R&F Bios
Neurology® Resident & Fellow Section Team Members
SECTION EDITOR
Roy E. Strowd, MD, FAAN
Dr. Roy Strowd, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Oncology, is a neurologist and neuro-oncologist at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in 2005 and from the Wake Forest School of Medicine in 2009. He completed residency in Neurology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in 2013 where he served as Chief Resident. He pursued fellowship training at Johns Hopkins completing the clinical and research Neuro-oncology Fellowship Program as well as dedicated training in medical education research through a fellowship supported by the American Academy of Neurology's Medical Education Research Training Fellowship. Dr. Strowd has clinical research interests in drug development and response assessment in neuro-oncology as well as medical education interests in exploring optimal approaches for teaching healthcare professionals at multiple levels of training. Dr. Strowd is active in medical education, academic scholarship, and scientific research at both the local and national levels and truly enjoys each opportunity to mentor residents and fellows throughout neurology.
Twitter: @RoyStrowdMD
DEPUTY EDITOR
Whitley Aamodt, MD, MPH
Whitley Aamodt is a movement disorders fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She graduated with a degree in neuroscience from the College of William and Mary and completed dual degrees in medicine and public health at the University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio. She also completed her adult neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. She is passionate about global and community health and spent one month of her neurology residency in Tanzania. Her research interests also include health disparities and neuroepidemiology.
Facebook: @wwaamodt
TEAM MEMBERS
Shashank Agarwal, MD
Shashank Agarwal is an adult neurology resident at NYU Langone Health – Brooklyn. He received his medical degree from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University in India. Prior to starting his Neurology residency, he worked as a Research Scientist at the Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute for Parkinson and Movement Disorders at NYU Langone Health. During residency, Shashank developed interest particularly in caring for neurovascular and neuro-critical care patients. He is actively engaged in research projects with mechanism of stroke treatments and headache management in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients. Shashank is passionate about medical education and enjoys teaching medical students and residents. Outside of medicine, Shashank loves photography and enjoys cooking and kayaking in his free time.
Facebook: @shashank.agarwal.731 Twitter: @shashank_agarMD
Raphaël Bernard-Valnet, MD, PhD
Raphaël Bernard-Valnet is an adult neurology resident at Lausanne University Hospital (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois), Switzerland. In 2010, he entered the French Institute of Health nationwide MD-PhD program (Ecole de l’INSERM - Liliane Bettencourt), where he earned his PhD in immunology and infectious diseases under the supervision of Prof. Roland Liblau in Toulouse, France. He studied the autoimmune mechanisms underlying narcolepsy with cataplexy. After graduating with his MD from Faculté de médecine de Toulouse, he joined Lausanne, Switzerland for his neurology training. His research and clinical interest focus on Inflammatory and infectious diseases of the central nervous system.
Twitter: @Raphael_BrdVlt
Mehdi Bouslama, MD
Mehdi Bouslama is an adult neurology resident at Emory University. Originally from Tunisia, he completed medical school at Faculté de Medecine de Tunis (FMT). After graduation, he spent two years working as a clinical research fellow at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta investigating ways to enlarge the scope of stroke endovascular therapies and developing new imaging paradigms and tools to improve stroke care systems, under the mentorship of Dr. Raul Nogueira. His research interests include “big data”, AI and machine learning in neuroimaging. After residency, Mehdi will pursue stroke and neuroendovascular fellowships. In his spare time, He enjoys playing the “oud,” tennis, exploring the Atlanta food scene, and spending time with his wife and son.
Twitter: @BouslamaMd
Sarah Brooker, MD, PhD
Sarah Brooker is an adult neurology resident at Northwestern Memorial Hospital of Northwestern University. She is originally from Minnesota and completed her undergraduate education at Yale University in 2010. She then joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at Northwestern where she earned her MD and PhD degrees. Her PhD research focused on signaling pathways modulating adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Her current research interests include investigating genetic and inflammatory mechanisms of neurodegenerative movement disorders. Outside of medicine she enjoys figure skating, spending time with family, and exploring the Chicago food scene.
Gianluca Costamagna, MD
Gianluca Costamagna is a Neurology resident at the University of Milan, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Italy. During medical school, he studied for one year in Bonn, Germany, while completing his medical degree at the University of Pavia, Italy. Prior to Neurology residency, he was awarded the Armenise Harvard Summer Fellowship and worked at Weiner’s lab, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, investigating the role of microbiota in modulating multiple sclerosis in mice. Gianluca truly enjoys medical education, having served as a microbiology, tropical medicine, and human physiology teaching assistant in medical school. As a Neurology resident, he has broad research interests within the field of neuromuscular disorders, with emphasis on motor neuron diseases and stem cell-based 3D models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Outside of Neurology, Gianluca loves running, exploring Italian boroughs, and hiking in the Alps.
