Stroke Recovery Program

Greg Albers, MD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences

Dr. Albers has been the Director of the Stanford Stroke Center since its inception in 1992. He is a leader in the clinical care of stroke patients as well as cerebrovascular research and education. Dr. Albers has published over 300 articles in the medical literature and has been the principal investigator of more than 70 clinical studies. He has chaired multiple consensus panels that have published national and international guidelines for stroke treatment and prevention. Under his guidance, the Stroke Center has trained more than 40 clinical stroke specialists; many of these individuals are directing stroke centers at academic institutions thoughout the country. 

Martin Angst, MD
Professor of Anesthesia

The Angst Laboratory’s transformative research efforts focus on immune health in the context of surgery and trauma. In a broader sense, their work is pertinent to clinical conditions that are governed by an acute inflammatory response. The aim of studying immunity in patients suffering from acute inflammatory conditions such as surgery is to identify immune phenotypes that will predict clinical outcomes, discover maladaptive mechanisms that result in adverse outcomes, and devise immune-modulatory strategies that will improve outcomes. Mass cytometry (CyTOF), proteomics, and functional ex-vivo immune assays are the major molecular tools used for the systems-based functional exploration of the circulating immune system. 

Katrin Andreasson, MD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences

Dr. Andreassson is a Professor in the Stanford Neurology Department.  Her laboratory is dedicated to understanding the basic mechanisms by which neurons die in stroke and in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Her research focuses on the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) pathway, which has been found to play a critical role in promoting neuronal death in a number of models of neurological disease.

Nima Agheepour, MD
Instructor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Dr. Aghaeepour is an expert in analysis of multi-dimensional data sets with training in computer science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. His research focuses on developing analytical pipelines from highly complex datasets, with the goal of distilling biological meaning and producing direct clinical impact.

Marion Buckwalter, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and Neurosurgery

Dr. Buckwalter is a stroke clinician and basic scientist, and her laboratory focuses on how inflammation after stroke affects outcomes. They utilize complementary mouse models of stroke, and use transgenic, viral, and pharmacological techniques to alter inflammatory gene expression and assess the effect on outcome. Her lab also utilizes human samples from ongoing clinical studies at the Stanford Stroke Center.

Howard Y. Chang MD, PhD
Professor of Dermatology

Dr. Chang is Director of the Center for Personal Dynamic Regulomes and Professor of Dermatology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Chang earned a Ph.D. in Biology from MIT, M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and completed Dermatology residency and postdoctoral training at Stanford University. His research addresses how large sets of genes are turned on or off together, which is important in normal development, cancer, and aging. Chang discovered a new class of genes, termed long noncoding RNAs, can control gene activity throughout the genome, illuminating a new layer of biological regulation. He has invented new methods for defining the shapes of RNA and DNA genome-wide. The long term goal of his research is to decipher the regulatory information in the genome to benefit human health.

Steven Hartley Collins, PhD
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Steve Collins received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2002 from Cornell University, where he performed research on passive dynamic walking robots with Andy Ruina. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2008 from the University of Michigan, where he performed research on the dynamics and control of human walking with Art Kuo. He performed postdoctoral research on humanoid robots with Martijn Wisse at T. U. Delft in the Netherlands. He was a professor of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University for seven years. In 2017, he joined the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, where he teaches courses on design and robotics and directs the Stanford Biomechatronics Lab.

Scott L. Delp, PhD
James H. Clark Professor, Schools of Engineering and Medicine

Dr. Delp and his collaborators in the Neuromuscular Biomechanics lab (NMBL) use their expertise in biomechanics, computer science, imaging, robotics, and neuroscience to analyze muscle function, study human movement, design medical technologies, and optimize human performance.  His team has measured the movement dynamics of thousands of individuals with movement disorders, and has developed realistic computer simulations to gain insight into the causes of abnormal movement and design methods to improve movement through surgery or robotic assistance.

