Downey doctor inducted into New York’s boxing hall of fame
Dr. Jordan is accompanied by Melvina Lathan, former NYS Boxing Commissioner, and Bob Duffy, President of the New York Boxing Hall of Fame. (Photo by Peter Frutkoff, NY Boxing Hall of Fame)
DOWNEY — Dr. Barry Jordan, a board-certified neurologist who serves as chief medical officer at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, was inducted into the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame on April 30.
Dr. Jordan has advocated for brain health and safety of boxers and served as the Chief Medical Officer of the New York State Athletic Commission under five New York State governors for 20 years. He has testified on the health and safety aspects of boxing at the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. He has been a medical advisor to several boxing organizations and was a member of the National Association of Attorney Generals (NAAG) Boxing Task Force.
Dr. Jordan has edited two textbooks on the medical aspects of boxing and was the first to identify that there may be genetic predisposition to the effects of boxing on the brain. He has also been acknowledged as one of America’s Top Doctors for over 20 consecutive years.
Dr. Jordan served as team physician for USA Boxing and was on the medical staff of the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina. He was also a member of the United States Olympic Sports Medicine Society.
Today, Dr. Jordan continues to advocate for brain health and safety of all athletes. He currently serves as a member of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) Mackey-White Health and Safety Committee and is an Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant (UNC) for the National Football League (NFL), implementing the Concussion Protocol on the sidelines.
“Being inducted into the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame is the highlight of my career,” said Dr. Jordan. “This honor acknowledges my interests in further providing care to those with traumatic brain injury and the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury such as Alzheimer’s Disease and cognitive impairment. These are goals which I would like to see come to fruition at [Rancho].”
Dr. Jordan established the Comprehensive Brain Injury Program at Rancho that provides coordinated multidisciplinary care to individuals with traumatic brain injury. In addition, Dr. Jordan wants to further understand the relationship between traumatic brain injury and dementia.
He currently operates a clinic twice a month that treats individuals with chronic traumatic brain injury, including Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) a condition that affects athletes exposed to repetitive head trauma in sports such as football, soccer, and hockey.
Dr. Jordan is a native New Yorker who attended New York City’s Stuyvesant High School that consistently ranks among the top schools in the nation. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Neurophysiology, he obtained his medical degree from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Jordan completed an internship in Internal Medicine at UCLA Medical Center and performed his Neurology residency training at the New York Hospital - Cornell University Medical Center. He also completed his Master of Public Health at Columbia University.
He has completed several fellowships, which include a fellowship in Public Health at Cornell University Medical College, a clinical Neurology fellowship at the New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center, a fellowship in Sports Neurology at the Hospital for Special Surgery, and a fellowship in Behavioral Neurology at UCLA Medical Center.