Peter W. Carmel, MD
Peter W. Carmel, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon from Newark, N.J., was elected to the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees in June 2002, and re-elected in 2006. A member of the AMA House of Delegates for 17 years, Dr. Carmel served as chair of the Specialty and Service Society and helped it achieve AMA bylaws recognition. While serving as chair of the AMA Council on Long Range Planning and Development, 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 currently sits on its board of directors.
Dr. Carmel has served in numerous positions in both the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). He was the delegate to the AMA from the CNS from 1985 to 2002.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Dr. Carmel completed his medical training at the New York University School of Medicine and was a research associate at the National Institutes of Health. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at the Neurological Institute of New York and obtained his doctorate in neuroanatomy from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S). At P&S he was the founding chief of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery and a professor of neurological surgery.
In 1994 Dr. Carmel moved to the New Jersey Medical School, where he is currently chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery and co-medical director of the Neurological Institute of New Jersey. He operates at the University Hospital in Newark, N.J.
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 this capacity, he helped the late Rep. Silvio O. Conte launch the Decade of the Brain initiative, which raised millions of dollars for neurological disease and stroke research.
In 1969 Dr. Carmel founded the Neuroendocrine Laboratory within the Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction at P&S; it has been continuously funded for 40 years.
Dr. Carmel has been elected to 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. In 2008 Dr. Carmel was honored with the Distinguished Service Award of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Dr. Carmel and his wife, Jacqueline Bello, MD, a neuroradiologist, live in Manhattan, N.Y. Dr. Carmel has three sons. His son Jason is on the pediatric neurological faculty at P&S. Jason’s wife, Amanda, is an internist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
2009–2010