Lauren Drag, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated), Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Lauren Drag, PhD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona. She completed a clinical internship in neuropsychology at the VA Ann Arbor Medical Center and a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at the University of Michigan Healthcare System. Prior to coming to Stanford, she was a researcher at the VA Palo Alto Medical Center and served as Director of the Neuropsychology Area of Emphasis at Palo Alto University. Dr. Drag’s research interests are in cognitive aging and traumatic brain injury.

Amit Etkin, MD, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry

Amit Etkin is a human systems neuroscientist and psychiatrist. His interest is in using advanced functional neuroimaging tools to define causal neural circuit pathways in the brain in health and disease. To do this, he combines external perturbation of brain circuitry using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) while imaging the consequences with concurrent fMRI or EEG. This allows them to define what the causal consequences are in the brain of inducing activation in any particular region in accessible cortical regions. He hopes to apply these methods to stroke patients in the acute phase and recovery in order to define systems-level plasticity and opportunities for novel neural circuit-directed interventions. The Etkin Lab strives to understand the neural basis of emotional disorders and their treatment, and to leverage this knowledge to develop novel treatment interventions.

Robert Fisher, MD, PhD
Maslah Saul MD Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences
Director of Stanford Comprehensive Epilepsy Program

Dr. Fisher received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford, and trained at Johns Hopkins where he remained as faculty. He served time as Chair of Neurology at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, before returning to Stanford in 2000. He has had a leading role in the testing of devices that can detect or treat seizures, including deep brain stimulation, focal drug infusion, seizure notification accelerometers and biosensor. He also collaborates with laboratory researchers studying mechanisms of epilepsy. He has been named in Best Doctors of America for 16 consecutive years. He is a past-president of the American Epilepsy Society, prior Editor-in-Chief of the world's main epilepsy journal, Epilepsia, and past Editor of epilepsy.com, the most visited website about epilepsy. He has published numerous articles and books about epilepsy.

Paul George, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Neurology and Neurological Sciences

Dr. George joined the Stanford Stroke Center in 2012 to complete his Vascular Neurology fellowship and has remained as an Assistant Professor.  His clinical and research interests are centered on acute stroke and stroke recovery.  He cares for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings.  His research focuses on the application of novel biotechnologies to improve healing after stroke. Currently, limited treatment options are available for stroke patients outside of the acute timeframe. The George Lab works on combining stem cell therapeutics and novel polymers to enhance and improve stroke recovery. His work also utilizes biomedical methods to better understand the mechanisms of neural repair after injury.

Michael Greicius, MD, MPH
Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Dr. Greicius is the Iqbal Farrukh and Asad Jamal Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He attended medical school at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, did his neurology residency at the Harvard Partners program, and completed a behavioral neurology fellowship at UCSF. He first came to Stanford in 2000 as a postdoctoral fellow and joined the faculty in 2007. Dr. Greicius is currently the director of the Stanford Center for Memory Disorders and leads a research team studying the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease. Current efforts in the Greicius lab are focused on identifying novel genetic variants in two groups of subjects: healthy older people carrying the high risk APOE4 genetic variant and early age-at-onset Alzheimer’s patients who do not carry the high risk APOE4 genetic variant. The goal is to identify rare but powerful genetic mutations that either protect against or cause Alzheimer’s disease, respectively in these two groups. These genetic variants will then be characterized in detail to understand how they impact disease risk and how their related molecular pathways can be targeted for novel drug development.

Rona Giffard, MD, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology

Dr. Giffard is an anesthesiologist and basic scientist. Her laboratory is very interested in both acute response to stroke, and factors that affect delayed plasticity, including effects of inflammation on neurogenesis, and the role of organelle interaction and the chaperone network in both acute response and plasticity.

Brice Gaudilliere, PhD
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Our group studies how the human immune system responds to acute physiological perturbations, such as surgical trauma. Using high parameter single cell technologies (CyTOF) and proteomics approaches for the deep immune profiling of patients undergoing surgery, our research aims at identifying immune mechanisms (cell subsets and associated signaling pathways) that critically determine a patient's ability to heal and recover from surgical trauma.

