Meet the 2022-2024 CNSA Board of Directors
David Charles, MD | President
David Charles, MD, has been nominated for the position of president.
Dr. Charles serves as professor and vice-chair of neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. He also serves as medical director for Vanderbilt Telehealth. Dr. Charles is currently leading the only clinical trial approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test deep brain stimulation in people with early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
In addition to his longstanding membership with CNSA, Dr. Charles is also a co-founder of the Alliance for Patient Access, an organization of policy-minded health care providers who advocate for patient-centered care.
Katherine B. Peters, MD, PhD | President-Elect
Katherine B. Peters, MD, PhD, has been nominated for the position of president-elect.
Dr. Peters is an associate professor of neurology and program director of the neuro-oncology fellowship program at Duke Health in Durham, North Carolina. She has a passion for developing and delivering educational programs and lectured about neuro-oncology treatments at the CNSA Annual Meeting in 2021. Dr. Peters served as co-chair of the 2022 scientific program committee.
Dr. Peters is an eternal optimist, a former high school and college cheerleader, and an adventurous cook. Outside of CNSA, Dr. Peters is involved with clinical research that focuses on improving the quality of life of brain tumor patients and their caregivers. She is a fierce advocate for access to top-notch health care for patients, emphasizing access for rural patients and served on the American Society of Clinical Oncology Rural Task Force and is a graduate of the AAN Palatucci Leadership Advocacy Forum.
David Houghton, MD, MPH | Secretary/Treasurer
David Houghton, MD, MPH, has been nominated to the position of secretary/treasurer.
Dr. Houghton currently serves as chair for telehealth and digital medicine and vice chair of the department of neurology at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to earning his Doctor of Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia, Dr. Houghton worked as researcher for the CDC and WHO in the maternal and child health department and earned a Master’s in Public Health in epidemiology from Emory University.
Dr. Houghton has been a dedicated member of CNSA, having served as the secretary/treasurer in the most recent biennium and as a speaker at several of the most recent Annual Meetings. Dr. Houghton rather loves coming to the Annual Meeting each year and watching his boys grow up alongside other members’ kids.
Larry Charleston, IV, MD, MSc, FAHS | Board Member
Larry Charleston, IV, MD, MSc, FAHS, has been nominated for the position of at-large board member.
Dr. Charleston is director of the headache and facial pain division, director faculty development and professor of neurology at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in East Lansing, Michigan. He also serves as an adjunct faculty at the Jefferson Headache Center. Dr. Charleston is a fellow of the American Headache Society, founder of Charleston Health Neurology and Head Pain Consultants and co-founder of Charleston International in partnership with the Amway Corporation and Leadership Team Development.
Dr. Charleston is both a National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities’ Research Institute Scholar and University of Michigan Road Scholar. He recently joined the CNSA membership and is eager to contribute to the advancement of the organization. Follow Dr. Charleston on Twitter at @LCharlestonIVMD.
Niyatee Samudra, MD | Board Member
Niyatee Samudra, MD, has been nominated for the position of at-large board member.
Dr. Samudra is a behavioral neurology fellow with the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California San Francisco. Dr. Samudra completed her Doctor of Medicine with distinction in research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas and completed a clinical fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Dr. Samudra was a speaker for CNSA’s virtual 2021 Annual Meeting where she talked about managing nonepileptic psychogenic seizures. In addition, she served on the 2022 Scientific Program Committee.
Gregory Bergey, MD, FANA, FAAN, FAES | Board Member
Gregory Bergey, MD, FANA, has been nominated for the position of at-large board member.
Dr. Bergey is a professor of neurology and director of the epilepsy center at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, where he focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of seizures and epilepsy. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, Dr. Bergey attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was later an internal medicine resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital before spending time at NIH and completing his neurology residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
A medical fanatic through and through, Dr. Bergey enjoys reading from his medical book collection in his free time. Dr. Bergey has been attending CNSA meetings for more than 20 years and his epilepsy update lecture is a favorite among Annual Meeting attendees year after year.