AMA presents distinguished service award to Dr. Omalu

The American Medical Association (AMA) today honored Bennet I. Omalu, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H., with the Distinguished Service Award for his work discovering chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in American football players. Granted by the AMA Board of Trustees, this award honors a member of the AMA for meritorious service in the science and art of medicine.

A Nigerian-American forensic pathologist, Dr. Omalu discovered CTE while working at the coroner’s office in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) in 2002. Dr. Omalu recognized brain abnormalities in several NFL players who evidenced personality changes or cognitive disorders before dying at an early age. He named the condition CTE, and described the abnormal accumulation of tau protein in the brains of these individuals.