Sarah Heilshorn, PhD
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Dr. Heilshorn is a materials scientist and bioengineer whose laboratory specializes in interfacing novel biomaterials and microfluidic devices with mammalian cells. Specific areas of interest include microfluidic devices to study neuronal chemotaxis and neurite guidance within gradients, synthetic matrices for three-dimensional neural cultures, and injectable hydrogels to deliver cells, proteins, and drugs to the central nervous system.

Victor W. Henderson, MD, MS
Professor of Health Research and Policy
Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Dr. Henderson is Professor in the Departments of Health Research & Policy (Epidemiology) and Neurology & Neurological Sciences.  He directs the graduate program in epidemiology and clinical research.  Dr. Henderson is principal investigator for the NIH Stanford Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, whose focus is neurodegenerative processes implicated in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, innovative tools for diagnosis, and new approaches to therapy.  His research interests in the areas of geriatric neurology and neuroepidemiology emphasize risk factors for cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease, and therapeutic strategies to maintain and improve cognitive abilities affected by age.

Dr. Henderson obtained his medical degree from Johns Hopkins and a master degree in epidemiology from the University of Washington School of Public Health.  He trained at Duke University (internal medicine), Washington University (neurology), and Boston University (behavioral neurology).  He has been a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, visiting professor at the University of Melbourne (Australia), and visiting professor at the University of Aarhus (Denmark).  He served as chair of the Geriatric Neurology Section of the American Academy of Neurology and as president of the North American Menopause Society.  He serves on editorial boards and scientific advisory boards, and he has authored more than 200 scientific articles and chapters.

Karen G. Hirsch, MD
Associate Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences

Dr. Karen G. Hirsch is a neurocritical care physician. She cares for critically ill patients with neurologic disorders in the intensive care unit and for patients with cerebrovascular disease in the inpatient stroke unit. Dr. Hirsch’s research focuses on novel imaging techniques such as functional brain imaging in patients with cardiac arrest and traumatic brain injury. She also studies methods of non-invasive measurement of cerebral blood flow, oxygenation, and cerebrovascular autoregulation and how these parameters might be targeted to improve outcome in patients with neurologic injury.

Hadi Hosseini, PhD
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research

Hadi Hosseini is a computational/cognitive neuroscientist investigating large-scale structural and functional brain networks in various neurological and psychiatric conditions using multimodal neuroimaging, graph theoretical and multivariate pattern analyses techniques. He is also developing novel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-based neurofeedback interventions for targeted enhancement of executive functions. As the Associate Director of the NIRS Lab at CIBSR, one of his interests is to employ NIRS as a potential cost-effective biomarker for monitoring functional stroke recovery. 

John Huguenard, PhD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences

The Huguenard Lab focuses on 2 stroke-related questions. 1) What are the changes in cortical microcircuits that occur in peri-infarct regions that promote functional recovery, specifically with a focus on GABA receptors and a potential new therapeutic approach.  2) What are the changes in regions distal to the stroke, yet connected to the peri-infarct region, such as the thalamus that contribute to adaptive (functional recovery) and/or maladaptive (post-stroke epilepsy) circuit changes.  Relatedly, are there specific subcircuits implicated in epilepsy that could be focally targeted for novel therapies.

Michelle L. James, PhD
Assistant Professor, Radiology and Neurology & Neurological Sciences

My research is focused on developing and evaluating molecular imaging agents for visualizing neurological diseases in living subjects.

In particular, I am interested in imaging neuroinflammation, microglial activation, neurodegeneration, cognitive decline, and neurogenesis using positron emission tomography (PET). Non-invasive PET imaging of these biochemical processes in living, intact, subjects may lead to an enhanced understanding of a range of brain disorders (including Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and brain injury), ultimately generating effective diagnostic techniques and treatment strategies.

My Ph.D. was focused on the design and development of novel PET radioligands for imaging the translocator protein (18kDa) (TSPO). Since TSPO expression reflects microglial activation and neuroinflammation, radioligands for this protein may act as valuable tools for detecting regions of active brain disease before clinical signs manifest. These radioligands may also be used to track disease progression and monitor response to novel therapeutics.

