New York Neurologist Elected New American Academy of Neurology President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MINNEAPOLIS – The American Academy of Neurology (AAN), the world’s largest professional association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, has elected Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, a practicing neurologist in Tarrytown, New York, as its 37^th president. Avitzur succeeds James C. Stevens, MD, FAAN, who completed his two-year term as president during the recent virtual AAN Annual Meeting. 

“With gracious thanks to my predecessor, Dr. Jim Stevens, for successfully guiding the Academy through the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to our members and our organization, as I take over as president, we are beginning to glimpse brighter days,” said Avitzur. “I look forward to building upon the AAN’s amazing accomplishments over this past year, and to helping members recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, seizing the moment to improve working conditions for practicing neurologists, strengthen support for academic neurologists, promote neurologic research and ensure that the public has access to care they need.” 

Avitzur is a former chair of the AAN Medical Economics and Management Committee, the Practice Management and Technology Subcommittee and the Audit Committee. She is editor-in-chief of Brain & Life^®, the AAN’s patient and caregiver magazine and website. Avitzur is a medical writer and has written for Neurology Today^®, the official news source of the AAN, reporting on trends and innovations in the practice of neurology since 2001. Her stories have included broad coverage of technology in clinical care; the evolution of the health care regulatory environment; the neurology pipeline; equity, diversity, and inclusion; and most recently, neurologists on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For 10 years, Avitzur served as a health editor for Consumer Reports, and as its medical director from 2015-2018. She is the recipient of several APEX writing awards and the 2009 AAN Journalism Fellowship award. She attended the Johns Hopkins University for her undergraduate studies and during medical school at the Pennsylvania State University, Avitzur received the Merck Award for Academic Excellence. She is a clinical instructor at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, where she completed her neurology residency, and a clinical assistant professor at New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY. She received her master’s of business administration from the University of Connecticut. 

The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 36,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.