Clifton Gooch, MD, professor and chair of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s Department of Neurology, is becoming president of the Association of University Professors of Neurology (AUPN). His two-year term began May 1, 2020.
“I am greatly honored to have been selected by my fellow neurology chairs to lead the AUPN,” Dr. Gooch said.
The AUPN is the leadership organization for academic neurology, representing the chairs of academic neurology departments throughout the U.S. and Canada. Neurology residency and clerkship program directors are also among its members. Founded in 1967 to support and represent the leaders of academic educational, research and patient care programs, the AUPN today also advises and influences policy affecting academic neurology at the national, state and local levels. Chair of the University of South Florida’s Department of Neurology since 2008, Dr. Gooch joined USF from Columbia University, where led the Neuropathy Research Center, the Neuromuscular Physiology Division and the New York Presbyterian EMG Laboratory. During his tenure, the USF Department of Neurology has more than tripled in size and has greatly expanded its clinical care, educational and research programs. Dr. Gooch has a major interest in developing new and better therapies for neurological disease, with a focus on the neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders, and USF Neurology is now conducting more than 120 experimental therapeutic research studies. Dr. Gooch has held numerous leadership positions at USF, including establishing and directing the USF Neuroscience Collaborative for interdisciplinary research and founding the USF ALS Center. In addition to his national leadership positions with AUPN, Dr. Gooch also serves as Treasurer and on the Board of Directors for the American Neurological Association (ANA), and as a member of the Board of Trustees for the National ALS Association.