FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO (April 24, 2006) - Donald O. Quest, MD, was named president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) at the AANS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, April 24-27, 2006. A member of the AANS since 1979, he is a member of the following committees: Executive, Finance, Long-Range Planning, and the new AANSPAC Board of Directors.

Dr. Quest served on the AANS Board of Directors as vice president (1994-1995), as Scientific Program Committee chairman (1990-1991) and Annual Meeting chairman (1991-1992). He was elected as a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery in 1994, serving as secretary (1996-1999) and chairman (1999-2000). He was elected to the Residency Review Committee for Neurological Surgery in 2000 and was chairman from 2004 to 2005. He was president of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery from 2001 to 2002. Dr. Quest served as president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons from 1986 to 1987.

Dr. Quest is the J. Lawrence Pool Professor of Neurological Surgery at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, N.Y. He was appointed assistant dean of Student Affairs in 2003. He is vice chairman of the Neurosurgery Department at the Neurological Institute, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. He joined the department in 1978, and became professor of clinical neurosurgery in 1989. He served as vice chairman in 1991 to 1993, and has been acting chairman twice (1993-1994) and (1996-1997).

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Dr. Quest graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in mathematics. He served active duty with the United States Navy as a naval aviator aboard the U.S.S. Kittyhawk in the Vietnam conflict from 1961 to 1966. He received his medical degree from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1970. He did his internship in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1970 to 1971, followed by his residency from 1971 to 1972. Dr. Quest was a resident in neurological surgery at the Neurological Institute, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center from 1972 to 1975.

Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with more than 6,800 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. All active members of the AANS are certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Neurosurgery) of Canada or the Mexican Council of Neurological Surgery, AC. Neurological surgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the entire nervous system including the spinal column, spinal cord, brain and peripheral nerves.