Neurology Fellows 2022-2023

Chris Delos Reyes Arca, MD
Pediatric Epilepsy

Chris is one of our current Stanford Pediatric Epilepsy fellows. He graduated medical school at Rush University Medical Center, and completed his Child Neurology residency at Loma Linda University, training under the guidance of Dr. Stephen Ashwal. He was awarded a Healing Hands award for excellent patient care. During residency, he served as Wellness Chief and helped initiate wellness programs for resident and fellow vitality. His clinical and academic interests include epilepsy surgery, Neurogenetics, epilepsy epidemiology and care in the South Pacific region, and providing epilepsy care for underserved minority populations.    

Manveer Dilts-Garcha, MD, MA

Dr. Manveer Dilts-Garcha graduated from the USF Morsani School of Medicine SELECT MD leadership program and before that completed an undergraduate degree in Biology and a Professional Science Master’s in Stem Cell Research at California State University Sacramento. Manveer is passionate about advancing the future of science and medicine, both through academic endeavors as well as through policy. Their accomplishments include research in the field of regenerative medicine, publications in biophotonics, awards for healthcare quality improvement, ongoing engagement at the legislative level to reform health policy and improve resident wellbeing, and serving as a founding member and delegate of the UC Davis Residents Union, CIR. Originally from Vancouver, Canada and the child of immigrant parents who fled religious persecution in their native India, Manveer is acutely sensitive to the struggles of underserved communities, and disadvantaged groups and is a strong proponent of universal healthcare for all Americans and for health care reform. In their spare time they enjoy wood working, powerlifting, cooking, photography and spending time with their family. Manveer is excited for the next chapter in their academic career as an Epilepsy Fellow at Stanford.

Thomas Hirschauer, MD, PhD

Dr. Thomas Hirschauer earned his B.S. in physics and biology from the University of Dayton. As part of the Medical Scientist Training Program at Ohio State University, he then obtained his Ph.D. in neuroscience, studying electrophysiologic techniques to characterize the primate reticulospinal system. He subsequently received his M.D. and was selected for the Excellence in Neurology Research award. He completed an internship at the University of California Irvine and neurology residency at the University of California San Diego. He recently completed a clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Stanford, with a focus on intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring, and has continued his training as an adult epilepsy fellow. His research interests include neurostimulation, computer-aided EEG analysis, brain-computer interfaces, and machine learning.

Tessa B. Johung MD, PhD

Tessa received her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and her medical degree at Stanford University. She also earned a PhD in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine from Stanford, using optogenetics to reveal how neuronal activity promotes glioma growth and progression in the lab of Michelle Monje. She completed her internship and neurology residency training at UCSF, where she worked in Anna Molofsky’s lab studying changes in cytokine signaling that might disrupt synapse homeostasis in epilepsy, before returning to Stanford for fellowship. In addition to her clinical interest in the longitudinal and cross-disciplinary aspects of caring for patients with epilepsy, she maintains a research interest in studying seizures and epileptogenesis in the context of synapse plasticity and brain tumors.

Mehraneh Khadjevand, MD, MPH

Mehraneh completed her posdoctral fellowship at Mayo Clinic, MN, where she investigated human memory, and worked on interictal biomarkers of epileptic brain. Afterwards she completed her residency at Tufts medical center, and served as the academic chief resident, and received the Award for Excellence in Medical Student Teaching and the Resident Teaching Award. Her goal is finding a reliable interictal biomarker for guiding epilepsy surgery.

Ryan McGinn, MD
CNP/EEG

Ryan started his working career as a jazz musician in Toronto, Canada where he performed and taught saxophone, flute and clarinet.  He then returned to receive an honours BSc in biological physics with high distinction and a master degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Toronto.  His work there involved understanding communication between layers of the human cortex.  He then earned his MD from the University of Calgary, and completed his neurology residency at McMaster University, where he served as chief neurology resident.  His academic interests include electrophysiological network markers for surgical and neuromodulation outcomes in medically refractory epilepsy.

