ReachMD

Joseph R. Berger, M.D., FACP, FAAN, FANA, is Professor of Neurology and Chief of the Multiple Sclerosis Division of the Department of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Dr. Berger was a summa cum laude graduate of the Pennsylvania State University – Jefferson Medical College 5 Year Accelerated Medical Program and is a member of national medical honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Georgetown University Hospital and his neurology residency at University of Miami School of Medicine. He is board certified in both internal medicine and neurology. In 1981, Dr. Berger joined the faculty of the University of Miami School of Medicine serving in both the Departments of Neurology and Internal Medicine. At that institution, he held the Whigham-Berger Endowed Chair for the study of the neurological complications of HIV/AIDS, the first endowed chair for the study of the neurological complications of HIV/AIDS. From 1995 through 2013, Dr. Berger was the Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the University of Kentucky where he was the Ruth L. Works Professor of Neurology and director of the UK Multiple Sclerosis Clinic. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Neurology and the American Neurological Association. In 2014, Dr. Berger was the recipient of the Pioneer Award from the International Society of Neurovirology and in 2015 he was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award from the American Neurological Association. Dr. Berger’s research interests include progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, the neurological complications of HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other inflammatory disorders of the brain. He has published more than 240 refereed papers, more than 100 chapters, and has co-edited three textbooks (Berger JR and Levy RM: AIDS and the Nervous System, 2nd edition, Raven Press, New York, 1996; Nath A, Berger JR: Clinical Neurovirology, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2003; Portegies P, Berger JR: HIV/AIDS and the Nervous System, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2007). Additionally, Dr. Berger co-founded and chaired the first international conference on the neurological complications of HIV, the Neuroscience of HIV meeting. He also established the Commonwealth Neurological Society for neurologists in the state of Kentucky. Dr. Berger has a longstanding interest in international health and was one of the founding members of People-to-People, an organization for HIV/AIDS care and education in East Africa.