Ahern, Geoffrey L., PhD, MD
1954 - 2022
Dr. Geoffrey L. Ahern held the Bruce and Lorraine Cumming Endowed Chair in Alzheimer's Research and was a professor of neurology, psychology, and psychiatry, as well as a member of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at The University of Arizona. He was a well-known and highly regarded expert in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
He was born in New York City and grew up above a tavern. He received his graduate and medical degrees at Yale University and completed his neurology residency at the Boston University Hospitals. After his residency, Dr. Ahern completed a fellowship in behavioral neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Ahern joined the faculty of The University of Arizona College of Medicine Department of Neurology in 1990 as an assistant professor and was later promoted to associate professor and ultimately professor. As an educator, he was highly involved in the education of medical students, residents, and fellows, and won teaching awards from the Department of Neurology.
In addition to providing care to those with dementia and their families, Dr. Ahern had an active research program aimed at finding treatments for Alzheimer's disease and helped oversee dozens of clinical trials to treat or diagnose Alzheimer's disease. As a clinician, he was regularly recognized by Best Doctors Inc. as one of the "Best Doctors in America." He was loved by his patients and their families for helping them negotiate a terrible diagnosis with grace and humor.
Dr. Ahern was an active member of the National Institutes of Health's Alzheimer's Disease Consortium, which studied the disorder to gain insight into the pathophysiology of and treatments for dementia and was a Fellow of the American Neurological Association.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, April 1, 2022, at 4 PM. It will be streamed on https://arizona.zoom.us/j/85626100519. If you would like to attend in person, please contact the Department of Neurology 520-626-4551 for details.
Gifts in memory of Dr. Ahern can be made through The University of Arizona Foundation (https://uafoundation.org/) to support Neurology Resident Education.
