Lisa R. Merlin, MD, FAAN, FANA

Dr. Merlin completed her medical school and neurology residency training at SUNY Downstate, followed by a research fellowship in epilepsy and developmental disability based at Downstate as well.  Her NIH-funded research has explored the role of metabotropic glutamate receptors in epileptogenesis, and she has served as a thesis advisor and mentor to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.  Her contributions have been recognized with awards from national organizations, and she has been a member of the NIH study section for over 20 years. 

Concurrently, she has dedicated her career to enhancing the education of medical students and neurology residents at SUNY Downstate. She has introduced numerous curricular innovations across preclinical, clinical, and postgraduate settings. As the founder and director of the Clinical Neurosciences Pathway, she provides students with opportunities for more in-depth exposure to neurology throughout their training in the College of Medicine.

More recently, she established a newly accredited advanced neurology residency program at One Brooklyn Health under Downstate GME sponsorship.  This innovative program focuses on community health and aims to address the shortage of general neurologists in an underserved community in Brooklyn. 

Dr. Merlin is also the founder and chair of the New York State Consortium for Medical Education in Neuroscience.  Her numerous teaching awards include the ANA Distinguished Neurology Teacher Award and the AAN Clerkship Directors Innovation Award.  She serves on the SUNY University-Wide Advisory Council on Distinguished Teaching Professorships, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Faculty Innovation in Education Committee, and the Association of University Professors of Neurology (AUPN) Council.

Education

• Undergraduate:  Brooklyn College
• Medical School: SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
• Internship: One Brooklyn Health-Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center (internal medicine)
• Residency: SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (neurology)
• Fellowship: SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (epilepsy research/developmental disabilities)

Research Interests

• medical education
• mechanisms of epileptogenesis