Mitchell Elkind, MD, MS is a tenured Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Chief of the Division of Neurology Clinical Outcomes Research and Population Sciences (Neuro CORPS) in the Neurology Department.
Dr. Elkind received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and he trained in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and in Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, both in Boston, MA. He completed a fellowship in Vascular Neurology and Neuroepidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center under the mentorship of Dr. Ralph Sacco. Dr. Elkind holds a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health.
Dr Elkind’s research focuses on stroke prevention, inflammatory and infectious biomarkers in stroke risk prediction, atrial cardiopathy, immune therapy for acute stroke, and vascular causes of cognitive aging. Dr. Elkind is the Principal Investigator of several independent investigator awards from NIH/NINDS, including the ARCADIA trial of apixaban vs aspirin for atrial cardiopathy in cryptogenic stroke; the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS), an epidemiological study of stroke risk factors; the Neuroprotection with Statin Therapy for Acute Recovery Trial (NeuSTART), a clinical trial evaluating short-term high-dose statin therapy in acute stroke; and the Levels of Inflammatory Markers in Treatment of Stroke (LIMITS) study.
Dr. Elkind also has a longstanding commitment to medical education and research training. In addition to previously leading the Columbia Neurology residency and fellowship programs, he founded and served as editor of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Stroke journal’s International Stroke Early Career and Training Section (InterSECT) and previously served as editor of the Resident and Fellow Section of Neurology. He runs two NIH-funded research training programs for residents and fellows. Dr. Elkind has served on several AHA/ASA committees, including 3 terms on the National Board of Directors (2014-2020), 2 terms as Chair of the ASA Advisory Committee (2016-2020), and co-chair or member of several writing committees for guidelines and scientific statements. He recently served as Chair of the writing group for the Stroke chapter of the AHA annual statistical update and initiated a chapter on Brain Health. Dr. Elkind was President of the American Heart Association 2020-2021.
Dr. Elkind lives in New York City with his wife (novelist and children’s book author Rachel Vail), 2 sons (Zachary and Liam), and a pet tortoise (Lightning).
