Florian P Thomas, M.D., MA, Ph.D., M.S.

Chair, Department of Neurology

Dr. Thomas is the Chair of the Neuroscience Institute and interim Chair of the Department of Neurology at HackensackUMC, as well as Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center and the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation Center of Excellence.

Dr. Thomas is board certified in neurology with subspecialty boards or fellowship training in spinal cord medicine, neural repair and rehabilitation, and neuroimmunology. His clinical and research interests include multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, sexual health, pain rehabilitation, neuromuscular diseases, neuroAIDS, neurogenetics, and immunology of the peripheral and central nervous systems.

He holds graduate degrees in medicine, psychology, and microbiology from University of Bonn, Germany, in experimental medicine from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and in health outcomes research from St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri. He trained in neurology at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, and completed a neuro-AIDS fellowship at the Montreal Neurological Institute in Montreal, Quebec, and a neuroimmunology fellowship at Columbia University in New York.

Previously he was a tenured Professor of Neurology, Adjunct Professor of Physical Therapy, and Associate Professor of Molecular Virology at St. Louis University and directed the Regional MS Center of Excellence and Spinal Cord Injury Service at the St. Louis VA Medical Center, where he also founded the Pain Rehabilitation Center.

He serves on advisory boards for the National MS Society, the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation, and the St. Louis Center for Independent Living “Paraquad”. In 2006 he was awarded the Pathlighter Award by the St. Louis Chapter of the National MS Society, and in 2008 a Congressional Proclamation for his work on behalf of people with MS. He chairs the Advisory Board of the State of Missouri Spinal Cord Injury/Disease Research Program. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine and serves on several other editorial boards.