Isabella Ferando, MD, PhD
Isabella Ferando is an adult neurology resident at University of Miami. Originally from Mantova, Italy, she obtained her MD at the University of Bologna with a research thesis on localizing semiologic signs in focal epilepsies. She later moved to Los Angeles where she obtained a PhD in Neurophysiology at UCLA. Her research focused on the role of neurosteroids on GABAA receptors in mouse models of diseases. She later completed two postdocs with research focused first on epilepsy and later migraines, during which time she was awarded the prestigious Epilepsy Foundation postdoctoral fellowship. She published several peer reviewed papers including reviews, in high impact journal such as Nature Neuroscience, Annals of Neurology and the Journal of Neuroscience, and throughout the years she served as peer reviewer for journals like The Journal of Neuroscience and Frontiers. Isabella is passionate about women's health and translational research and in promoting those through scientific communication and educational outreach. During her free time Isabella enjoys spending time with her family, cooking Italian meals and traveling.
Katherine Fu, MD
Katherine Fu is a Movement Disorders Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. She graduated with degrees in neuroscience and biological sciences from the University of Southern California and obtained her medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Her research interests include investigating neuroimaging biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases, and she is interested in learning more about deep brain stimulation and neuromodulation during fellowship as well. She also has an interest in medical education, having completed the Certificate Program in Innovations in Curriculum Design and Evaluation, and now participating in the Fellowship in Medical Education Scholarship offered at UCLA. She is also a co-neurology clerkship site director at the West LA VA Medical Center and one of the leads of the UCLA Neurology Residency Education Track. Her hobbies include creative writing, shao-lin kung fu, and playing viola and ukulele.
Twitter: @KatherineFuMD
Galina Gheihman, MD
Galina Gheihman is an adult neurology resident in the Mass General Brigham Neurology Program in Boston, MA. Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Galina attended the University of Toronto for her undergraduate studies, majoring in neurosciences and psychology. She moved to Boston in 2014 and earned her medical degree at Harvard Medical School. Galina has wide clinical, research, and educational interests including quality improvement and patient safety, leadership and resilience in medicine, and designing, implementing, and evaluating medical education interventions. She loves to mentor, teach, and share her enthusiasm for medicine and neurology with others. When not at the hospital, Galina’s favorite place to be is anywhere outdoors! She enjoys hiking in the mountains, running, dancing, and travelling around the world. She can often be found listening to a podcast or audiobook while on a long walk, or when on the train or plane heading to her next adventure!
Katrina Ignacio, MD
Katrina Ignacio is an Adult Neurology resident at the Philippine General Hospital. She received her medical degree from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. Before entering residency, she had been involved in research projects that aimed to update health policies for public health insurance in the Philippines. She is currently the Assistant Chief Resident for Research for the Department of Neurosciences at the Philippine General Hospital. Her clinical interests include vascular neurology and neurophysiology. Outside medicine, she enjoys practicing yoga and going wakeboarding.
Twitter: @Katha_MD
Saba Jafarpour, MD
Saba Jafarpour is a Child Neurology resident at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. She received her medical degree with honors from Tehran University of Medical Sciences. She completed a research fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and residency in pediatrics at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
She has been actively engaged in research and scholarly activities in pediatric epilepsy, neuroimmunology and neuroinflammatory disorders. She also serves as a member of Residents and Fellows Board of Journal of Child Neurology/Child Neurology Open. In her free time, she enjoys drawing/painting, Persian calligraphy, and biking.
Twitter: @SabaJafarpour
Alexandria Melendez-Zaidi, MD, PhD
Allie Melendez-Zaidi is a child neurology resident at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. Allie studied applied mathematics and microbiology at the University of Texas at El Paso before moving to Chicago as a part of Northwestern's Medical Scientist Training Program where she earned MD and PhD degrees. In graduate school she studied microcircuitry and synaptic plasticity within the basal ganglia, with particular interest in interneurons of the striatum and manifestations of diseases of this nucleus. Her current research interests are broad and include channelopathies in genetic epilepsy syndromes and neuroplasticity / rehabilitation in children after brain injury. Outside of medicine she spends time moving (dancing, running, soccer), reading, being outside, and practicing her pediatric exam skills on her two children. She is enthusiastic about communicating with the neurology population at large, grateful for the privilege to take care of patients and families, and for her own health.
Nara Michaelson, MD, MS
Nara Miriam Michaelson is an adult neurology resident at NewYork Presbyterian/Weill Cornell in New York, NY. Originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, she moved to the east coast to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and major in brain & cognitive sciences. After undergrad, she did research at Brigham & Women's Hospital, studying the role of T regulatory cells in multiple sclerosis. She attended Dartmouth Medical School, where she was the President of the Student Interest Group in Neurology (SIGN) chapter. Nara is passionate about teaching and studying all aspects of neurology, with specific interests in multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system. Currently, she is researching imaging biomarkers to further explore the biological mechanisms underlying inflammatory lesions. Her other interests include advancing the role of women in neurology as well as promoting the use of narrative medicine. She has published several short stories and created podcasts for the journal of Academic Medicine and has written poetry for the journal of Academic Psychiatry.
