Tufts Medicine announced today that Soma Sengupta, MD, PhD, MBA, FRCP, FANA, FAAN, has been named Chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurologist-in-Chief at Tufts Medical Center (Tufts MC), effective September 1, 2025. She also holds the title of Chair and Professor of Neurology at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM).
In her new role, Dr. Sengupta will lead the Department of Neurology at Tufts Medicine's Boston-based academic medical center. She will collaborate with key stakeholders within the Neuroscience and Behavioral Health Service Lines to ensure excellence in neurologic services, including neurodegenerative disorders, movement disorders, epilepsy, stroke, neuro-oncology and behavioral health. Dr. Sengupta will also lead efforts to expand access to clinical trials and increase access to innovative care, while developing additional neurologic training opportunities across Tufts MC and TUSM.
"We're very fortunate to add Dr. Sengupta's experience and expertise at an important time for Tufts Medical Center's Neurology Department, and our health system as a whole," said Erika Werner, MD, President of the Tufts Medical Center Physicians Organization. "Her leadership, vision and innovation will be instrumental in promoting high-quality access to care in Neurology—particularly as it relates to neurosurgery and cancer. These are crucial services for our patient communities, and ones which we are committed to expanding."
Dr. Sengupta joins Tufts MC from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, where she served as Professor and Chief of the Division of Neuro-Oncology, and Vice Chair of Neurosurgery Research. Previously, she served as Associate Director of the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute and Harold C. Schott Endowed Chair in Molecular Therapeutics.
"Tufts Medical Center is nationally renowned for its excellence in Neurology," said Dr. Sengupta. "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with this incredibly skilled and dedicated team to enhance services, increase access and advance research initiatives to benefit our patients."
An accomplished physician-scientist, Dr. Sengupta has been the principal investigator on over 30 federal and foundation grants. Her research focuses on improving outcomes for brain tumor patients by targeting specific ion channels and discovering new classes of drugs. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, chapters and books. Since 2020, Dr. Sengupta has presented at 100+ international, national, institutional and clinical trial funding conferences and speakerships.
Dr. Sengupta holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Wales, a Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBChir) from the University of Cambridge, UK. She completed her neurology residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, research and clinical fellowships in neuro-oncology at Boston Children's Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/MGB, an integrative medicine fellowship at the University of Arizona and an Executive Leadership in Health Care fellowship at Drexel University College of Medicine. She also earned a Master of Business Administration, with graduate certification in healthcare from the University of Cincinnati and a certification in artificial intelligence in healthcare from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
