ANIL NEELAKANTAN, MD, FAAN FRCP(London, UK)

Consultant Neurologist | Health System and National Leader | Informatics Innovator

2545 W Hammer Ln, Stockton, CA – 95209, USA

Tel: +1-716-863-4788

Email: [email protected] 

SUMMARY STATEMENT

I am a consultant neurologist with 13.5 years of independent specialist practice whose career demonstrates sustained distinction in clinical neurology, service development, national and international professional leadership, medical education, scholarly contribution, and health system innovation. My work has had demonstrable impact beyond my employing organization, including elected international leadership within the American Academy of Neurology, large-scale service redesign initiatives, and peer-recognized excellence in teaching and research. 

CLINICAL PRACTICE AND SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

Consultant Physician – Adult Neurologist at Gould Medical Group, 2545 W Hammer Ln, Stockton, California, USA (2013 to present)

Since 2013, I have practiced as an independent consultant-equivalent adult neurologist at Gould Medical Group, Sutter Health, California, delivering comprehensive outpatient and inpatient neurological care. My practice encompasses general neurology, and electrodiagnostic medicine.

A defining service contribution has been the establishment and leadership of the only EMG/NCS service within Sutter Health in Stockton, where I remain the sole provider of electrodiagnostic testing. This initiative substantially improved access to specialist neuromuscular diagnostics across a large and previously underserved catchment area in California’s Central Valley, including Stockton, Lodi, Modesto, Tracy, Turlock, and surrounding communities. This work represents sustained service development addressing population-level need.

I also provided inpatient neurology services at St Joseph’s Medical Center, Stockton, CA, USA, contributing to acute neurological care and multidisciplinary case management.

LEADERSHIP IN NEUROLOGY AND HEALTH SYSTEM GOVERNANCE

I currently serve as Director of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Pain Management and Sleep Service Lines for the Central Valley region of Sutter Health (from September 2024). In this senior leadership role, I lead strategic planning, service expansion, access optimization, and integration of neurology, neurosurgery, sleep medicine, and pain services across multiple hospitals and outpatient sites. This role involves close collaboration with executive leadership and has measurable impact on regional neuroscience service delivery.

Since 2019, I have served as Chair of Medical Specialties at Gould Medical Group, overseeing sixty-five consultants across seven specialties. My responsibilities include clinical governance, quality assurance, performance management, conflict resolution, and strategic development.

I also completed a six-year term Member of Board of Directors of Gould Medical Group (2018–2024), contributing to organizational governance, financial stewardship, and long-term strategic planning.

I have been the Chair of Professional Standards Committee at Gould Medical Group/Sutter Health in Central Valley California, where I am responsible for setting criteria for Individual Performance Bonus for about 550 physicians, reviewing and approving various physician led quality improvement and variation reduction projects and addressing other quality and standards of care issues for Gould Medical Group

Member Neuroscience Steering Committee of Sutter Central Valley Foundation – I have been a member of the Central Valley Neuroscience committee where I am part of making service line coordination efforts and expansion efforts of neuroscience services across entire California central valley affiliates.

Member Sutter Health System Neuroscience Clinical Council/Committee– I have been a member of the Neuroscience committee where I am part of making service line coordination efforts and expansion efforts of neuroscience services across entire Sutter Health system across entire Northern California footprint.

Leadership Development Committee Sutter Health – Served as one of eight members involved in developing a curriculum for new and established leaders for ongoing leadership training and onboarding of new leaders. The committee aims to improve the expertise of new and established leaders on lean methodology, leadership skills, conflict resolution and sustain/maintain the skills through continued leadership education.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

I was elected via a global membership poll to serve as National and Global Chair of the General Neurology Section of the American Academy of Neurology (2025–2027). This role entails leadership of one of the largest professional neurology sections internationally, shaping educational strategy, policy discussions, and international collaboration. Election to this position reflects peer recognition of international standing within the specialty.

In recognition of sustained contribution to neurology, I have been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN), a distinction conferred on a small and highly selective proportion of neurologists in recognition of excellence across clinical practice, leadership, education, and scholarship.

I also served as a member of the American Academy of Neurology Digital Strategy Committee, where I am one of only eight members selected worldwide. In this capacity, I contribute to strategy for digital education, virtual scientific meetings, mobile platforms, cybersecurity, and professional engagement.

Elected Fellow of Royal College of Physicians of London, United Kingdom based on contributions to the field of Neurology 

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AND SERVICE REDESIGN (NATIONAL IMPACT)

I conceived and led a major quality improvement initiative focused on improving physician–patient communication through strategic redesign of electronic health record workflows. Using A3 Lean methodology, I repurposed existing EHR tools to generate highly structured, personalized post-visit care plans for neurology patients.

