Daniel T. Tranel (born October 20, 1957) is an American professor of neurology at the University of Iowa. He has been recognized as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.^[1] While a graduate student at the University of Iowa, he helped establish the Iowa Neurological Patient Registry, which he currently directs.^[2][3] The Iowa Neurological Patient Registry includes cases of unique brain injuries, such as Patient S.M.^[4][5] and Patient E.V.R.^[6] Tranel also directs the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Iowa.^[7] He serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology^[8] and is a contributing author to the 5th edition of Neuropsychological Assessment, a classic textbook in neuropsychology used by most neuropsychologists.^[9]

Tranel researches brain-behavior relationships in humans. He uses the lesion method, neuropsychological testing, and functional imaging (including PET and fMRI) to study topics such as retrieval of knowledge and words, emotion, decision-making, fact-processing, nonconscious processing, memory, and psychophysiology.^[7] Tranel has authored over 600 research papers and been cited more than 80,000 times.^[10] His discoveries include determining that nouns and verbs are stored in separate parts of the brain^[11] and that patients with prosopagnosia have physical responses to familiar faces despite lack of conscious recognition.^[12]

Tranel became known for being one of a pair of professors who rejected the graduate school application of Aurora theater gunman James Holmes.^[13][14]