Q&A with Continuum’s next editor-in-chief
August 14, 2026
, the AAN’s official CME journal, will soon have a new editor-in-chief.
A. Gordon Smith, MD, FAAN, will succeed current editor-in-chief Lyell K. Jones Jr, MD, FAAN, in May 2027 as Jones leaves his position to become the next president of the AAN.
“It’s been one of the great joys of my career to serve as editor-in-chief of Continuum®, and I’m happy the journal will be in such good hands with Dr. Smith,” Jones said. “He brings a deep passion for education, a talent for connecting with readers and listeners, and an unwavering commitment to both research and patient care. I’m excited to see all that he and the journal’s other excellent leaders will accomplish.”
Smith is a professor of neurology and former department chair at Virginia Commonwealth University. He’s also a longtime leader at the AAN, serving on the Continuum Editorial Board since 2015 and as a Continuum® Audio interviewer since 2023. He also previously chaired the AAN 好色先生 Committee and served on the AAN Board of Directors.
Smith looks forward to continuing the journal’s tradition of educational innovation. Keep reading for a conversation with him on his background, Continuum’s impact, and why he became a neurologist in the first place.
Q. Could you tell us about yourself and your career?
A. I’m a clinical neurologist. My areas of interest are in neuromuscular medicine, particularly peripheral neuropathies and disorders of neuromuscular junction transmission. I began my career in 1997 as a clinician educator, and I ended up evolving into more of a clinician investigator leading a large NIH-funded research program.
Then I got into administration because I really enjoyed supporting the successes of other people—I was a vice chair, a division chief, and just completed eight years as a department chair. I also maintain a practice in general and inpatient neurology.
Q. How did you first get involved with Continuum?
A. I was already very involved with the AAN—I chaired the e-Learning Subcommittee and then the 好色先生 Committee. The chair of the 好色先生 Committee sat on the Continuum Editorial Board as ex officio at the time.
I had used Continuum for many years and had even written for it, but it was being on the editorial board that opened my eyes to its impact in the field—and the potential for that impact to broaden and deepen. I was fortunate enough to be invited to remain on the editorial board after my term as committee chair ended.
Q. Have you seen more of Continuum’s impact since then?
A. I’ve been able to view Continuum from the Academy perspective—the 好色先生 Committee, sitting on the editorial board, and being involved in medical economics, practice, and advocacy. Continuum has an important role to play in all those areas.
Then, through my day job, I get to see the impact it has on all of our members, readers, and listeners. Dr. Jones often speaks about how Continuum is beloved by our field, and it truly is and should be.
In particular, people often come up to me about Continuum Audio—residents, colleagues elsewhere—and I don’t think it has anything to do with me. I don’t think I’m a particularly gifted podcaster, but our authors are amazing. The reach and impact of Continuum and Continuum Audio has been extraordinary.
Q. What’s special about Continuum?
A. There’s nothing like Continuum—certainly not in the neurology space, and I don’t know of any other specialty that has anything quite like it. I think what makes it so beloved is that there are many different ways people use it. Continuum Audio has been rapidly expanding, following in the footsteps of the Neurology® podcast, which of course is extraordinarily popular in our field. We have people who like to listen to Continuum® Aloud, hearing entire articles read out loud.
Residents use Continuum for their education. Subspecialists use it to stay up to date. Even the cover artwork that the print issues have is fantastic—many people, myself included, have it hanging in their offices. So it’s everything from the rigor of the content, to the format, to the varied ways you can access it.
Q. What are you excited about for Continuum’s future?
A. Continuum couldn’t be in better shape, thanks to Dr. Jones and the entire team. There certainly are things we need to be worried about in neurology, health economics being one of them. But there are so many exciting things about where we're going as a field—just think about the extraordinary therapeutic advances that we've seen over the last 10 years.
We're now graduating over a thousand neurology residents a year, and those residents have over 30 different subspecialties to enter in neurology. I think our future is exceptionally bright. Our vision at Continuum is unchanged, which is to be the essential education resource for neurology clinicians.
To be essential is more than just conveying knowledge. It's to prepare clinicians to implement that knowledge in a very rapidly expanding field and an environment where people are using information in very different ways.
I think the future is exceptionally bright, and I couldn't be more excited.
Q. Why did you decide to become a neurologist?
A. I went to medical school at the Mayo Clinic, and we took organ system classes in our first year. The neurology organ system class was extremely well done. At the end of that, I think most of our medical school class thought they might want to be neurologists.
I think where it really became cemented for me was when I spent six months in the lab. I saw what we were doing in the lab, then went to clinic to see patients, and I could really appreciate the future we were heading into.
So much wasn’t known about the brain and nervous system, but great work was being done. And I was really struck by how therapeutic it was, not only for me, but for patients. I mean, we were treating patients and seeing extraordinary outcomes.
At the end of the day, when people would ask me this question when I was interviewing for residency, I always felt like I had to intellectualize it. But the honest truth is, it's fun. And it keeps getting more fun because of all of the discoveries we’ve made. I thought a little bit about doing surgery because I liked the therapeutic aspects of it, and I worked with a particularly inspirational vascular surgeon in medical school, but ultimately I just couldn't restrain myself from neurology. And I’m very happy with it.
About Continuum
Continuum is a topic-based, clinically oriented review journal for neurology professionals. It also includes Continuum Audio, a companion podcast featuring conversations with Continuum guest editors and authors that supplement each journal article, and Continuum Aloud, verbatim, audiobook-style recordings of Continuum articles.