Spencer Nam, MD

Chethan Kirshna Rao, DO, MS
Pediatric Epilepsy

Dr. Chethan Rao is a Pediatric Epilepsy Fellow at Stanford. Dr. Rao, a California native, completed his undergraduate studies in Biology and Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis followed by a Master’s in Biomedical Science at The University of North Texas Health Science Center. He completed his medical studies at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine then went on to complete residency training in Pediatrics at the University of Florida-Jacksonville and in Child Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. Dr. Rao has several clinical and research interests within epilepsy but is particularly keen on implementing technology to overcome healthcare disparities in pediatric epilepsy.

Brandon Seminatore, MD
Pediatric Epilepsy

Richard Baron, MD

Harshul Zaveri, MD

Harshul Zaveri is a Headache Medicine fellow at Stanford. Prior to fellowship, he completed his Pediatric Neurology Residency at Children's Hospital Los Angeles where he served as the Wellness Chief in his last year. His research interests include Sports Neurology and Traumatic Brain Injury. He is interested in exploring novel ways to reduce brain injury in contact sports, and treatment of headaches in pediatric patients. He is currently the PI for a study exploring Sphenopalatine Ganglion blocks to treat acute pediatric migraine.

Malik Fakhar, MD

Dr. Malik Fakhar is a Neurocritical Care fellowship with academic interest in managing patients with acute neurological conditions with especial interest in neurointerventional radiology. Dr. Fakhar completed his medical school at Ross University, followed by internship in Internal Medicine at University of Tennessee in Memphis, TN. He then completed Neurology residency at University of Arizona, where he served as chief resident and earned awards for medical student education. 

Daniel Herrick, MD, PhD
Neurosurgery

Dr. Daniel Herrick is a fifth-year Stanford Neurosurgery resident and enfolded Neurocritical Care Fellow with academic interests in neurosurgical emergencies, biomarkers of traumatic brain injury, and health technology innovation. He completed medical school and his Ph.D. at Tufts University School of Medicine, where his Ph.D. research identified molecular mechanisms governing adult neurogenesis after injury. Following medical school, he began neurosurgery residency at Stanford, and he recently completed the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship.

Sung (Dave) Jeon, MD

Sung Dave Jeon is one of the neurocritical care fellows at Stanford. He studied English and Neuroscience at Amherst College, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He subsequently acquired his medical degree at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and completed his residency in neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He has a background in liberal arts with experiences in palliative care and clinical research, which ranges from deep-brain electrophysiology, behavioral psychiatry, as well as management of status epilepticus and low NIHSS large vessel occlusion strokes. Some of his favorite hobbies include hiking, reading, wine tasting, and going to the dog park with his roommate Kaia, who is one judgmental Shiba Inu. He fell in love with neurocritical care in medical school and residency for its high acuity environment, complexity of cases, and interaction with patients and families.

Hena Waseem, MD

Saad Yazdani, MD

Dr. Saad Yazdani is a Neurocritical Care Fellow with academic interests in multimodality monitoring of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and traumatic brain injury, ICU-EEG, and post-cardiac arrest neuro-prognostication. He completed his medical training at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and neurology residency at Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. While in residency, he was selected for the Leadership in Medical Education Program and completed his Medical Educator Certification while taking business management courses at the Weatherhead School of Management. Dr. Yazdani plans to combine his medical education background and academic interests to create multidisciplinary clinical education content.

Neda Sattarnezhad, MD

Dr. Neda Sattarnezhad Oskouei is a Clinical Neuroimmunology Fellow at Stanford. She is a Sylvia Lawry Fellow of the National MS Society for 2021-2023. Dr. Sattarnezhad has received her medical degree with honors from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Subsequently, she has completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Partners MS Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sattarnezhad has completed her neurology residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago before starting her clinical research fellowship at Stanford. As a part of her fellowship, Dr. Sattarnezhad will also obtain a master’s degree in Epidemiology and Clinical Research. Her research interests are developing biomarkers for monitoring disease activity and treatment response in MS and advanced neuroimaging.

Esther Nie, MD, PhD