Aaron Berkowitz, MD, PhD, FAAN

Professor of Clin Neurology
Neurology

Aaron Berkowitz is a Professor of Clinical Neurology at UCSF, where he serves as a neurohospitalist, general neurologist, and clinician-educator at SF VA Medical Center and San Francisco General Hospital. He previously served as director of global neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, where he developed and directed the first year Mind, Brain, Behavior course.

He serves on the editorial boards of Continuum: Lifelong Learning in Neurology and Practical Neurology (BMJ), wrote the neurology chapter for the Oxford Manual of Humanitarian Medicine, and is the author of four books including the neurology textbook Clinical Neurology and Neuroanatomy: A Localization-Based Approach and One by One by One: Making a Small Difference Amid a Billion Problems, which tells the stories of patients with brain tumors in Haiti and his efforts to seek care for them with Partners In Health.

His work as a neurology educator has been recognized by the Residency Teacher of the Year Award from the MGH/BWH/Harvard Neurology Residency program in both 2018 and 2019 and the O’Hara Excellence in Preclinical Teaching award from Harvard Medical School in 2016. He has taught neurology to students, residents, and primary providers around the world including in Haiti, Malawi, Zambia (virtually), and Japan.

As Health and Policy Advisor to Partners In Health and Senior Specialist Consultant to Doctors Without Borders, he has worked tirelessly to improve access to neurologic care and education worldwide including development of the first neurology residency in Haiti, neurologic consultation and CME for primary care providers in Navajo Nation, consultation on undergraduate medical education curriculum reform in Vietnam, and clinical teleconsultation for MSF. This work has been recognized by the Mridha Humanitarian Award from the American Brain Foundation in 2018 and the Viste Patient Advocate of the Year Award from the American Academy of Neurology in 2019.

Aaron completed his MD at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his neurology residency at Brigham and Women's and Massachusetts General Hospitals, where he served as chief resident.

Publications: 

Diagnostic Approach to the Patient with Altered Mental Status.

Seminars in neurology

Lieberman OJ, Berkowitz AL

Diagnostic reasoning in challenging cases.

Practical neurology

Berkowitz AL

Global impact of a virtual neurology morning report.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Alemán MJ, Roldan V, Pucci GF, Penner JC, Nematollahi S, Berkowitz AL

Neurology in Underserved and Marginalized Populations.

Seminars in neurology

Wahlster S, Berkowitz AL

Metabolic and Toxic Myelopathies.

Continuum (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Holroyd KB, Berkowitz AL

Pragmatic solutions to reduce the global burden of stroke: a World Stroke Organization-Lancet Neurology Commission.

The Lancet. Neurology

Feigin VL, Owolabi MO, World Stroke Organization–Lancet Neurology Commission Stroke Collaboration Group

Clinical Features and Diagnosis of Intramedullary Spinal Cord Abscess in Adults: A Systematic Review.

Neurology

Harrold GK, Sajawal Ali A, Berkowitz AL, Bhattacharyya S

The case of a 49-year-old man with involuntary toe movements.

Annals of clinical and translational neurology

Pucci GF, Berkowitz AL

Consensus Competencies for Post-Graduate Fellowship Training in Global Neurology.

Neurology

Schiess N, Kulo V, Anand P, Bearden DR, Berkowitz AL, Birbeck GL, Cervantes-Arslanian A, Chan P, Chishimba LC, Chow FC, Elicer I, Fleury A, Kinikar A, Kvalsund M, Mateen FJ, Mbonde AA, Meyer AL, O'Carroll CB, Ogunniyi A, Patel AA, Rubenstein M, Siddiqi OK, Spudich S, Tackett SA, Thakur KT, Vora N, Zunt J, Saylor DR

A 47-Year-Old Man Presenting With Seizures and Prior Stroke.

The Neurohospitalist

Camacho-Caballero K, Malaga M, Peixoto de Barcelos I, Prentice AF, Berkowitz AL

Inpatient Management of Acute Stroke of Unknown Type in Resource-Limited Settings.

Stroke

Prust ML, Saylor D, Zimba S, Sarfo FS, Shrestha GS, Berkowitz A, Vora N

Seizures and Headaches in a 34-Year-Old Woman With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

The Neurohospitalist

Pucci GF, Fontes RS, Roque RT, Nobrega VC, Berkowitz AL

Primary stroke prevention worldwide: translating evidence into action.

The Lancet. Public health

Owolabi MO, Thrift AG, Mahal A, Ishida M, Martins S, Johnson WD, Pandian J, Abd-Allah F, Yaria J, Phan HT, Roth G, Gall SL, Beare R, Phan TG, Mikulik R, Akinyemi RO, Norrving B, Brainin M, Feigin VL, Stroke Experts Collaboration Group

#NeuroTwitter 101: a tweetorial on creating tweetorials.

