Ileana M Howard, MD

Ileana Howard is a physiatrist and associate professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. She is a compassionate, innovative rehabilitation physician with a drive to improve quality of life and function for populations as well as individual persons. She currently serves to improve system-wide care as the chair of the ALS Executive Committee for the Veterans Health administration as well as caring for patients and families as the medical co-director of the ALS Center of Excellence at the VA Puget Sound in Seattle, Washington, where she established and now oversees one of the busiest ALS programs in the Veterans Health Administration.

Dr. Howard obtained her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Smith College in 1999 and was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to perform public health research in Spain (1999-2000). She then continued her studies at Harvard Medical School, where she attained her M.D. in 2004, followed by an internal medicine internship at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts (2004-2005) and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency at the University of Washington (2005-2008). She was hired as a staff physician in the Rehabilitation Care Services department of the VA Puget Sound in 2008, and obtained dual board certifications in PM&R and Electrodiagnostic Medicine.

Currently, Dr. Howard serves as outpatient medical director for Rehabilitation Care at the Seattle VA campus. In addition to educating PM&R residents, she is a fellowship director for the VA’s first Chief Resident in Quality and Safety for rehabilitation medicine. She launched the national Cancer Rehabilitation Extension for Community Outcomes (VA-ECHO) monthly webinar series in 2020. She serves on national committees and the board of directors for the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine. Through her leadership, the VA Puget Sound achieved ALS Association Center of Excellence designation in 2015, and became an independent member of the Northeast ALS (NEALS) Consortium in 2018. She was awarded the Clinical Excellence Award by the Paralyzed Veterans of America in 2018 and the AANEM Advocacy Award in 2021. She has numerous publications and national presentations on the rehabilitation management of ALS.

Dr. Howard's research focuses on neurorehabilitation interventions to improve quality of life and function for persons with neurological disability.

Education and Training

• Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, MD, 2004
• Lahey Clinic, Burlington, MA, Internship, Internal Medicine, 2005 
• University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Residency, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 2008

Board Certifications

• ABPMR
• ABEM

Notable Awards

• 1999-2000: Fulbright Scholar, Granada, Spain
• 2018: Physician Clinician Excellence Award, Paralyzed Veterans of America
• 2019: Speedy Award, Northwest Chapter Paralyzed Veterans of America
• 2021: Advocacy Award, American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine

Clinical Interests

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Spasticity
• Stroke
• Neurorehabilitation
• Electrodiagnosis
• EMG

Teaching Interests

• Neurorehabilitation
• Neuromuscular Rehabilitation
• EMG
• Spasticity Management

Research Interests

• Neurorehabilitation