NJ Neurosurgeon Named AMA President

The former chairman of the National Coalition for Research in Neurological Disease and Stroke, Carmel was subsequently chair of the National Foundation for Brain Research. He helped launch the Decade of the Brain initiative that raised millions of dollars in research money for neurological diseases and stroke.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Carmel completed his medical training at the New York University School of Medicine and was research associate at the National Institutes of Health. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at the Neurological Institute of New York and obtained his doctorate in neuroanatomy from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Carmel was on the faculty at P&S for 27 years and was the founding chief of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery and a professor of neurological surgery. 

In 1994 Carmel moved to the New Jersey Medical School, where he is now chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery and co-medical director of the Neurological Institute of New Jersey.  He operates at the University Hospital in Newark, NJ and is the second physician from New Jersey to hold the office of AMA president.

Carmel’s wife, Jacqueline Bello, MD, is a neuroradiologist. The couple lives in Manhattan, NY, the AMA said.