This work achieved:

• Up to 9000% improvement in patient satisfaction metrics on selected measures
• 61% reduction in redundant patient communications
• Improved patient compliance and medico-legal robustness of documentation

The national importance of this work was recognized when I was selected as one of only eight invited speakers nationwide to present at the National Research Council Annual Symposium (Boston, 2017). I subsequently presented this work at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting (2018). The project informed discussions on potential system-wide implementation across Sutter Health, with potential impact on over 12,000 clinicians and approximately three million patients.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT (HEALTH SYSTEM LEVEL)

I led the initiative to minimize unsafe refills by Sutter Health centralized medication refill center. The refill centers were sometimes providing unsafe number of refills on medications prescribed through medical specialists. I led the work that solidified guardrails and standard work to reduce the number of refills to max 6 months from last visit thereby improving patient safety and reducing liability for the entire organization and ensuring appropriate monitoring of high-risk medications.

I conceived and spearheaded emergency management protocols for securing sensitive medications during disaster related power outage in Sutter Health. This project implemented robust emergency plan to save medications, allergens, and medication samples in the event of a planned or unplanned wildfire, earthquake, or other natural disaster related outage. This project helped reduce the chance of loss of over one million dollars’ worth of medications for the organization in just one location and helped reduce loss of several hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue from lost clinic appts in case these medications were to be lost due to power outage.

CLINICAL INFORMATICS AND DIGITAL INNOVATION

I led a complex multidisciplinary initiative to digitize EMG/NCS reports and integrate them directly into the Epic electronic health record as searchable, high-resolution, vector-based documents. This required collaboration with IT networking, cybersecurity, legal, and medical equipment teams. I authored automation scripts, conducted beta testing, developed training materials, and supported scale-up across multiple sites. This represented the first implementation of its kind within the Sutter Health system and significantly improved clinical communication and diagnostic accessibility.

I have also contributed to telemedicine infrastructure optimization, including identification of RSSI related transmission failures and worked to identify resolution of cellular data, VoLTE and 5G distributed antenna system failures affecting video consultations and collaboration with executive digital leadership to improve telehealth performance during system-wide rollout.

In 2024, I served as one of the pioneer testing physicians of ambient AI scribing technology, contributing to evaluation of its clinical feasibility and impact.

I led the project that led to improvement Sutter My Health Online direct scheduling in challenging departments, including neurology, where the clientele is usually not very tech savvy. We were able to collaborate with IT develop tools to educate patients with online patient portal accounts on how to use the portal. The result was an increase in online portal-based scheduling from 1.4% at baseline to 27% of appts scheduled online at its peak.

I conceived and spearheaded a project to reduce the number of result notifications sent to the medical assistants to lighten the load on the ancillary staff). I partnered with Epic® (electronic medical records system) add a Last Log in time on the patient banner on Epic in the in-basket view which helps identify patients who use the online patient portal often. Workflows developed to send result notifications and physician comments directly to patients who are actively using the portal resulted in better communication of results and physician comments to patients and reduced the related workload of the back-office staff by 35%.

I identified a widespread issue affecting Nuance Dragon^® dictation software used in Sutter Health. By reviewing the error log files, I was able to elucidate the write errors in the registers of the memory on the CPU of affected computers. This resulted in all dictation software-enabled computers in Sutter Health to be installed with CPUs with higher L1/L2/3 cache with faster processing speeds and twice the random access memory on the motherboard with faster front bus speeds. This resolved the issue affecting 10,000 physicians in Sutter Health.

PHILANTHROPIC INITIATIVES

I served on the Board of Directors of Solace Charities Inc. – A not-for-profit organization that provides medical, financial, and social support to families of limited income that have kids that suffer from chronic diseases such as pediatric malignancies. This is a pro bono role.

I organized Brain Awareness Week in University at Buffalo, NY, USA, 2008 where we went to schools with less resources and educated kids with fun experiments in neurology to spur an interest in STEM fields and neuroscience.

Participated in medical camps in multiple rural areas in Kerala State (India) providing free medical advice to underserved areas in the community (2002)

Participated in Pulse Polio Immunization Program (mass Oral Polio Vaccine immunization program organized by WHO to promote herd immunity) 2001, 2002.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Education has been a sustained component of my professional contribution. I provide pro bono teaching to resident physicians at San Joaquin General Hospital, delivering lectures on neuromuscular disorders, systemic disease in neurology, and movement disorders.

Neurology Resident and Chief Resident – Department of Neurology, The State University of New York at Buffalo (University at Buffalo, New York USA) (2008 to 2012). Academic, Administrative and Clinical chief resident (there is only one chief resident in the department per year, and I was selected from all senior residents by Resident/Faculty Advisory Committee).

Graduate Doctoral Student in Neuroscience - Neuroscience doctoral program in State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY. USA (2002 to 2008) GPA 3.99 out of 4.0 (Extensive neuroscience research experience includes electrophysiology, neurophysiology and retinal neuronal networks)

Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Univ. of Kerala, Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India (1996-2002) GPA: 4.0 out of 4.0

My teaching excellence was formally recognized with the Best Teacher Award in Neurology University at Buffalo, New York, USA (2012), awarded annually to a single individual based on votes from medical students and resident physicians.

