Kenneth P. Johnson Memorial Lecture

ACTRIMS is proud to present an annual lecture named in honor of the late Dr. Kenneth P. Johnson who spearheaded the foundation of ACTRIMS. The lecture provides an opportunity to hear from a prestigious clinician or researcher selected for their knowledge, accomplishments, and contributions related to multiple sclerosis. To learn more about Kenneth P. Johnson and past lecturers, click here. 

2026 Lecturer: Jeffrey Cohen, MD, Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Jeffrey Cohen is a Professor of Neurology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and holds the Hazel Prior Hostetler Endowed Chair. He earned his BA from Connecticut College in 1976 and his MD from the University of Chicago School of Medicine in 1980. Dr. Cohen completed his Neurology Residency at the University of Pennsylvania in 1984, followed by a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Neuroimmunology in 1987, also at Penn.

Since 1994, he has been based at the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis at the Cleveland Clinic, where he served as Director from 2014 to 2017. He currently serves as a Staff Neurologist and Director of the Neuroimmunology Fellowship Program.

Dr. Cohen has published extensively on the clinical, immunologic, imaging, and therapeutic aspects of MS. He has led numerous clinical trials investigating potential MS therapies, as well as translational studies, outcome measure validation projects, and observational research.

Dr. Cohen chaired the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in MS from 2012 to 2018 and co-chaired the International Panel on the Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, which developed the 2017 revision of the McDonald Diagnostic Criteria. From 2019 to 2022, he served as President of ACTRIMS.