Gabriel De Bruin, MD, has been promoted to the role of executive vice chair for the Department of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She will transition to this new leadership position Jan. 1, 2024.
De Bruin graduated from the Universidade Federal do Ceara in her hometown of Fortaleza, Brazil, prior to coming to WashU for her neurology residency and sleep medicine fellowship. She then joined the Department of Neurology as an assistant professor in 2012. In her eleven years as a faculty member, De Bruin has served in many leadership roles, including medical director of the Resident Continuity Clinic, director of clinical operations, patient safety officer, interim General Neurology section head and vice chair of clinical affairs.
Her leadership training credentials include her selection for the highly competitive AAMC Early Career Early Career Women Faculty Professional Development Program, the Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine Academic Medical Leadership Program for Physicians and Scientists, and more recently, the AAN Women Leading in Neurology Leadership Development Program.
De Bruin was the recipient of a Dean’s Distinguished Service Award in 2023 for the role she played in leading departmental clinical operations through the COVID-19 pandemic.
She has been integral in her role as vice chair and has led many initiatives aimed at expanding Neurology’s clinical enterprise and optimizing clinical operations. In this new role of executive vice chair, De Bruin will play a central role in Neurology’s planned expansion into the greater St. Louis community in partnership with leaders in BJC neuroscience and the broader School of Medicine leadership.