President's Column
Read archives from AAN Past President Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, who served from May 2021 to April 2023.
October 2022
The Brain Health Summit: An Evolution of a Long Tradition of Public Education at the AAN
On September 15, the American Academy of Neurology convened its first Brain Health Summit in Washington, DC.
It was the culmination of decades of commitment to take on the responsibility of public education about neurologic health, stretching back to the founding era of the Academy when Mabel G. Marston, MD—the first woman to become a full professor at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1950 and eventual chair of its Department of Neuro-psychiatry—chaired the AAN Committee for Public Relations in 1949.
In those earlier years, most of the AAN’s external focus was on promoting public education through press releases on the latest brain research, often in conjunction with the Annual Meetings. Today, our robust press release program shares exciting scientific results published in Neurology® at least six times per month, with each release reaching millions upon millions of readers and viewers through local, national, and international print and electronic media.
The AAN’s capable advocacy efforts resulted in the 1990s being deemed “The Decade of the Brain” by an act of Congress, and a subsequent supplement in USA Today furthered our public education outreach. Soon, members asked for education materials they could share with their patients in their offices, and the Academy responded with disease-specific brochures with concise, easy-to-understand information and visual aids. There has been ongoing public education through our AAN patient guideline summaries and sports concussion resources, as well as projects to promote acute stroke treatment and the signs of stroke, disease-specific videos and guidebooks, and public service announcements.
A great leap forward occurred in late 2001, when former President Theodore L. Munsat, MD, FAAN, was asked by then-President Stanley Fahn, MD, FAAN, to take part in the creation of a series of educational books for people with neurologic disease. He, in turn, recruited my friends former President Steven P. Ringel, MD, FAAN, and future President Terrence L. Cascino, MD, FAAN, (who was co-chair of the AAN Education Committee at the time), and thus began an effort to create material that will “serve as a recognized authoritative source of information” for patients and the public. Others joined on and in a written proposal dated February 22, 2002, Dr. Munsat, a cofounder of Continuum®, concluded, “I view this an exciting challenge with great potential to provide patients with much needed educational material and simultaneously address the mission of the AAN.” There were subsequent financial and logistical challenges to overcome as the tactics evolved beyond the creation of a book series to include a patient and caregiver magazine, and in April of 2005 the first issue of Neurology Now® (now called Brain & Life® magazine) was published.
More than two decades subsequent to that meeting of the minds, the AAN’s suite of public educational products now includes Brain & Life® en Espanol, the website BrainandLife.org, the Brain & Life® Book Series, and the Brain & Life Podcast—resources that reach millions of people throughout the world. Today, these Brain & Life products cover a broad spectrum of brain health including exercise and nutrition, wellness, preventive care, lifestyle improvements, and assistance in living well with neurologic conditions.
The AAN has also presented a variety of free Brain Health Fairs for the residents of cities hosting our Annual Meetings and free bike helmet giveaways in conjunction with a police-sponsored bike safety program in the city of Minneapolis, where the AAN headquarters is located.
It was at a Brain Health Fair in 2013 that I was first introduced to Natalia S. Rost, MD, MPH, FAHA, FAAN, who serves as the chief of the stroke division at the Massachusetts General Hospital and as Science Committee chair. We were both helping people get free bicycle helmets at a booth at the San Diego Convention Center. Attendees of all ages loved it, and we did as well! As crowds of people rushed our table to get properly fitted, we chatted, and over the subsequent years serving together on the AAN Board of Directors I learned about her commitment to preventive care. When the newly established Committee on Public Engagement (COPE) launched during my term as president, under the direction of the Board of Directors—which had set brain health as one of the organization’s top priorities—I asked Dr. Rost to serve as its vice chair together with policy expert David A. Evans, MBA, as its chair. Over the past year, they have led COPE in developing a strategic plan prioritizing brain health as a key aspect of public engagement and developing the AAN’s Brain Health Initiative, with Dr. Rost being instrumental in planning the Brain Health Summit and promoting it to key neurologists, educators, and thought leaders in and outside our profession. Designed as a call to action to raise awareness and improve understanding of brain diseases and the importance of maintaining a healthy brain, the summit is intended to set the stage to enable the public to become better educated in brain health during every stage of life. Despite a growing number of local, national, and global brain health initiatives created to promote disease prevention and advance research, no singular medical or allied profession has ever been able to curate whole brain health. I believe that neurology, bolstered by the vast experience of the AAN in public education, is the ideal profession to lead this effort. Toward that end, the US House of Representatives granted our request to designate September 15 as National Brain Health Day.
A highlight of the event was the surprise appearance of New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a recent stroke survivor, who shared his experience with attendees and expressed his ongoing commitment to brain health. He is already a leader on the ENACT Act (S. 1548), a bill to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in research and clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and the Neuroscience Center of Excellence Act (S. 3427), which would establish a Neuroscience Center of Excellence at the Food and Drug Administration.
Just hours before the September 15 Brain Health Summit convened, the Neurology journal published a special editorial I had asked Dr. Rost, and Mr. Evans to write with me. It goes into greater detail about the need and purpose of the Brain Health Initiative and the goals of this initial meeting, which brought together 100 of the brightest minds in American neurology. As I finish composing this column the day after, I am still energized by the enthusiasm our colleagues brought to this event and the torrent of creative ideas they shared.
I wish to thank the National Institute on Aging, Healthy Brain Global Initiative, Center for BrainHealth, American Heart Association, the Health Metrics and Evaluation, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research, and AARP, among others who were represented at the summit and shared their work in brain health. I’d also like to recognize other international neurology associations, such as the European Academy of Neurology and the World Federation of Neurology, on their brain health efforts and look forward to future collaboration with all of them.
I’d like to believe that Drs. Marston and Munsat and their colleagues would be proud to learn how far their vision to reach the public has come. The bold steps we take now with this new initiative will have a tremendous impact on the brain health of America for decades to come.
Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN
President, AAN
oavitzur@aan.com
@OrlyA on Twitter