Mayo Clinic neurologist elected to Flinn Foundation board of directors

April 7, 2011

By hammersmith

PHOENIX—Richard J. Caselli, M.D., a behavioral neurologist with Mayo Clinic, has been elected to the board of directors of the Flinn Foundation. Dr. Caselli’s appointment expands the Foundation’s board to 10 members.

Dr. Caselli, a professor of neurology with Mayo Clinic’s College of Medicine, has served at Mayo’s Scottsdale campus since 1990. He also is a consultant to and recent past chairman of Mayo’s Department of Neurology and a past member of the Mayo Clinic Arizona Executive Operations Team.

Dr. Caselli holds an adjunct clinical faculty appointment at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, serves as an adjunct professor at ASU’s Department of Biomedical Informatics, and currently is a member of the advisory board of the Center for Services Leadership of the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU.

“Dr. Caselli’s extensive background and expertise in medical research and education will contribute greatly to the Foundation’s grantmaking strategies and programs, especially those to advance Arizona biosciences,” said David J. Gullen, M.D., chair of the Flinn Foundation board of directors. “The Foundation has long admired his determination to combat Alzheimer’s and related diseases and his collaborative approach toward problem-solving.”

Dr. Caselli’s research focuses on aging, including Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia—particularly how genetic risk factors may affect the brain as it ages before the onset of memory loss and dementia. His research findings have appeared in all major neurology journals, as well as other leading biomedical-research journals.

Dr. Caselli received both his M.D. and bachelor’s degrees from Columbia University in New York. He served an internship and residency at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and a fellowship in behavioral neurology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

He is certified by the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry, and National Board of Medical Examiners. He also serves on the board of directors of the Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium.

The Flinn Foundation is a Phoenix-based, private, nonprofit philanthropic endowment. It was established by Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Flinn in 1965 with the mission of improving the quality of life in Arizona. The nonprofit philanthropy supports the advancement of Arizona’s bioscience sector, the Flinn Scholars Program, the arts, and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership.