Neurosurgery Clinical Instructors and Fellow

Chris Donaldson completed his Neurosurgical training in Melbourne, Australia in January 2025. He holds a Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons. Prior to joining Stanford, Donaldson held appointments as a Neurosurgeon at The Alfred Hospital and Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria.

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.

Dr. Hori received his MD from Sapporo Medical University, Japan, and during that time he served as a Medical Student Research Fellow in the Department of Pharmacology. He explored the functional role of the SIRT1 gene, a longevity-associated gene, and its association with various conditions such as muscular dystrophy. He also completed a Visiting Student Research Fellowship at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido and participated in Human Genetics projects focusing on an association between the 27-bp deletion and 538G>A mutation in the ABCC11 Gene.

After graduating from medical school, Dr. Hori completed a neurosurgery residency at National Hospital Organization Okayama Medical Center in Japan. Subsequently, he completed a Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Fellowship and then a Neurosurgical Oncology and Radiosurgery Fellowship at The Cleveland Clinic. He also completed an International Neurosurgery Fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. In 2022, he moved to Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow, and under the supervision of Dr. Anca Pasca, he participated in brain organoid research focusing on hypoxic brain injuries.

Since July 2023, Dr. Hori has been working as a Clinical Instructor (Neurosurgical Oncology and Radiosurgery) in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford under the supervision of Drs. Steven D. Chang and Antonio Meola. His clinical interests include malignant brain and spine tumors in both adult and pediatric patients. His clinical research focuses on the application of minimally invasive treatments such as laser interstitial thermal therapy, focused ultrasound, and radiosurgery to treat various neurosurgical conditions. His current lab research aims to develop an organoid model for radiation-induced brain injuries and a high-throughput screening platform to identify novel therapeutic compounds, for which he received a Clinician Educator Grant from Stanford University Maternal and Child Health Research Institute. Outside of medicine, he enjoys playing music including guitar and drums.

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.

Dr. Collin Liu completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. During this time, he did an enfolded skull base microsurgery fellowship at Cornell. Immediately following residency, Collin completed a cerebrovascular-skull base fellowship at UT Health Houston, followed by a neuroendovascular fellowship at the University at Buffalo Neurosurgery. He is training to provide patients with comprehensive vascular and skull base oncology care and looks forward to pursuing a career in academic neurosurgery.

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. Pan is board-eligible neurosurgeon after graduating from the neurological surgery residency program at the University of Washington. His career interests lie in spine surgery, with specific interests in helping patients regain their mobility and activity. He is also interested in designing technologies that help both physicians and patients interact with healthcare systems. Prior to residency, James received a BS from Carnegie Mellon University, a MD from Stanford University, and worked in product design at various healthcare-focused startup companies.

Zane was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where he studied biology with a concentration in molecular biology. He completed his medical degree and neurosurgery residency at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He also received his MBA from NYU Stern School of Business. He is interested in neuromodulation and applying new technologies to improve outcomes in patients with movement disorders, epilepsy, and neuropsychiatric disorders. He enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

Daniel P. Sexton is a Clinical Instructor in Neurosurgery at Stanford where he specializes in pediatric neurosurgery. He received his undergraduate degree with honors from the California Institute of Technology where he was a member of the varsity water polo and baseball teams. He completed his MD at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University where he received his degree with distinction in biomedical research. He completed neurosurgery residency at Duke University where he received NIH funding to investigate the electrophysiology of epilepsy and cognition using machine learning approaches. Outside of the hospital, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons, playing piano, trail running, and baking.

Dr. Minwoo (Andrew) Song completed his doctorate and medical school at Loma Linda University in California. He completed his neurosurgical residency in Loma Linda. During residency training, his research was focused on trauma. As a clinical instructor, Dr. Song will work with Dr. Park and Dr. Ratliff in minimally invasive spine surgery, robotic spine surgery, reconstructive spine surgery, spinal oncology, spine radiation therapy, and radiosurgery.

Dr. Stuart is an Australian trained adult and pediatric neurosurgeon working as a Clinical Instructor in Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery under Professor Gary Steinberg.

Dr. Stuart completed medical school in Australia at James Cook University, followed by an Australian neurosurgical residency across multiple centers in the Binational Australian neurosurgical training program. Following residency, he completed a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Prior to Stanford he worked as an attending neurosurgeon at the Queensland Children's Hospital and Townsville University Hospital.

Ariel Takayanagi was born in Oak Park, Illinois. She went to college at University of California, Berkeley, and medical school at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed neurosurgery residency at Riverside University Medical Systems in southern California where she participated in research in spine oncology and surgery for spinal deformity. Ariel plans to complete her fellowship in complex spine surgery from 2025-2026 at Stanford University.