Executive Board

Prof Bruno Brochet

University of Bordeaux, France

President 2019-2022

Dr Bruno Brochet is Emeritus Professor of Neurology at Université of Bordeaux, France, and former Head of the department of Neurology, Centre Hospitalier-Universitaire of Bordeaux, France. He was trained in medicine at the Faculté de medicine X Bichat (Université Paris-7). After an internship in Bordeaux, he was graduated in Neurology and in Physical medicine. He is an MS specialist and he created the MS Clinic of Bordeaux. He is past president of the “Club Francophone de la Sclérose en Plaques” and member of the scientific and medical advisory board of ARSEP (Association Française contre la Sclérose en plaques) and the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of LSEP (Ligue Française contre la Sclérose en plaques) for many years. He is member of INSERM U 1215 laboratory (Neurocentre Magendie. He published mote than 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr Sarah Morrow

Western University, London, ON, Canada

Treasurer

Dr. Morrow is an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences at Western University (London, ON). She received her MD from the University of Calgary and completed her residency training in neurology at Western University. This was followed by a clinical fellowship in MS at the London MS clinic at Western University and a research fellowship on Cognition and MS with at the Jacobs Neurologic Institute in Buffalo NY. Dr. Morrow has also completed a Master's of Science in Epidemiology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In addition to her clinical work in the London MS clinic, she established the first MS Cognitive clinic in Canada located at Parkwood Institute. She currently has over 80 peer-reviewed publications in the area of MS. She is a Board member for the Consortium of MS Centers and on the editorial board of both the International Journal of MS care and the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. She is on the steering committee of MS in the 21st Century, an international collaboration with the aim of defining how MS treatment and standard of care should look in the 21st century.

Prof. Iris-Katharina Penner, PhD

Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience

Head Neuropsychology

Bern University Hospital, Switzerland

Iris-Katharina Penner is a cognitive neuroscientist and neuropsychologist with more than 20 years of experience in neurocognitive research and clinical care.

She studied in Germany at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin and received her diploma in psychology at the Free University of Berlin. She completed her PhD at the Department of Neuroradiology (University Hospital Basel) and the Department of Cognitive Psychology and Methodology (University of Basel) on the topic of cognitive and functional changes in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). From 2003 to 2009, Professor Penner worked as senior neuroscientist at the Department of Cognitive Psychology and Methodology and as associate neuroscientist at the Department of Neurology (University Hospital Basel). She was scientifically engaged in cognition, fatigue, and cognitive rehabilitation in patients with MS. From 2009 to April 2015, she worked as senior neuroscientist and lecturer at the University of Basel, as well as in private practice at the Neurozentrum in Zürich with a focus on neuropsychological assessments in patients with neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. In May 2015 Prof. Penner moved to the Neurology Department of the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf and founded the COGITO Center for Applied Neurocognition and Neuropsychological Research. Since January 2022 she is the Head of Neuropsychology at the University Hospital Bern, Switzerland.

Professor Penner is a nationally and internationally renowned expert in the field of human cognition and fatigue. She developed the fatigue scale for motor and cognitive functions (FSMC) and published numerous scientific articles and book chapters. Professor Penner is a member of several professional and scientific societies and boards. Her clinical and scientific focus is concentrated on cognitive processes and brain plasticity in neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases of the human brain. From 2013 to 2015, she served as the President of the International MS Cognition Society.

Prof Ralph Benedict

University at Buffalo, New York, USA

Previously President 2016-2019

Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychology, Jacobs School of Medicine, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York

Ralph Benedict completed his doctorate at the Arizona State University in 1990, and his postdoctoral residency in neuropsychology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has published over 350 journal articles, many focusing on neuropsychological and psychiatric aspects of MS. Dr. Benedict has received grant support from NIH, National MS Society and industry. Most recently his research has focused on neuropsychology, neuroimaging, and multiple sclerosis. He has chaired or served on several task forces for the American Academy of Neurology, Consortium of MS Centers, and National MS Society, and he served on several grant review or editorial boards. He has conducted a number of studies on the optimal measurement of cognition for MS. Dr. Benedict is well known as an author of two widely used memory tests, the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test – Revised and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test – Revised, and led the development of the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in MS (MACFIMS) and the Brief International Cognitive Assessment of MS (BICAMS).

Prof John DeLuca

Kessler Foundation, USA
Member at large

John DeLuca, PhD, is the Senior Vice President for Research and Training at Kessler Foundation, a Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and the Department of Neurology at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School. He is board certified in Rehabilitation Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. DeLuca has been involved in neuropsychology and rehabilitation research for over 30 years. He has published over 400 articles, books and book chapters in these areas, has edited 7 books in neuropsychology, neuroimaging and rehabilitation, and is a co-Chief editor for the “Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology.” He has received over 40 million dollars in grant support for his research including the NIH, NIDILIR, DOD and the National MS Society. Dr. DeLuca serves on the editorial boards of many journals and has received numerous national and international awards in recognition of his work including the Benton mid-career award from the International Neuropsychological Society and the Rodger G. Barker Distinguished Research Contribution Award, from Division 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. He is past President of the National Academy of Neuropsychology and has served on several other national and international boards in various leadership roles.