David J. Dickoff, MD

David Dickoff was born in the Bronx and grew up on Long Island. In high school, he received varsity letters in baseball and football. David competed widely in speech and forensic activities. Achievements included the New York State debate championship and Nassau County Original Oratory champion. Extemporaneous champion and winner of the University of Philadelphia Liberty Bell Invitational tournament in 1976. He was the regional winner in the American Legion Constitutional speech competition and was awarded a Valley Forge Freedom Foundation award for the text of his speech, "Capitalism and Freedom.” David was admitted to the six-year bio-med program at Rensselaer-Albany Medical College, graduating with Alpha Omega Alpha honors in 1982. He was awarded a President's Research award for his work on neural regeneration. David interned in Internal Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital, followed by a neurology residency at the same facility. He was the first to describe delayed carbamate pesticide toxicity in a human during his residency. He was awarded the East Coast Muscular Dystrophy Association (Jerry Lewis) fellowship at Columbia-Presbyterian in 1986. While at Columbia, he published a chapter in a neurology textbook entitled "Adult-Onset of Inherited Myopathies." After his academic training, David entered private practice in Yonkers, New York, where he served the people of the city and county for the last 37 years. During this time, he served as Chief of the Neurology Service at St. John's Riverside Hospital (1995-2007 and 2016 to date) and Chief of Neurology at St. Joseph's Medical Center (1993-2003). He assisted in founding the St. John's Riverside Hospital Parkinson's Self-Support Group and served as its medical director from 1995 until the pandemic. Over all these years, Dr. Dickoff has taken great pride in instructing the family practice residents at St. Joseph's Medical Center and the medical students and residents at St. John's Riverside Hospital. Dr. Dickoff has chaired the pharmacy and therapeutics committee and served as a member of the St. John's Riverside Hospital Medical Board, helping to lead the facility through the trials and tribulations of the pandemic. David is also a founding Yonkers Mayor's Medical Advisory Board member. Since 2015, Dr. Dickoff has performed a large clinical study on Restless Limbs Syndrome (RLS), migraine headaches, and bruxism. This has resulted in 15 presentations at professional organizations, including the American Neurological Association, American Academy of Neurology, American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, Movement Disorder Society, American Association of Sleep Medicine, and the New York Academy of Sciences. Most of all, Dr. Dickoff is proudest of his four wonderful children, Naomi, Talia, Jacob, and Aaron, whose growth, wisdom, and accomplishments fill him with joy. Dr. Dickoff is exceptionally proud of his service to the Yonkers community and is deeply honored by this recognition by the Exchange Club of Yonkers.