AANS: American Association of Neurological Surgeons Names 2018 President

Shelly D. Timmons, M.D., Ph.D., FAANS, has been named president-elect of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). The association announced her appointment during the 85th AANS Annual Scientific Meeting earlier this week, held in Los Angeles, Calif.
 
Timmons is a professor of neurosurgery at Penn State University (PSU) Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where she actively practices neurosurgery and neurocritical care. She is vice chair for Administration of the Department of Neurosurgery at PSU, as well as the director of Neurotrauma. Timmons is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and has additional certification in Neurocritical Care from the Society of Neurological Surgeons Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training. Timmons has been a clinical researcher for a number of years in the field of neurotrauma with emphasis on traumatic brain injury.
 
“I am humbled and honored to receive this appointment,” said Timmons, “and plan to work diligently to further the profession of neurosurgery through the activities of our association. I look forward to collaborating with the bright and talented individuals in our group on refining best neurosurgical practices, advancing neurosurgical research and outcomes science and providing education to neurosurgeons globally, in the interests of our patients now and in the future.”    
 
Timmons will be the association’s first female neurosurgeon to act as president, and the second woman. The first was neuropathologist Dr. Louise Eisenhardt, a charter member of the society founded as the Harvey Cushing Society in 1931. Eisenhardt served as president from 1938-1939 and was followed by another charter member, Dr. R. Eustace Semmes, who co-founded the Semmes-Murphey Clinic in Memphis, Tenn., where Timmons practiced for several years.
 
Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with more than 10,000 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. Fellows of the AANS are board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the Mexican Council of Neurological Surgery, A.C. Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spinal column, spinal cord, brain, nervous system and peripheral nerves.