Practical neurology

Albin C, Berkowitz AL

Beyond electives: Rethinking training in global neurology.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Ravishankar M, Berkowitz AL

Expanding Global Access to Neurology Education.

JAMA neurology

Alemán MJ, Nematollahi S, Berkowitz AL

Approach to Neurologic Infections.

Continuum (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Berkowitz AL

Meningitis.

Continuum (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Aksamit AJ, Berkowitz AL

Clinical-Radiologic Dissociation in Post-traumatic Syringomyelia.

World neurosurgery

Pucci GF, Akita J, Berkowitz AL

The state of stroke services across the globe: Report of World Stroke Organization-World Health Organization surveys.

International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society

Owolabi MO, Thrift AG, Martins S, Johnson W, Pandian J, Abd-Allah F, Varghese C, Mahal A, Yaria J, Phan HT, Roth G, Gall SL, Beare R, Phan TG, Mikulik R, Norrving B, Feigin VL, Stroke Experts Collaboration Group

Metabolic and Toxic Myelopathies.

Seminars in neurology

Slama MCC, Berkowitz AL

Pseudo-Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

The Neurohospitalist

O'Hare M, Berkowitz AL

Protocolized emergency department observation care improves quality of ischemic stroke care in Haiti.

African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence

Rouhani SA, Marsh RH, Rimpel L, Anderson K, Outhay M, Edmond MC, Checkett KA, Berkowitz AL, Kwan GF, Baugh CW, Schuur JD

A Clinical Approach to Diagnosing Encephalopathy.

The American journal of medicine

Erkkinen MG, Berkowitz AL

Development of a neurology training program in Haiti.

Neurology

Israel K, Strander SM, Pierre S, Martineau L, Morse ME, Berkowitz AL

Cephalosporin neurotoxicity: An overlooked cause of toxic-metabolic encephalopathy.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Bhattacharyya S, Berkowitz AL

Tetanus, Botulism, and Diphtheria.

Continuum (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Berkowitz AL

Patterns of Hydrocephalus in Rural Haiti: A Computed Tomography-Based Study.

World neurosurgery

Barthélemy EJ, Valtis YK, Cochran MF, Martineau L, Park K, Mendel JB, Warf B, Berkowitz AL

Neurology Training Worldwide.

Seminars in neurology

Hillis JM, Berkowitz AL

Diagnosing and caring for MS in Haiti.

Multiple sclerosis and related disorders

Waubant E, Berkowitz A, Giovannoni G, Hawkes C, Levy M

The Many Faces of Neurocysticercosis.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Raibagkar P, Berkowitz AL

Glioblastoma arising within sites of encephalomalacia from cerebrovascular insult: two cases and a review of the literature.

Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia

Ferenczi EA, Saadi A, Bhattacharyya S, Berkowitz AL

Improvement of distal acquired demyelinating symmetric (DADS) neuropathy after exposure to factor Xa inhibitor.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Lizarraga AA, Cochrane TI, Berkowitz AL

Paraneoplastic Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder as Presentation of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma.

The Annals of thoracic surgery

Wiener DC, Kaplan TB, Bravo-Iñiguez CE, Miller J, Berkowitz AL, Jaklitsch MT

Clinical Reasoning: An 82-year-old man with worsening gait.

Neurology

Chew S, Vodopivec I, Berkowitz AL

Neurenteric cyst at the dorsal craniocervical junction in a child: Case report.

Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia

Lai PMR, Zaazoue MA, Francois R, Dupervil DG, Berkowitz AL, Alexandrescu S, Proctor MR

Head CT findings at a public hospital in rural Haiti.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Valtis YK, Cochran MF, Martineau L, Lamour B, Mendel JB, Berkowitz AL

Teaching NeuroImages: Fahr syndrome caused by hypoparathyroidism.

Neurology

Dade E, Saint-Joy V, Haynes NA, Berkowitz AL

What to do when patients with epilepsy cannot take their usual oral medications.

Practical neurology

Bank AM, Lee JW, Krause P, Berkowitz AL

Antibiotic-associated encephalopathy.

Neurology

Stip E, Darby RR, Bhattacharyya S, Berkowitz AL

Glioproliferative Lesion of the Spinal Cord as a Complication of "Stem-Cell Tourism".

The New England journal of medicine

Berkowitz AL, Miller MB, Mir SA, Cagney D, Chavakula V, Guleria I, Aizer A, Ligon KL, Chi JH

Managing acute stroke in low-resource settings.

Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Berkowitz AL

Zika virus-associated Guillain-Barré syndrome variant in Haiti.

Neurology

Kassavetis P, Joseph JM, Francois R, Perloff MD, Berkowitz AL

Psychosis Secondary to Anti-N-methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis.

