and scientists on topics ranging from prematurity to the aging brain focused on the potential for regeneration and repair of the brain after injury.

Dr. Back enjoys cooking for his wife and two daughters, traveling and playing the piano. Otherwise, he can be found on his tractor or swinging a pick axe in his gardens at the retreat center.