Frances Jensen, MD, FACP, FANA, FAAN, FAES
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Frances Jensen is the Arthur Knight Asbury, MD, Professor of Neurology and Chair of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Co-Director of Penn Translational Neuroscience Center. She was formerly Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Director of Translational Neuroscience and senior neurologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital. After receiving her BA from Smith College and MD from Cornell Medical College, she obtained her neurology residency training at the Harvard Longwood Neurology Residency Program. Her research focuses on mechanisms of epilepsy, and the interaction of epilepsy with other disorders such as autism and dementia, to elucidate new therapies for clinical trials development. She has authored over 175 manuscripts on subjects related to her research and has been continuously funded by NIH since 1987, and was the recipient of a NIH Director’s Pioneer Award in 2007 and a NIH-NINDS Javits Award in 2020. Dr. Jensen was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2015 and the recipient of the Smith College Medal in 2020. Dr. Jensen has trained numerous clinical and basic research fellows who now hold independent faculty positions nationally and internationally. Dr. Jensen served as President of the American Neurological Association (2021-2023) and President of the American Epilepsy Society in 2012. She has served on multiple leadership boards including Society for Neuroscience and NIH and is on the Advisory Council to NINDS. Dr. Jensen is a Trustee of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and is involved in community outreach for brain research and education. In addition, Dr. Jensen is an advocate for awareness of the adolescent brain development, its unique strengths and vulnerabilities, as well as their impact on medical, social, and educational issues unique to teenagers and young adults, and author of the book “The Teenage Brain”, released by Harper Collins in 2015/16, translated and published in over 25 languages worldwide.