Twitter: @Narologist
Alisa Mo, MD, PhD
Alisa Mo is a child neurology resident at Boston Children's Hospital. She graduated from Cornell University with a BA in biology and mathematics. She then completed her MD/PhD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her PhD research focused on identifying genome-wide differences in DNA methylation and chromatin modifications across subtypes of cortical neurons. Her clinical and research interests are in the area of neurogenetics. Outside of medicine, Alisa enjoys hiking, cooking, and board games.
Jodie Roberts, MD, MSc
Jodie Roberts is an adult neurology resident at the University of Calgary in Canada. She earned her Master of Science in epidemiology while completing her medical degree at the University of Calgary. She has broad research interests within the field of neuroepidemiology, with emphasis on health outcomes. Outside of medicine, she enjoys cycling, cross-country skiing and hiking in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
Twitter: @JodieRobertsMD
Jeffrey Russ, MD, PhD
Dr. Jeff Russ is a Child Neurology Fellow at the University of California San Francisco. He graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in the Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania. He then entered the Weill Cornell/Sloan Kettering/Rockefeller University Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, where he earned a PhD in neuroscience in the laboratory of Dr. Julia Kaltschmidt at Sloan Kettering. He studied how interneuron development is affected by intrinsic transcription factor expression and extrinsic circuit perturbations, such as perinatal stroke. Jeff graduated with his MD and PhD in 2016. He then completed Pediatrics training at the University of California San Francisco, and is currently completing his Child Neurology Fellowship. His research and clinical interests include early neurodevelopment and circuit formation. He has authored multiple research papers, editorials, and essays about the medical training experience. He is highly committed to teaching and mentoring upcoming Neurology and Neuroscience trainees.
Eric Lee Stulberg, MD, MPH
Eric Stulberg is an adult neurology resident at the University of Utah. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a BS in organizational studies. He completed his MD at Northwestern University and his MPH in epidemiologic methods at the University of Michigan. His research interests and experience include translating causal inference methods into clinical neurology research, as well as studying how socioenvironmental factors influence neurologic health and healthcare delivery. He also has a growing interest in critical appraisal education in medical training. His clinical interests within neurology are broad. Outside of medicine, he enjoys playing tennis and taking advantage of the surrounding mountains by camping, hiking, and skiing.
Twitter: @elstulberg1
Dattanand (Datta) Sudarshana, MD
Datta Sudarshana is an adult neurology resident at the University of California, San Francisco. He received his bachelor’s degree in microbiology & immunology at University of California, Irvine and completed his medical degree at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Prior to residency, Dr. Sudarshana spent a year as a research fellow at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), evaluating the utility of manganese as an MRI contrast agent in a first-in-human clinical trial. Clinically, he is passionate about neuroimmunology and neuro-infectious disease. His other interests include medical education, translational research, and global health. Outside of the hospital, Dr. Sudarshana enjoys exploring the local food scene in San Francisco, spending time outdoors and playing basketball.
Daniel Talmasov, MD
Daniel Talmasov completed a residency in psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School, and is now an adult neurology resident at New York University School of Medicine. Daniel’s chief clinical interests lie at the interface of neurology and psychiatry – particularly improving treatment for patients with cases of neurologically-induced psychiatric symptoms, and in the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from comorbid neurologic and psychiatric processes. Daniel’s leading research interest is in lesional neuropsychiatry – the study of how neurologic disease, e.g. stroke or neurodegenerative disease, can disrupt brain networks critical to supporting normal cognition and behavior, resulting in behavioral, cognitive, or affective syndromes that share features with “primary” or idiopathic psychiatric disorders, in hopes of identifying testable circuit-level hypotheses pertinent to both psychiatric and neurobehavioral diseases. During the course of his residency training, Daniel’s focus has been on neurologic causes of mania, and on lesion-induced auditory and visual hallucinations. Daniel also serves as Assistant Editor at the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. In his free time, he enjoys live music, theater, ballet, traveling, hiking, and history.
Joaquin A. Vizcarra, MD
Joaquin A. Vizcarra is an adult neurology resident at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, USA. He received his medical degree from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. After completing his studies, he was awarded the Louise and Raymond Koenig fellowship in neurodegenerative disorders conducting clinical research in movement disorders at the University of Cincinnati under the mentorship of Dr. Alberto J. Espay. After residency, he plans to pursue a movement disorders fellowship. His research interests are broad, with an emphasis on the integration of patient‐centered outcomes and technology measures. Outside medicine, he enjoys playing guitar, piano, and tennis, as well as exploring the Atlanta food scene with his wife.
Twitter: @VizcarraJA
Twitter: @aWise_MD
Denise Xu, MD
Denise Xu is an adult neurology resident at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She graduated from Harvard University in 2011 with a BA in Neurobiology and completed her medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania. She is passionate about medical education and has been involved in direct teaching and curriculum development efforts since college. Clinically, she is interested in neurohospitalist medicine. In her spare time, she enjoys perusing estate/garage sales and used bookstores, hiking, and accumulating new hobbies. The latest: keeping an ever-growing collection of houseplants alive despite all odds.