CHICAGO (April 8, 2002) -- Robert Allan Ratcheson, MD, was elected Secretary of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) at the AANS Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, April 6-11, 2002. An active member of the AANS since 1976, he has served as a member of the AANS Board of Directors (1997-present), member of the AANS Long Range Planning Committee (1998-present), Chair of the Annual Meeting Committee (1997), and Chair of the Van Wagenen Fellowship Committee (1981).

Dr. Ratcheson is Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Case Western University Hospital and at University Hospitals of Cleveland.

After earning his bachelor's and medical degrees from Northwestern University, Dr. Ratcheson went on to complete his surgical internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1967, he served as a senior assistant surgeon at the National Institutes of Health and, soon after, completed his neurosurgical residency at Barnes Hospital. Dr. Ratcheson was Board certified in 1976.

Active in many professional organizations, Dr. Ratcheson has served as a member of the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons' Executive Committee, Vice Chair of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), and Chair of the AANS/CNS Section on Cerebrovascular Surgery. He is currently President-Elect of the Society of Neurological Surgeons and Past-President of the Neurosurgical Society of America.

A prolific author and investigator, Dr. Ratcheson has written numerous chapters for books and articles for scientific journals. In addition, he served as a co-editor of the Journal of Neurosurgery's Editorial Board, and has served on the Editorial Boards of such publications as Neurosurgery, Clinical Neurosurgery, Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, and as Editor of Concepts in Neurosurgery.

Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with nearly 5,500 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. Active members of the AANS are certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. 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.