Peter W. Carmel, MD
Peter W. Carmel, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon who practices in Newark, N.J., served as the 166th president of the American Medical Association (AMA) from June 2011 to June 2012. Dr. Carmel has been a member of the AMA Board of Trustees since 2002 and a member of the AMA House of Delegates since 1985. Dr. Carmel served as chair of the Specialty and Service Society (SSS) from 1992 to 1993 and helped the SSS achieve AMA bylaws recognition. Dr. Carmel has also served on the AMA Council on Long Range Planning and Development and was its chair from 2000 to 2001. During his tenure, the council originated the AMA International Medical Graduates Section and established proportional representation for specialty medical society members. From 2006 to 2007, Dr. Carmel served as president of the AMA Foundation, and he is currently on the foundation's board of directors.
In addition to his extensive involvement with the AMA, Dr. Carmel has also served in prominent positions with both the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). He was the delegate to the AMA from the CNS (1985–2002) and received the AANS Distinguished Service Award in 2008.
A New York native, Dr. Carmel was born in Brooklyn and completed his medical training at the New York University School of Medicine. He was also a research associate at the National Institutes of Health and completed his residency in neurosurgery at the Neurological Institute of New York. He obtained his doctorate in neuroanatomy from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S). A member of the faculty at P&S for 27 years, Dr. Carmel founded the Neuroendocrine Laboratory within the Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction, which has been continuously funded for 43 years. The founding chief of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery and a professor of neurological surgery, he also has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications.
In 1994 Dr. Carmel moved to the New Jersey Medical School, where he is currently chairman emeritus of the Department of Neurological Surgery and co-medical director of the Neurological Institute of New Jersey. A noted clinician who operates at the University Hospital in Newark, Dr. Carmel has been named to "Best Doctors in America" (American Health), "Best Doctors in New York" (New York magazine), "New Jersey Top Doctors" (New Jersey Monthly) and "America's Top Doctors" (Castle Connally).
A committed advocate for neurological research, Dr. Carmel served as chairman of the National Coalition for Research in Neurological Disease and Stroke, and subsequently as chair of the National Foundation for Brain Research. In the latter position he helped the late Congressman Silvio Conte launch the "Decade of the Brain," which brought millions of dollars for neurological research.
Dr. Carmel has also served on the board of directors of the National Patient Safety Foundation and the National Health Museum, and he serves on the New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Research.
Dr. Carmel and his wife, Jacqueline Bello, MD, a neuroradiologist, currently live in Manhattan.
Dr. Carmel has three sons. His son Jason is on the pediatric neurological faculty at Weill Cornell Medical Center and at the Burke Institute. Jason's wife, Amanda Carmel, MD, is on the internal medicine faculty at the New York Hospital Weill- Cornell Medical Center. Sons Jonathan and David are the principals of Carmel Asset Management.
2012–2013
