Neurosurgery Clinical Instructors and Fellow

I completed my undergraduate degree in neuroscience at the University of Toronto, followed by my medical degree at Western University in Canada. I then began my training in neurosurgery at Western University. During this time, I worked towards a PhD focusing on single neuron recordings from the lateral prefrontal cortex of non-human primates. This work has expanded our understanding of how neurons in this part of the brain encode features such as eye position and salient abstract information.

Dr. Michael Brandel is a neurosurgeon with focused training and research interests in skull base, cerebrovascular, and endovascular neurosurgery. He completed medical school and neurosurgical residency at the University of California, San Diego, where he also completed an enfolded Endovascular Neurosurgery fellowship. He subsequently pursued advanced fellowship training in Skull Base and Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Phoenix. Prior to medical training, Dr. Brandel graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a double major in Molecular & Cell Biology and Psychology.

Jinendra undertook his medical training at Kings College London School of Medicine and Dentistry, including an intercalated BSc in Neuropharmacology. He completed his neurosurgical residency at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, with an infolded Wellcome Trust PhD Clinical Fellowship at University College London under Professor Geraint Rees.

Specializing in vascular microsurgery, Jinendra focuses on aneurysm clipping, AVM resection, and revascularization, holding subspecialty certification in neurovascular surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He has designed a surgical handle system for aneurysm clipping including a high degree-of-freedom aneurysm clip.

Academically, he investigates and develops interventional technologies for brain recovery and neuroimaging, including implantable interfaces, real-time fMRI and biophotonics. He has contributed to policy development for brain-computer interfaces, with input to the UK Chief Medical Officer’s report ‘Health 2040: Better Healthcare within Reach’ and reports for the UK Houses of Parliament and the Royal Society’s working group on neural interfaces (‘iHuman – Blurring the line between mind and machine’).

Before Stanford, Jinendra served as an attending neurosurgeon at the National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Clinical Instructor in Skull Base Neurosurgery. Graduate of MGB Neurosurgery Residency, Harvard Medical School/School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Kalra undertook his medical training at Imperial College London School of Medicine, including an intercalated BSc. He undertook his foundation training in the North West Thames deanery in London and completed his neurosurgical residency at Leeds General Infirmary, West Yorkshire. Neeraj has completed a Royal College of Surgeons of England fellowship in neuro-oncology, focusing on advanced techniques of tumor resection, minimally invasive approaches, awake surgery, radiosurgery and multidisciplinary collaboration focusing on patient outcomes. Outside of neurosurgery he enjoys music, travelling and non-fiction reading.

Fred is a Canadian board-certified neurosurgeon with a PhD in neuroscience. He obtained his neurosurgical fellowship training at Harvard Medical School specializing in tumors of the brain and spine. Fred then pursued postdoctoral research in cancer biology, DNA damage, and epigenetics at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT studying the use of nanotechnology and precision medicine approaches for the treatment of brain tumors.

Prior to coming to Stanford, he was a junior attending neurosurgeon at Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, with a clinical and research focus on the neurosurgical treatment of patients with primary and metastatic brain and spine tumors. He is honored to be a Clinical Instructor in the SRS and neurosurgical oncology program at Stanford Neurosurgery and am excited to be learning from the Stanford Neurosurgery faculty.

Lucio De Maria is a Clinical Instructor in Neurosurgery at Stanford, specializing in pediatric neurosurgery. He previously served as an attending neurosurgeon at the Spedali Civili University Hospital in Brescia, Italy. Dr. De Maria completed his residency at the University of Brescia and graduated with honors from the University of Catania. Throughout his training, he pursued international clinical and research experience in the US, the UK, and Switzerland, receiving both national and international awards for his academic and clinical commitment. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, with research spanning neurosurgical and radiosurgical oncology, cerebrovascular neurosurgery, and advanced neuroimaging applications such as radiomics. Outside of work, he loves spending time with his wife and son, traveling, kitesurfing, and playing drums.

Paul completed his medical degree at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He did his neurosurgery residency at the Western General Hospital and Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and is board-certified in neurosurgery by the General Medical Council of the UK. He was previously a research fellow with V.S. Ramachandran and his central pain, the neurological basis of body image and the brain’s role in controlling energy homeostasis. He is one of two cofounders of Neurovalens, a noninvasive medical device company.

Dr. Mohamed is a neurosurgeon with fellowship training in skull base surgery, neuro-oncology, and functional neurosurgery. He completed neurosurgical rotation at The Royal London Hospital, followed by fellowships in Bristol and Cardiff, and holds fellowships of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the European Board of Neurological Surgery. His research applies machine learning and volumetric imaging analysis to tumor growth prediction and surgical outcomes.

Tye Patchana is a Clinical Instructor and Complex Spine Fellow at Stanford University, where he focuses on spinal deformity, revision surgery, and robotics-assisted techniques. He completed his neurosurgery residency in Southern California, followed by a Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Fellowship at Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle. His clinical and scholarly interests span the intersection of cerebrovascular, spinal, and global neurosurgery. Outside of clinical work, he pursues longstanding interests in philosophy and writing, with a focus on the intellectual and humanistic dimensions of surgical practice. Upon completion of his fellowship training, he will join Trinity Health as an attending neurosurgeon.

Yigit Can Senol received his medical degree from Gazi University School of Medicine in Ankara, Türkiye, and completed his neurosurgical residency at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, a high-volume tertiary referral center. His clinical focus has been neurotrauma and cerebrovascular disease, with extensive experience managing severe traumatic brain and spine injuries. He pursued advanced research training at the Mayo Clinic and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he developed animal and human cadaveric models to support innovation in endovascular and minimally invasive cerebrovascular techniques. Dr. Senol has received multiple awards, including the Catalyst Award at UCSF, serves on the editorial boards of several neurosurgical journals, and has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications. He is married and, outside of medicine, enjoys spending time with his family and his chow chow.

Dr. Jayunkumar Shah is an Indian-trained neurosurgeon who practiced as an attending neurosurgeon for eight years prior to relocating to the United States for advanced subspecialty training. In the U.S., he completed two years of CAST-accredited clinical fellowship training in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Hospital under Dr. Brian Kopell and at the University of Florida under Dr. Kelly Foote.

With a strong interest in cerebrovascular and skull base neurosurgery, Dr. Shah subsequently expanded his focus to complex vascular pathology. During his time at the University of Wisconsin under Dr. Mustafa Baskaya, he contributed as a co-author to the development of a microneurosurgery training model designed for low- and middle-income countries. This work was recognized with the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) “Best Global Neurosurgery Paper of the Year 2025” award.

Dr. Shah’s clinical and academic interests include cerebral revascularization procedures, arteriovenous malformation (AVM) resection, aneurysm clipping, and vascular reconstruction. His work integrates high-level microsurgical technique with a systems-based surgical strategy, emphasizing precision, safety, and optimization of neurological outcomes. He continues to actively contribute to research in cerebrovascular surgery, with particular focus on bypass outcomes and advanced vascular techniques.

Dr. Evgeniya Tyrtova completed her undergraduate education at Fairleigh Dickinson University and received an MD and a Master's in Health Sciences degree from the Yale School of Medicine. She is a board-eligible neurosurgeon after completing her residency at the University of Washington. Evgeniya is pursuing her post-residency training in complex and MIS spine surgery at Stanford University in 2026-2027. Her research interests include genomic mechanisms underlying spine pathologies, translating spine surgery clinical outcomes into actionable quality improvement initiatives, and using technologies to facilitate patients’ communication with healthcare systems. Her career interests lie in spine surgery with a focus on helping her patients regain mobility, alleviate pain, and improve their quality of life.