Oswald Steward, Ph.D.

Patient AdvocateSpinal Cord Injury
Appointed by the Governor

Oswald Steward, Ph.D., is known for his research on how nerve cells create and maintain their connections with each other, and how these synapses are modified after injury. He has also conducted research on how genes influence nerve cell regeneration, growth and function and how physiological activity affects nerve cell connections.

Dr. Steward is currently the chair and director of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center for Spinal Cord Injury at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and also professor of anatomy and neurobiology. He serves on the board of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and also serves as the chair of its Science Advisory Council. Dr. Steward was also the chair of a National Institutes of Healthy (NIH) neurobiology review group and served on the NIH’s Spinal Cord Injury Planning Committee. Prior to joining the faculty at UC Irvine, he was Professor of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery at the University of Virigina, where he served as Chair of the Department of Neuroscience.

Steward is a recipient of the NIH Research Career Development Award, the Jacob Javitz Neuroscience Investigator Award and the Distinguished Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. He earned a doctorate degree in psychobiology from the University of California, Irvine and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder.