ORLANDO, Fla. ― Elinor Ben-Menachem, MD, PhD, will begin a term as a member-at-large of the Nominating Committee of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) at the conclusion of the Society’s 2023 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla., Dec. 1-5, 2023. A medical and scientific society of 5,200 members, AES is dedicated to advancing research and education for preventing, treating, and curing epilepsy.
Dr. Ben-Menachem serves as a professor at the University of Goteborg, Sahlgren Academy and Hospital in Sweden. Since 1982, she has worked as an epileptologist devoted to meeting with patients, finding new treatments, and conducting clinical trials that focus on refractory epilepsy patients who are not candidates for respective epilepsy surgery.
An advocate of translational medicine, Dr. Ben-Menachem takes great pride that most of her work is done through collaboration with basic science colleagues. She started the first AES translational symposium that continues today as a component of the AES Annual Meeting.
Dr. Ben-Menachem studied zoology at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She then completed medical school at the University of Goteborg, Göteborg, Sweden, followed by an internship in internal medicine-general practice at Molndal Central Hospital, Molndal, Sweden, then a residency in neurology and her Ph.D. from the University of Goteborg. She returned to Los Angeles and obtained a fellowship in epilepsy at the Veterans Administration/UCLA under the chief of neurology, Wallace Tourtrellotte, MD, PhD. There, she received her California medical license which she maintains to this day.
A committed AES volunteer for more than 20 years, Dr. Ben-Menachem has served the Society on the board of directors, as chair of the Council on Education, chair of the Annual Meeting Committee, a member of several committees, and a contributing editor of Epilepsy Currents.
Dr. Ben-Menachem is the recipient of the 2022 AES Founders Award, the 2017 Epilepsy Foundation of America Lifetime Accelerator Award, the 2008 AES Distinguished Service Award, and the 2005 International League Against Epilepsy Ambassador for Epilepsy Award.