Souhel Najjar, MD is the Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Neurology Service Line for Northwell Health and Chair of Neurology at North Shore University Hospital, Lenox Hill Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical and Staten Island University Hospital. He serves as the Chair and Professor of Neurology at Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Najjar is a world-renowned physician, internationally recognized for his clinical, research and teaching expertise, having dedicated his career to the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, neuroinflammation-related neuropsychiatric disorders and autoimmune disorders of central nervous system.
Dr. Najjar received his MD from Demascus Medical School in Syria and completed residencies in pathology and neurology at Albany Medical College. Following residency Dr. Najjar completed a fellowship in neuropathology at the NYU School of Medicine as well as a fellowship in epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology at NYU's Hospital for Joint Diseases. Prior to his appointment at North Shore-LIJ, Dr. Najjar was the Director of Neurosciences and Director of Stroke at SIUH, as well as the Director of Epilepsy Quality Assurance and Associate Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Najjar was also the Founder and Director of the Epilepsy Center Division of the NYU Department of Neurology's Neuroinflammation Research Group.
Dr. Najjar was featured in the New York Times' best-selling novel "Brain on Fire," a memoir written by Susannah Cahalan, a reporter from the New York Post. Dr. Najjar diagnosed Ms. Cahalan with a rare autoimmune disease in which the body was attacking her brain. This illness is now thought to have been the cause of demonic possessions throughout history.