The Wake Forest Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry (BNNP) Fellowship is a one-year clinical fellowship. Upon completion, fellows will be eligible and prepared for specialty board certification examination in Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry through the United Counsel for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS). This fellowship is offered by the Department of Neurology in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. Multiple avenues exist through which fellows can extend their fellowship beyond one year, during which they will spend the majority of their time engaged in research.
A major emphasis of our fellowship is on the neuropsychological, neurobiological and neuropsychiatric aspects of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. There is a close relationship with the Wake Forest Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Prevention. The neuropsychiatry of traumatic brain injury, especially mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is another major emphasis through the Salisbury Veteran's Affairs Medical Center.
Opportunities exist for fellows with particular interests in the behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry of movement disorders, cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
Why Train at Wake Forest?
The Wake Forest Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry (BNNP) training program is the first UCNS-accredited training program in the state of North Carolina. Although there is a focus on the diagnosis and management of dementia and traumatic brain injury, fellows will be exposed to the broad foundation of BNNP as the medical subspecialty committed to understanding the links between neuroscience and behavior and in caring for individuals with neurologically based behavioral disturbances.
The Wake Forest Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is a National Institutes of Aging (NIA)-funded ADRC. Our Center’s special focus is on understanding the role of vascular and metabolic contributions to Alzheimer’s disease and enhancing the participation of underserved populations who are at increased risk. Fellows will be integrated into the Center’s work and participate in clinical research evaluations and diagnostic adjudication conferences. Fellows will be exposed to cutting-edge science in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Many participants at our center undergo lumbar punctures for CSF-based biomarker assessment along with both amyloid and tau PET scans.
The Salisbury Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center (SBYVAMC) includes the Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), which focuses on post-deployment mental health, particularly as it relates to post-9/11 conflicts, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. The Mid-Atlantic MIRECC is a site for the Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC).
