Augusta University is Georgia's health sciences university and a national center for cyber security education. Home to the state’s only public academic medical center, Augusta’s world-class clinicians are bringing the medicine of tomorrow to patient care today. The university is comprised of nine colleges, including one of the nation's oldest medical schools, the Medical College of Georgia; the Hull College of Business; and the state's only dental school, the Dental College of Georgia.

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Hess has been named to the list of America's Top Doctors in neurology for more than 15 consecutive years. 
Compiled by Castle Connolly Ltd., this prestigious list represents the top 1 percent of physicians in the nation.

America's Top Doctors

Exemplary Medical Student Teaching Award

Augusta University Research Institute - 2012

Distinguished Research Award

Outstanding Faculty Member Award

Exemplary Teaching Award

REACH Health  Inc.: Chairman of Board of Directors

American Board of Internal Medicine - Certified - 1986

American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology - Certified - 1990

Telemedicine Quality and Outcomes in Stroke: A Scientific Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Humoral Mediators of Remote Ischemic Conditioning: Important Role of eNOS/NO/Nitrite

Remote ischaemic conditioning-a new paradigm of self-protection in the brain

David C. Hess MD, a stroke specialist, federally funded investigator, honored educator and biotech entrepreneur, is the 27th Dean of the Medical College of Georgia and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Integration at Augusta University.

Hess also continues to serve as Presidential Distinguished Chair and as a Professor in the MCG Department of Neurology. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He is triple board certified in Internal Medicine, Neurology, and Vascular Neurology. He completed his Neurology residency and Vascular Neurology/Stroke fellowship at MCG and AU Health System.

A prolific physician-scientist whose focus is improving stroke treatment and recovery, Hess has nearly 220 peer-reviewed publications and has been involved in basic, pre-clinical and clinical stroke research. He currently is the Principal Investigator on three National Institutes of Health grants and an NIH COVID-19 supplement award. He served as the clinical principal investigator for the MASTERS clinical trial, a study of bone-marrow derived stem cells known as “Multistem” in acute stroke, the largest stem cell trial for stroke to date.

Hess helped develop the REACH telestroke network in rural Georgia that now numbers more than 20 hospitals. REACH enables timely stroke diagnosis and treatment by using the internet to eliminate distance between patients and stroke specialists. He also co-founded and chaired the Board of Directors of REACH Health Inc., a telestroke company that spun out of MCG and now also provides similar services for a variety of acute medical problems to patients, physicians and hospitals worldwide. REACH Health Inc., based in Atlanta, was sold to InTouch and later Teladocs in 2019.

Hess has a major interest in the area of remote ischemic limb conditioning (RIC) as a treatment for acute ischemic stroke and vascular cognitive impairment. He has an NIH-funded study to determine if red blood cell markers are involved in how RIC works and if they can predict stroke outcomes. He serves as the Associate Editor of the journals Conditioning Medicine and Translational Stroke Research.

In 2001, he received the Humanism in Medicine Award from The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Hess has been named to America’s Top Doctors and Best Doctors in America every year since 2000.

Academic Medicine

Stroke

Neuroscience

Telemedicine

Neurology

Molecular Medicine

Stem Cell Research

Official Dean of MCG Biography

Augusta University Faculty Profile

AU Health clinical profile

Augusta University Department of Neurology

News and press release archive for David Hess

MCG state of the college address talks new Columbia County Hospital and more

MCG shares plans to address physician shortage in state of college address

MCG: Noble, vital, varied missions to your health

MCG dean proposes increased outreach, research funding in first state of school address

Dean named for Medical College

Augusta University researcher's stem cells for stroke called 'promising'

Cell Division - Georgia debates stem cell research

Telestroke technology speeds lifesaving care

Healthcare Without Walls - Hospitals are forming partnerships and extending outreach efforts

The Means Report

Medical College of Georgia growing in students, statewide reach, now adding star recruits

MCG, AU Medical Center receives multimillion-dollar grant to keep doctors in Georgia

New guidelines released on eliminating racism, bias in medical school

modernizing-rural-health-what-it-could-mean-for-america

Interim Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation and Dean of the Medical College of Georgia

  For Americans living outside of cities and in rural and sometimes remote areas of the country, the concept of readily accessible health care just isn’t a reality. However, the idea of expanding broadband internet into rural communities to improve access is one that shares support from all sides of the political spectrum. Just last week, an expert from Augusta University was called up to speak before lawmakers in Congress on the need for this technology and who it could best serve. "Broadband is the gateway to rural schools, businesses and health care providers," said Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat from Minnesota.   Lawmakers raised concerns about the dwindling number of hospitals in rural areas and the need to be competitive when recruiting corporations to do business.  "Just the ability in rural America for a physician to pull up an X-ray at their home instead of having to drive to the hospital to look at a patient to know if that is something that’s an emergency," said Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican from Georgia.   "One of the biggest needs is tele-psychiatry and tele-mental health," said Dr. David Hess of the Medical College of Georgia. - Spectrum News 1 - July 11  It’s an interesting topic and one that is gaining a lot of attention. How many rural Americans are without access to a doctor or hospital in the country? How much money could be saved by expanding online health care? Online is a viable solution, but are there drawbacks or concerns for patients? And how could expanding broadband and digital health care support issues like mental and maternal health across rural America?  If you are a reporter covering this topic – that’s where our experts can help. Dr. David Hess is dean of the Medical College of Georgia and executive vice president for Medical Affairs and Integration at Augusta University. He also helped develop the REACH telestroke network in rural Georgia that now includes about 30 hospitals. Dr. Hess is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.  

Modernizing rural health – what it could mean for America

Reach Rural Telestroke - David Hess, MD

David C. Hess, MD
Stroke Specialist
Professor & Chairman, Department of Neurology

Dr. David Hess

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