José Enrique Cavazos, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology and assistant dean for the M.D./Ph.D. program at UT Health San Antonio, was awarded the the 2017 Distinguished Service Award during the American Epilepsy Society’s annual meeting Dec. 1 in Washington, D.C.
“I am deeply humble and honored for being selected the 2017 Distinguished Service Awardee by my core professional society. It is wonderful to serve in a professional society where so many other amazing scientists and physicians are working eagerly toward the same goal of improving the lives of people with epilepsy,” Dr. Cavazos said.
Dr. Cavazos has performed extensive professional service to the epilepsy community as a member of NIH Study Sections and Panels for more than 15 years—helping draft the law that created the VA Epilepsy Centers of Excellence, participating in FDA panels for epilepsy drugs and devices, serving as an editorial board member of Epilepsy Research and Epilepsy and Behavior, and chair of the AES committees for Student and Resident Education, Technology and Web Content, and the 2010 Scientific Meeting in San Antonio.
The award includes a $1,000 honorarium, which Dr. Cavazos is donating to the AES Junior Mexican Epileptologists travel award endowment fund.
Dr. Cavazos was born in Monterrey, Mexico, where he later attended medical school. He graduated as a physician and surgeon with honors from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, and then pursued a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the guidance of Dr. Thomas Sutula. He completed a neurology residency and a clinical neurophysiology/ epilepsy fellowship at Duke University Medical Center.