David Arnold, MD

Executive Director, NextGen Precision Health Initiative
Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurology, and Medical Pharmacology & Physiology, School of Medicine

Dr. W. David Arnold is a physician-scientist whose research program bridges the clinic and the laboratory to uncover mechanisms of neuromuscular and neurogenetic disease. As Executive Director of the NextGen Precision Health initiative, he leads efforts to accelerate translation of discoveries into precision therapies that improve human health. His laboratory focuses on translational neuromuscular physiology in the context of aging, genetic, and acquired disorders of the nervous system and muscle, with work spanning preclinical models, human physiology, and biomarker-driven clinical research.

Dr. Arnold’s program encompasses age-related decline in neuromuscular function as well as rare and ultra-rare neurogenetic disorders that disrupt motor neuron and synaptic physiology, including spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), SYT1-related neurodevelopmental disorder, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Rather than merely extending lifespan, Dr. Arnold’s work seeks to prolong functional health span by preserving resilience and neural integrity across the lifespan through interventions that target synaptic stability, motor neuron survival, and muscle physiology.