Alex Berenstein

Berenstein, MD (Dr B.) was born in Mexico City in 1948, graduated from the UNAM, at present is Professor of Radiology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is Director of the Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Roosevelt Hospital in NYC. He is a pioneer in the new field in medicine "Endovascular Surgery"; he established the first comprehensive center for the multidisciplinary treatment of head, neck and peripheral vascular lesions.

His contributions extend from the description of the functional vascular anatomy, understanding and describing the diseases, to the development of multiple medical devises to treat them used throughout the world. He has authored over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, more than 25 chapters in the field and 9 books including the five volumes groundbreaking textbook, "Surgical Neuroangiography".

Among the more than 30 awards, in 1989 he received the Ramon y Cajal Award in Medicine for distinguished Latin American Physicians. In 1998 The First Cerebrovascular Luessenhop Award from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS); Section of Cerebrovascular Surgery. In 2001 he was awarded the Paolo Raimondi Award from the AANS/CNS on Pediatric Neurological Surgery and is the only physician to have received both. In 2007 he received the Physician of the Year from Vascular Birthmark Foundation, for his work with children with vascular birth defects. In 2007 the Boston Scientific Neurovascular Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in research and clinical applications. In 2008 the Heart of New York Stroke Spotlight Award from the American Heart and Stroke Association. Honorary Member of the Japanese Society of Neuroendovascular Therapy, in 2009 he received the first Serbinenko Golden Sign Award in Neurosurgery in Moscow.

He has been visiting professor, lecturer and faculty on over 600 occasions. He became the first president of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology and third president of the American Society of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology; and has been elected to be the next President of SILAN the Latin-American Society of Neuroradiology for 2011.