Keynote Address

Date: March 19, 2025
Time: 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
Location: Centennial Room

Keynote Speaker

Saef Izzy, MD, FNCS, FAAN
Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Associate Neurologist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Divisions of Neurocritical Care and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Department of Neurology
Head, Immunology of Brain Injury Program
Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases
Research Advisor, The Football Players Health Study

Keynote Address Title: Targeting CNS Neuroinflammation in Acute Brain Injury: A Novel Approach to Promote Recovery

Saef Izzy, MD, FNCS, FAAN, is a National Institutes of Health-funded clinician scientist with research interests focused on modulating the neuroinflammatory response to promote neurological recovery following stroke and acute brain injury. A medical graduate of the University of Baghdad College of Medicine, he completed his neurology residency at the University of Massachusetts and fellowship in Neurocritical Care at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The Izzy laboratory has targeted the neuroinflammatory response in models of acute neurological diseases, including traumatic brain injury and intracerebral hemorrhage, through the therapeutic manipulation of mucosal immunity. This work has led to the discovery of novel drugs that are currently in the process of translation to NeuroICU patients. Dr. Izzy also works with the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University to investigate the long-term neurological and medical outcomes following head injury.

In addition to serving as lead editor of “The NeuroICU Board Review,” Dr. Izzy has authored over 78 publications for reputable journals including Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications, Lancet Neurology, Neuron, Brain, JAMA and Circulation. He is the immediate past editor-in-chief of Currents, the Neurocritical Care Society’s e-magazine, and is an active member of the Neurocritical Care Foundation’s board of trustees.