Aksel Siva graduated from the Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa School of Medicine where he also completed his residency program in neurology. He is Emeritus Professor of Neurology at the same institution, where he was the past-chairman and the head of the Clinical Neuro-immunology Unit & Multiple Sclerosis Clinic as well as the founder of the Cerrahpaşa Headache Clinic.
He has served as the President of The Turkish Neurological Society for 3 consecutive terms between 2003 and 2009. He is a founding member of The Turkish Multiple Sclerosis Society. He was an executive committee member of ECTRIMS (2003–2006) and The European Neurological Society (2009 – 2014), and a member of the European Academy of Neurology scientific program committee (2014 – 2018) and the Education Executive Committee of The World Federation of Neurology (2002 – 2010).
He is one of the founders of the Radiologically Isolated Syndrome Consortium (RISC) and a member of its core group, a member of the Turkish Neurological Society-MS Study Group, the EAN, American Academy of Neurology, American Neurological Association and the and The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation International Clinical Consortium.
His contributions have been recognized with several national and international awards, including the Turkan Saylan Medical Science Award (2021), the Sedat Simavi Achievement Award (2002), the Turkish Neurological Society Science and Service Award (2024), the Ted Munsat Education Award of the World Federation of Neurology (2025), and the prestigious “Balo Prize” of the Hungarian Neuroimmunology Society (2025). Publications: Over 200 articles in high-impact international scientific journals, numerous book chapters. H-index: Web of Science 58, Google Scholar 73 (as of March 2026).
His primary research interests include clinical neuroimmunology, with a focus on Multiple Sclerosis, Radiologically Isolated Syndrome, NMOSD, MOGAD, Neuro-Behcet’s Syndrome and other inflammatory vasculopathies of the central nervous system and neuro-epidemiology.