Meet the New Editor-in-Chief of Brain & Life!
July 8, 2024
Brain & Life®, the AAN’s free brain health magazine, website and podcast, has a new editor-in-chief: Sarah Song, MD, MPH, FAAN. Song will lead the publication starting January 1, 2025, taking over from current Editor-in-Chief Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, who completes her 10-year term at the end of 2024.
“Dr. Avitzur has taken Brain & Life to an incredible height—I feel lucky to be stepping into this great situation where she has forged ahead on so many levels,” Song said. “Brain & Life is the most reliable, trustworthy source of all things brain health. Given all the misinformation out there, and the desire for accurate health knowledge, Brain & Life can bridge that gap and be the resource that people rely on.”
Song, who is an associate professor and director of telestroke at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center, has long combined medicine and the written word. She followed a bachelor’s degree in English at Williams College with a year working in the Editorial Department at Harvard University Press, then went on to earn an MD and MPH at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Peoria before beginning her neurology career with a residency at Georgetown University and a stroke fellowship at UCLA.
During her residency, she joined the Neurology® Residents and Fellows Section Editorial Board. Thus began a growing slate of editorial positions: Song presently serves on editorial boards for multiple journals and as a special section editor at Stroke. When she begins her term as editor-in-chief at Brain & Life, she will be no stranger to the publication—she joined its editorial board in 2015 and became associate editor in 2022.
Song’s journey to Brain & Life began before she had even heard about it.
“When I was in college and in medical school, I was constantly thinking of ways to combine literature, public health, and medicine,” she said. While still in training, Song bought a web domain related to the brain and humanities.
“I thought, ‘Someday, maybe I can produce literature or education for the public, or talk about the humanities as it relates to medicine and neurology.’” Song said. “And then as I became introduced to Brain & Life, I realized—‘Wow, it already exists, and it’s amazing.’ It’s so much better than anything I could have imagined.”
One of Song’s favorite aspects of Brain & Life is its strong relationship with readers and listeners. She particularly enjoys the “Letters to the Editor” section and finds the publication uniquely suited for helping people from all walks of life learn about neurological conditions and improve their brain health. The magazine’s other sections include “From Your Neurologist,” where readers can find expert insights and advice on everything from serotonin to psychedelics; “Healthy Living,” which emphasizes preventative brain health; and “Brain Science,” where the brain and its conditions are demystified. The publication’s website features hundreds of pages on brain disorders in “Disorders A-Z,” and its podcast hosts neurology experts, celebrity advocates, and other guests each week.
“We can be the ambassadors to talk about brain health because we are the experts on brain health. Our editorial board works hard to curate diverse stories of interest backed up by the best science,” Song said. “Brain & Life is like a conversation between trusted friends—it turns tricky topics into a source that is approachable, meaningful, and reliable.”
Anyone in the US can subscribe for free to the Brain & Life print magazine, which is published and mailed for free six times per year, and the quarterly Brain & Life® en Español. The Brain & Life podcast is available online and on Apple, Spotify, and Libsyn.
In the future, Song hopes to reach more readers and explore new, innovative ways to share crucial information. She also intends to continue the publication’s focus on both neurological conditions and preventive brain health, help sustain its community, and keep using it in support of the AAN’s mission of brain health for all.
Song added, “I want people to feel empowered by Brain & Life to act on the information they learn, and to share it with others. Giving people accurate health information in a way that’s accessible and relatable is going to be key.”