Calvin Kuo, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine (Hematology)

Dr. Kuo is trained in Internal Medicine and researches new strategies to stimulate new blood vessel growth as well as how to stop blood vessel leakage after stroke. The Kuo lab is studying new classes of receptors on brain blood vessels that can be manipulated for these purposes, as well as new hormones that could be used therapeutically for stroke treatment.

Maarten Lansberg, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences

Dr. Lansberg's research focuses on clinical trials in stroke treatment and recovery. He has extensive experience with the design and conduct of clinical stroke trials. His team is currently conducting an NIH funded cohort study of endovascular stroke treatment.  In addition, they are participating in multiple other NIH and industry-sponsored clinical stroke trials.  They were recently awarded an infrastructure grant from the NIH to become a Regional Coordinating Center for the NINDS Clinical Stroke Trial Network.

Sarah Lee, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurology and Neurological Sciences

Dr. Lee completed her pediatric neurology residency at Stanford in 2015 then joined the Stanford Stroke Center as a vascular neurology fellow.  Following her fellowship she began a faculty position at Stroke Center as an Assistant Professor.  Dr. Lee is board-certified in neurology with special qualification in child neurology, and attends on both the adult stroke service as well as the pediatric neurology service.  Dr. Lee is the Associate Director of the Stroke Center’s Telestroke Program. Her primary clinical and research focus involves optimizing diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation for pediatric and young adult stroke patients.  Additional areas of interest include venous sinus thrombosis, inflammatory and non-inflammatory vasculopathies, stroke in pregnancy, and hypercoagulable state.

Jennifer McNab, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiology

Jennifer McNab is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) physicist and her laboratory focuses on the development of clinical biomarkers of stroke recovery on 3T and 7T human MRI scanners.  The scope of this research involves engineering new MRI contrast mechanisms, strategic encoding and reconstruction schemes, physiological monitoring, brain tissue modeling and validation.

Christina Mijalski, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Christina Mijalski Sells is a board-certified neurologist who joined the Stanford Stroke Center in August of 2016.  She completed the Partners Vascular Neurology fellowship at Harvard Medical School after residency at Brown University.   She also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles.  Currently, her clinical and research interests include telemedicine, stroke in women, and healthcare delivery systems.  Dr. Mijalski Sells is developing the telestroke program at Stanford that will extend the delivery of acute stroke care throughout Northern and Central California.

Michael Moseley, PhD
Professor of Radiology

Michael Moseley is a neuroradiologist and scientist. His primary current research interests are centered on developing MR methods to detect the earliest effects of experimental and clinical cerebrovascular diseases using functional neuroimaging (DWI, PWI, and fMRI). His early papers in 1990 were the first to suggest that DWI and contrast-enhanced PWI are useful for detection of early cerebral ischemia and in tumor depiction. He also helped publish the first papers on blood pool contrast agents in 1985 and was the first to show in 1989 that mapping white matter fiber orientation using diffusion MR imaging is a novel measure of neuroimaging and now later as a means of mapping clinical cognitive performance in events such as stroke.

Paul Nuyujukian, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and of Neurosurgery

My graduate work focused on the development of intracortical neural prostheses. These systems interface with the brain and use mathematical models to control computer cursors and robotic arms. These efforts yielded the highest performing communication brain-machine interfaces demonstrated to date. Based on these results, we entered into a clinical trial and successfully translated our earlier findings to high-performance neural prostheses with human participants.

Allison Okamura, PhD
Professor of Mechanical Engineering (and by courtesy, Computer Science)

Dr. Okamura's laboratory develops medical robots and haptic human-machine interfaces. Their interests include minimally invasive surgery/ percutaneous interventions and robots to enable neuroscience research/rehabilitation. Their devices and models of human motor control are used in the assessment and enhancement of human sensorimotor capabilities. Current they are working on movement control in isometric environments aims to create new methods for rehabilitating chronic stroke patients.

