CHICAGO (April 28, 2008) - James R. Bean, MD, will be named president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) at the AANS Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 28-May 1, 2008. An active member of the AANS since 1988, Dr. Bean completed a three-year term as AANS treasurer prior to serving as president-elect. He served as editor of the AANS Bulletin from 2003-2005. He has served as chairman of the AANS/CNS Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (1997-1999), the AANS/CNS Coding and Reimbursement Committee (2000-2002), and the AANS/CNS Washington Committee (2002-2004).He is a member of the following committees: Executive, Finance, Long-Range Planning, the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF) Executive Council, and the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors.

Dr. Bean completed his undergraduate work at the University of Virginia in 1970, and received his medical degree from the Tulane University School of Medicine in 1973. He completed his neurosurgical residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in 1980, and a research fellowship focusing on brain tumor immunology (1978) and cerebrovascular ischemia (1979), at the Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Gough Cooper Department of Neurological Surgery, Queen Square in London, England. Dr. Bean became Board-certified in 1983. Dr. Bean is currently president of Neurosurgical Associates, PSC, in Lexington, Ky.

He is a member of numerous professional societies including the American College of Surgeons, American Medical Association, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Kentucky Medical Association, Kentucky Neurosurgical Society, Lexington Medical Society and the Southern Neurosurgical Society.

Dr. Bean has published numerous journal articles and book chapters including Concepts in Neurosurgery, and was a previous editor (1994-2000) of Changing Times, a socioeconomic fax newsletter.

Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with more than 7,200 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.