Patrick J. M. Lavin, MB, BCh, BAO, MRCPI

Professor Emeritus

Dr. Lavin is Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, specializing in Neuro-Ophthalmology, Vestibular disorders, and Headache. He joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 1983 as assistant professor in the Department of Neurology with a secondary appointment in Ophthalmology. He was promoted to associate professor in 1989, and professor in 2001. Dr. Lavin has served as director of the Ocular Motility Laboratory and director of the Transcranial Doppler Laboratory.

Dr. Lavin graduated from University College in Dublin, Ireland in 1964, and attended University College Medical School in Dublin, where he earned his MB, BCh and BAO degrees in 1970.

Dr. Lavin served as an intern in Medicine and Surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Elm Park, Dublin. He was senior house officer during his residency in Medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital from 1971–1973. He spent a short time in general practice in Nova Scotia, Canada before becoming a senior resident in General Medicine at Leicester General Hospital. He was a senior resident in Neurology at Leicester Royal Infirmary, then St. James University Hospital and Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds until 1978, when he became a research fellow at Charing Cross Hospital in London.

Dr. Lavin served as an internist at James Connolly Memorial Hospital and Dublin and Our Lady’s Hospital before becoming a Registrar in Neurology at Adelaide  and St. Vincent’s Hospitals in 1980. Dr. Lavin served as Chief Resident in Neurology at CWRU in Cleveland, Ohio, and went on to become a fellow in Neuro-ophthalmology in the University. He became an instructor in Neurology at CWRU in 1982.

Research Information

Dr. Lavin’s research interests include eye movement disorders, nystagmus, ocular stroke, and auditory and visual dysfunction in traumatic brain injury.