David Prince, MD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences

Dr. Prince is a neurologist and basic neuroscientist.  His work focuses on cellular and circuit abnormalities following focal cortical injuries and novel agents that may prevent maladaptive changes in neuronal and circuit structure and function. We use combinations of electrophysiological, anatomical and pharmacological approaches.

Mehrdad Shamloo, PhD
Professor of Neurosurgery

The ultimate goal of the Shamloo Laboratory is to elucidate the pathological processes underlying malfunction of the nervous system following injury and stroke. They are using automated behavioral and functional methods in experimental and transgenic rodent models in conjunction with small molecule therapeutic approaches in order to manipulate the loss of function following ischemic brain injury. Their therapeutic targets are adrenergic receptors, lysosome proteases (cathepsins) and activity dependent transcription factor (Npas4).

Matthew Smuck, MD
Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Dr. Matthew Smuck is the Chief of PM&R, Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Medical Director of Rehabilitation Services for Stanford Healthcare. He has served as Deputy Editor of The Spine Journal, and Co-Editor of the Orthopedics Knowledge Update in Spine, 4th edition. Dr. Smuck is an award-winning researcher and pioneer in the new field of physical performance monitoring. He directs the Wearable Health Lab at Stanford, investigating medical applications of mobile technology to improve musculoskeletal and neurologic disease detection, treatment and prevention. He regularly lectures on his research in the U.S. and abroad. His work has received numerous society and publication awards, including the American Academy of PM&R’s 2014 President’s Citation Award, the PM&R Journal and Foundation for PM&R’s 2015 Best Original Research Award, the 2016 ISSLS Prize, and The Spine Journal’s Outstanding Paper Award in 2013, 2016 & 2017.  

Gary K. Steinberg, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurosurgery

Dr. Steinberg is a neurosurgeon and basic and clinical scientist. The Steinberg Lab is investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cerebral injury after ischemia, developing neuroprotective agents including hypothermia to reduce stroke damage, employing novel approaches such as stem cell transplantation and optogenetic stimulation to enhance functional recovery after stroke, and elucidating the genetic basis for intracranial aneurysms, vascular malformations and moyamoya disease.

Lawrence Steinman, MD
Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences

Dr. Steinman’s research focuses on what provokes relapses and remissions in MS and the nature of the genes that serve as a brake on brain inflammation in his quest for a vaccine against multiple sclerosis. He has taken several therapies from the bench to the bedside, including work directly related to the development of natalizumab, and two experimental therapies, statins and DNA vaccines, are in trials. He received the John M. Dystel Prize in 2004, and the Charcot Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2011. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science. A graduate of Harvard School of Medicine, Dr. Steinman has been on the Stanford faculty since 1980. He served as Chair of the Immunology Program from 2002 to 2011.

Courtney Wusthoff, MD MS
Neurology Director, LPCH NeuroNICU
Associate Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences and by courtesy, Pediatrics- Neonatal

Dr. Wisthoff is a neonatal neurologist and neurophysiologist at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. As neurology director of our Neuro Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and in her clinical research, she investigates markers of early brain injury, and how they can identify candidates for neuroprotective treatments. She is particularly interested in how seizures may be a modifiable risk factor for later consequences after neonatal brain injury.

Greg Zaharchuk, MD
Professor of Radiology

Dr. Zaharchuk's research focuses on improved functional imaging of the brain following stroke, using both MRI and CT methods.  In particular, his group in collaboration with many others from the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery have focused on developing improved methods for assessing quantitative blood flow and oxygenation measurement in the brain, for identifying and quantifying the impact of collateral blood flow, and for measuring cerebrovascular reserve in the brain following a vasodilatory challenge (“brain stress test”).  His research spans from basic MR sequence development to clinical-translational application of these techniques to stroke patients. 

Heng Zhao, PhD
Professor of Neurosurgery

The Zhao lab studies the protective effects of ischemic postconditioning and the underlying protective mechanisms against stroke. His lab is also interested in clarifying the roles of T lymphocytes in brain injury induced by stroke, as well as the differential roles of blood-derived macrophages and brain resident microglia in acute brain injury after stroke.