Dr. Robert Wityk obtained his undergraduate degree and masters degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University, graduating summa cum laude with distinction in the major. He received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He went on to complete his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of California San Diego Medical Center. From there, he went on to complete a residency in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and a cerebrovascular fellowship at the New England Medical Center in Boston. He returned to his hometown of Baltimore in 1993 to join the staff at Sinai Hospital with a faculty appointment in the Departments of Neurology and Medicine at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

While at Sinai, Dr. Wityk started an acute stroke service and was the first in the city of Baltimore to use the FDA-approved IV thrombolytic therapy for stroke patients outside of a research protocol. In 1996, he joined the full-time faculty of neurology at Johns Hopkins as director of the clinical stroke service. He currently is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Medicine, and Co-Director of the Cerebrovascular Division of the Department of Neurology.

During his time at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Wityk established an Acute Stroke Team and protocols to treat eligible patients with IV tPA. With colleagues in the Cerebrovascular Center, he helped establish the Brain Rescue Unit, a specialized inpatient unit for the care of stroke patients, and developed clinical and research protocols for the treatment of a variety of stroke-related conditions. In recognition of the Division’s organizational efforts in stroke care, the institution was granted certification in 2005 as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Now an Associate Professor of Neurology and Medicine at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Wityk focuses on new approaches to acute stroke diagnosis and treatment using neuro-imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diffusion and perfusion-weighted techniques. His ongoing studies focus on blood pressure manipulation to transiently elevate blood pressure, improving blood flow to critical areas of the brain. An NIH-funded pilot study of “induced hypertension” in acute ischemic stroke patients is being conducted by Dr. Wityk at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The acute stroke team is also involved in a variety of stroke clinical trials, as part of a multidisciplinary collaboration between cerebrovascular neurology and neurosurgery, interventional neuroradiology and the Neuroscience Critical Care Unit (NCCU) at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Wityk’s other area of interest is the problem of stroke in young patients. Appropriate use of diagnostic testing, such as cerebral angiography, transesophageal echocardiography and contrast-enhanced transcranial Doppler, may reveal sources of stroke in some patients. Carotid and vertebral artery dissection and cerebral vasculitis are uncommon conditions which are important causes of stroke in younger patients. Dr. Wityk has participated in the Baltimore-Washington Stroke in the Young study and has ongoing clinical research studies with pediatric neurology. Unusual conditions, such as moyamoya disease or intracranial stenosis, in young adults are evaluated with various MRI techniques and can be treated with a variety of medical, neurosurgical or neuro-interventional techniques.

Dr. Wityk has been an active member of the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association, including the local Baltimore branch, the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association, and the National Stroke Association. He is the author of more than 100 papers, reviews and book chapters, and is currently editing a book written by Hopkins authors on stroke diagnosis and treatment for internists and family practitioners.

Dr. Wityk currently sees patients at the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center in Baltimore on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.

Certifications:

• American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry
• American Board of Internal Medicine

 Link to Curriculum Vitae