Justin C. McArthur is an UK-born American neurologist. He currently holds the John W. Griffin Professorship and serves as the Chair/Director of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also holds the position of neurologist-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Additionally, he founded and led the Sheikh Khalifa Stroke Institute at Johns Hopkins.[1]
McArthur is also the founding director of the Johns Hopkins/National Institute of Mental Health Research Center for Novel Therapeutics of HIV-associated Cognitive Disorders. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Association of American Physicians, and an honorary member of the American Neurological Association.
McArthur earned his medical degree from Guy's Hospital Medical School. He completed his residency in internal medicine and neurology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he also obtained his master's in public health.
McArthur led the Johns Hopkins/National Institute of Mental Health Research Center for Novel Therapeutics of HIV-associated Cognitive Disorders.[2] The center aims to translate pathophysiological discoveries into practical treatments for HIV-associated dementia (HIV-D). The center has developed several experimental treatments for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder, and has also provided training for researchers in the field who are from under-represented minorities.
Since 2008, McArthur has held the position of Director of the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University. He also holds the John W. Griffin Professorship in neurology.[3] He was the director of the Johns Hopkins medical student clerkship. Subsequently, he served as the director of the adult residency training program. He received the Department of Medicine Osler House-staff Award for his contributions to Housestaff teaching for four years and the JHU Professor’s Award for Distinction in Teaching in the Clinical Sciences.
In 2013, McArthur was honoured with the American Academy of Neurology’s Mitchell B. Max Award for Neuropathic Pain.[4] In April 2017, McArthur was elected to the Association of American Physicians, recognizing his contributions to medical science.
In 2019, McArthur became president of the American Neurological Association.[5] In this position he introduced initiatives focused on diversity, inclusion and equity for the organization and authored several influential opinion pieces. Additionally, he participated in an initiative by the American Neurological Association to support the development of physician-scientists in neurology, contributing to the success of the NIH R25 program.
He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in 2020.[6]
His major contributions have focused on epidemiology, pathogenetic mechanisms and treatment of the neurological manifestations of HIV/AIDS. McArthur's research is focused in three areas of the neurological manifestations of HIV infection: 1) neuroepidemiology, 2) therapeutic development and clinical trials, and 3) studies of pathogenesis.[7] He has an h-index of 90+, over 26,000 citations, and has published over 340 original research articles, and has authored five textbooks.