FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON April 11, 2007

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Neurologist Awarded by AAN for Nervous System Research

Martin A. Samuels, MD, Receives H. Houston Merritt Award and Lecture

ST. PAUL, Minn -

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is awarding the 2007 H. Houston Merritt Award and Lecture to Martin A. Samuels, MD, DSc (hon), MACP, Fellow of the AAN, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, for his insights related to how the nervous system affects the other organs. Samuels, who was the 2006 recipient of the AAN’s A.B. Baker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Neurologic Education, will receive the award during the American Academy of Neurology’s 59th Annual Meeting in Boston, held April 28 – May 5, 2007. The H. Houston Merritt Award and Lecture is awarded for excellence in clinically relevant research. The Merritt lecture is presented every other year (alternating with the Cotzias) during the Presidential Plenary Session of the Scientific Program of the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. Samuels’s lecture will feature his career-long work explaining the manner in which the nervous system affects other organs in the body. This research looks at the heart and brain connection as an example of how brain and mind processes can be harmful to the heart. “This work helps us understand how the brain can cause or prevent many diseases of the internal organs,” said Samuels, who is also Neurologist-in-Chief and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and President of the Association of University Professors of Neurology. “Winning this award has special meaning to me, as Merritt was one of the early Brigham neurologists.” The 59th Annual Meeting takes place in Boston’s Hynes Convention Center. It is the world’s largest annual gathering of neurologists. –end–

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 20,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. 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, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke. For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com.