Odette Harris, MD, MPH

Professor, Department of Neurosurgery
Paralyzed Veterans of America, Endowed Professor of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine
Vice Chair, Diversity, Department of Neurosurgery
Director of Brain Injury
Stanford University School of Medicine

Deputy Chief of Staff, Rehabilitation
Director, Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center
VHA Palo Alto, CA
 

Dr. Odette Harris is the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Endowed Professor of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine, a Professor of Neurosurgery and the Vice Chair, Diversity and Director of Brain Injury for Stanford.

She is the Deputy Chief of Staff, Rehabilitation at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, overseeing several Services and Programs; The TBI/Polytrauma System of Care, Spinal Cord Injuries/Disorders Center, Blind Rehabilitation Services and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Dr. Harris graduated from Dartmouth College and received her MD degree from Stanford University School of Medicine. She received numerous academic and research awards at both institutions. She did her internship and residency at Stanford University Medical Center Stanford, California. She also earned a Master of Public Health, Epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Upon completing her neurosurgical residency, Dr. Harris was awarded the William VanWagenen Fellowship from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. She completed her research related to this fellowship at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica where she also serves as Visiting Consultant in Neurosurgery.

Dr. Harris has authored several scientific articles and books, is a member of several Editorial Boards, National Committees and Scientific Boards including: Serving as the Associate Editor for Neurosurgery; An appointed Member, National Football League (NFL) Head, Neck and Spine Committee; An appointed Member of the Defense Health Board’s (DHB) Trauma and Injury Subcommittee, Board Chair, Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research (PAVIR) and President of the Western Neurosurgical Society.

Dr. Harris is a Fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Harris is also an elected member, American Academy of Neurological Surgery (AAcNS). Dr. Harris was appointed a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network in 2018.

Ashwin Ramayya, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery
Human Neuro Circuitry
 

Dr. Ramayya is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. He specializes in the treatment of patients with chronic pain, movement disorders, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury. His research program will focus on understanding brain mechanisms underlying pain experience and how to alleviate pain using brain stimulation.

Dr. Ramayya specializes in neuromodulation, including deep brain stimulation (DBS), spinal cord stimulation, MRI-guided laser therapy, and focused ultrasound. Dr. Ramayya obtained his MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also completed his neurosurgery residency and a fellowship in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery.

His research efforts have identified neural substrates underlying learning, memory, and decision-making using computational behavioral modeling, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging.

Dr. Ramayya has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Neuroscience, NeuroImage, and Cerebral Cortex. He has also presented his work at national and international meetings, including those for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Pan Philadelphia Neurosurgery Conference.