Harvard review of psychiatry

Raynor G, Bader C, Srikanth M, Kroll D, Gutheil T, Berkowitz A

Clinical Reasoning: A 58-year-old woman with loss of vision in her left eye.

Neurology

Ho GP, Brizzi KT, Meredith DM, Laws ER, Berkowitz AL

Antibiotic-associated encephalopathy.

Neurology

Bhattacharyya S, Darby RR, Raibagkar P, Gonzalez Castro LN, Berkowitz AL

Development of a neurology rotation for internal medicine residents in Haiti.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Berkowitz AL, Martineau L, Morse ME, Israel K

Cardiovascular Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis.

The neurologist

Kaplan TB, Berkowitz AL, Samuels MA

Availability, accessibility, and affordability of neurodiagnostic tests in 37 countries.

Neurology

McLane HC, Berkowitz AL, Patenaude BN, McKenzie ED, Wolper E, Wahlster S, Fink G, Mateen FJ

Reversible splenial lesion syndrome.

Practical neurology

Kaplan TB, Berkowitz AL

A global health delivery framework approach to epilepsy care in resource-limited settings.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Cochran MF, Berkowitz AL

Integrated Genomic Characterization of a Pineal Parenchymal Tumor of Intermediate Differentiation.

World neurosurgery

Kang YJ, Bi WL, Dubuc AM, Martineau L, Ligon AH, Berkowitz AL, Aizer AA, Lee EQ, Ligon KL, Ramkissoon SH, Dunn IF

Neurology mission(s) impossible.

Neurology

Lee L, Berkowitz AL

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia

Chen A, Kim J, Henderson G, Berkowitz A

A 20-year-old man with back pain and lower extremity weakness.

JAMA neurology

Etherton MR, Neagu MR, Oakley DH, Koch MJ, Shin JH, Frosch MP, Berkowitz AL, Dietrich J

Neurologic manifestations of the neglected tropical diseases.

Journal of the neurological sciences

Berkowitz AL, Raibagkar P, Pritt BS, Mateen FJ

Recommendations from the international stroke genetics consortium, part 2: biological sample collection and storage.

Stroke

Battey TW, Valant V, Kassis SB, Kourkoulis C, Lee C, Anderson CD, Falcone GJ, Jimenez-Conde J, Fernandez-Cadenas I, Pare G, Rundek T, James ML, Lemmens R, Lee TH, Tatlisumak T, Kittner SJ, Lindgren A, Mateen FJ, Berkowitz AL, Holliday EG, Majersik J, Maguire J, Sudlow C, Rosand J, International Stroke Genetics Consortium

Antibiotic-induced neurotoxicity.

Current infectious disease reports

Bhattacharyya S, Darby R, Berkowitz AL

Mystery case: cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation.

Neurology

Berkowitz AL, Baker JM, Miller JJ, Greenberg SM

Clinical Reasoning: a 75-year-old man with 3 years of visual difficulties.

Neurology

Berkowitz AL, Rose MF, Daffner KR, Prasad S

Neurology mission(s) impossible.

Neurology

Berkowitz AL

Modified target cancellation in hemispatial neglect.

Practical neurology

Prasad S, Berkowitz AL

Worldwide reported use of IV tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke.

International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society

Berkowitz AL, Mittal MK, McLane HC, Shen GC, Muralidharan R, Lyons JL, Shinohara RT, Shuaib A, Mateen FJ

Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy following malaria.

Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia

Berkowitz AL, Thakur KT

Bilirubin labeling of borderzone and anterior cerebral artery territory infarction.

Neurology

Berkowitz AL, Sheu SH, Rose MF, Delalle I, Folkerth RD

Clinical Reasoning: a 44-year-old woman with headache followed by sudden neurologic decline.

Neurology

Berkowitz AL, Kimchi EY, Hwang DY, Vaitkevicius H, Henderson GV, Feske SK, Chou SH

Clinical reasoning: an 85-year-old man with paresthesias and an unsteady gait.

Neurology

Berkowitz AL, Jha RM, Klein JP, Amato AA

Evolution of hypoxic-ischemic injury.

The Neurohospitalist

Jha RM, Berkowitz AL, Klein JP

Does my dizzy patient have a stroke? A systematic review of bedside diagnosis in acute vestibular syndrome.

CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne

Tarnutzer AA, Berkowitz AL, Robinson KA, Hsieh YH, Newman-Toker DE

Sensitivity of prefrontal cortex to changes in target probability: a functional MRI study.

Human brain mapping

Casey BJ, Forman SD, Franzen P, Berkowitz A, Braver TS, Nystrom LE, Thomas KM, Noll DC

A developmental functional MRI study of spatial working memory.

NeuroImage

Thomas KM, King SW, Franzen PL, Welsh TF, Berkowitz AL, Noll DC, Birmaher V, Casey BJ