Who We Are

NIZAR SOUAYAH, MD, FAAN, FAANEM
Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience,
Associate Professor of Neurology,
Neurological Institute of New Jersey
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Newark, New Jersey

Nizar Souayah, MD, FAAN, is a physician scientist Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience and Associate Professor of Neurology at the Neurological Institute of New Jersey at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark. There, he is also Director of the MDA Clinic, the Electrodiagnostic Medicine Laboratory, the Peripheral Neuropathy Center, and the Neuromuscular Division. Dr. Souayah received his medical degree from the Medical School of Tunis in Tunisia. He completed internships and residencies in Primary Care and Family Practice at the Medical School of Tunis; in Internal Medicine at the University of Strasbourg in France and at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and in Neurology at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Souayah completed clinical and research fellowships in Electromyography/Neuromuscular Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston and in Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Disorders at Drexel Medical School in Philadelphia. He is board-certified in Neurology, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and Neuromuscular Medicine.

Dr. Souayah is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, where he also serves on the History of Neurology Committee and is a member of the Neuromuscular Section. He is a Fellow of the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine. Dr. Souayah has authored or coauthored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts and serves on the Editorial Boards of several medical and scientific journals. He has presented both nationally and internationally at several meetings and grand rounds, including the annual meetings of The American Society of Neuroimaging, American Academy of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine and the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Souayah’s major research interests are in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, neuroinflammation, cell therapy, and outcome studies in neurological disorders and neuromuscular adverse reactions of vaccination. The goal of his research is to develop a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. Dr Souayah is investigating the effect of cell therapy combined to other drugs on the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He also looking on the effect of modulation of neuroinflammation and oxidative stress on the course of the disease. In addition, he is developing a new model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dr Souayah is also involved in in outcome studies of amyotrophic sclerosis looking for the natural history of the disease, correlation between biomarkers and course of the disease and the best cost effective way to manage ALS patients. He has been listed as Healthgrade’s “Top Scoring Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Doctor” and was included in the Consumer Research Council of America’s “Guide to America’s Top Physicians.”