Board Certified Neurologist - Diplomate of American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Board certified in Adult Neurology) since 2013

California Physicians and Surgeons License – Medical Board of California, USA

RESEARCH AND SCHOLARLY CONTRIBUTION

My academic background includes doctoral-level neuroscience research investigating inhibitory neurotransmission in retinal neural networks. My work characterized the pharmacology and kinetics of α3 and α4 glycine receptors using electrophysiology, voltage clamping/single ion channel and whole cell ion channel recordings, molecular modelling, and kinetic analysis, elucidating a previously unrecognized pharmacological mechanism.

My subsequent clinical research examined the effects of hypovitaminosis D on diabetic neuropathy using EMG/NCS parameters. This work was featured in American Academy of Neurology Highlights (2013), reflecting relevance to clinical neurology.

I have published peer-reviewed articles/presented at national and international scientific meetings.

AWARDS, HONOURS, AND DISTINCTION

My career has been recognized through a continuum of highly competitive honors reflecting sustained excellence:

• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Union Christian College, Kerala, India (2024) – One of ten alumni selected worldwide from STEM disciplines over a 100-year history.
• Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN) – Elite recognition for sustained national and international contribution.
• Elected Fellow of Royal College of Physicians of London, United Kingdom based on contributions to the field of Neurology globally
• Edward Fogan Award (2012) – Highest residency honor given to the best graduating Neurologist, University at Buffalo, NY, USA
• Best Teacher Award in Neurology University at Buffalo, NY, USA (2012) – Sole annual recipient
• Lawrence H. Golden Memorial Intern Award (2008) – Excellence in humanitarian patient care - First non–Internal Medicine recipient in the history of University at Buffalo, NY, USA
• Joseph M. & Eula C. Lawrence Award (2008) – Selected from ~1,500 national candidates (Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) for demonstrating excellence in vision and retinal research.
• Highest National Neurology Exam Score in the USA (100th percentile) in American Academy of Neurology in 2012; 99th percentile (2010); 97th percentile (2011)
• Janaki Memorial Gold Medal, Obstetrics & Gynecology – Highest score statewide (Kerala, India)
• Mrs. Mariamma Thomas Memorial Prize, Surgery for highest score in Surgery exam, University of Kerala, India
• Second Rank Holder, University of Kerala (MBBS) – second highest overall score during MBBS in University of Kerala, India 2002
• AAN Research Highlight – Vitamin D & Diabetic Neuropathy (2013)
• National Merit Scholarship, Government of India
• University and Pre-Degree Merit Scholarships, India
• Second Place in 13th Pediatric Quiz Competition (2000 - 13th Annual Pediatric Quiz competition organized by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics
• Commitment to Excellence STAR Award Winner 2018 –Sutter health for achieving highest ranking in patient satisfaction scores and patient reviews

MEMBERSHIPS IN ORGANIZATIONS/SOCIETIES

• Member American Academy of Neurology (AAN)
• Member of American Academy of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM)
• Former Secretary of Graduate Student Association of Neuroscience in The State University of New York at Buffalo, NY, USA (2008).
• Member of American chapter of MENSA – An international organization of individuals who fall within the top 2%ile IQ in the world.
• Member of International High IQ society – International Organization of those who have an IQ of over 126.

PUBLICATIONS/POSTERS

1. 1. Chakrabarti, S, Neelakantan, A M Slaughter, Malcolm. Characterization of α3 Glycine Receptors with Ginkgolide B and Picrotoxin. 10.1101/454710 (Preprint)
   2. Neelakantan, A Improving Patient Satisfaction By Implementing Existing Tools in EHR Using Lean Methodology; Neurology 2018, 90 (15S)
   3. A. Neelakantan and R. Jensen (2017). Lean Journey: The Roadmap to Success for Strategic A3 Patient Experience Invited as a speaker as one of eight invited speakers from the entire United States by National Research Council in the Annual NRC Symposium, Boston
   4. Neelakantan A., Silvestri N., Wolfe G.I. Effect of hypovitaminosis D on nerve conduction studies in diabetic neuropathy. Journal of Clinical Neuromuscular Disease 2013; 14:156.
   5. A. Neelakantan, NJ Silvestri Vitamin D3 and Diabetic Neuropathy – Analysis of EMG/NCS Parameters, Neurology 2013; 80 (7S)
   6. A. Neelakantan and MM Slaughter Alpha 3 Glycine Receptors may augment dynamic range at inhibitory synapses, Investigative ophthalmology and Visual Science 2008 49(13) 3854
   7. A. Neelakantan and MM Slaughter (2007). Agonist and Antagonist properties of α3 containing GlyRs. Society for Neuroscience Research Day, Buffalo, NY
   8. A. Neelakantan and MM Slaughter (2007) Pharmacology of the α3 glycine receptors. Investigative ophthalmology and Visual Science 2007, Vol.48, 4591
   9. A. Neelakantan and MM Slaughter. Agonist and Antagonist Profiles of Glycine Receptors formed from alpha 3 subunits (2006). FASEB – Indian Wells, CA

PROFESSIONAL STANDING

I serve as a peer reviewer for Neurology® and Muscle & Nerve®, and I am included in expert reviewer databases for The Lancet Neurology and Continuum®, reflecting peer recognition of clinical and scholarly expertise.