Our Team
Neurology and Neurocritical Care
Stroke Center neurologists focus their efforts on treating and preventing ischemic stroke.
Gregory Albers, MD
Director, Stanford Stroke Center
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 150 articles in the medical literature and has been the principal investigator of more than 50 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 over two dozen clinical stroke specialists; many of these individuals are directing stroke centers at academic institutions thoughout the country.
Dr. Albers' current research focus is the use of new MRI techniques to expand the treatment window for administration of intravenous thrombolytic therapy. He is currently leading an National Institutes of Health funded multicenter clinical trial investigating the role of diffusion and perfusion MRI in identifying patients who are most likely to benefit from stroke therapies.
Maarten Lansberg, MD, PhD
Instructor
Dr. Lansberg joined the Stanford Stroke Center in 1997.
His main clinical and research interest is the acute treatment of stroke patients.
His research has focused on defining the utility of modern imaging techniques for the evaluation of acute stroke. These techniques include diffusion-weighted MRI, perfusion-weighted MRI and Xenon CT perfusion.
The ultimate goal of his research is to develop more effective treatment strategies for stroke patients.
Christine Wijman, MD
Director, Critical Care Neurology
Dr. Wijman, an expert in both stroke management and neuro critical care, joined the Stanford Stroke Center in 2001. Dr. Wijman oversees the care of critically ill patients with cerebrovascular disorders.
Her research interests include evaluating the causes and optimal treatment of brain hemorrhages, the use of hypothermia for the treatment of stroke, and the role of hemicraniectomy for treatment of malignant middle cerebral artery infarction.
Dr.Wijman serves as the Stanford principal investigator for a clinical trial of a new medication designed to stop brain hemorrhages shortly after they occur.
Marion S. Buckwalter, MD, PhD
Instructor
In 2002, Dr. Buckwalter joined the laboratory of Dr. Wyss-Coray at Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow, and was promoted to Instructor in 2004. She joined the Stroke Service at Stanford University in 2003, where she serves as an Attending Physician. Dr. Buckwalter's experimental research investigates how inflammation induced by brain injury affects the brain's natural stem cells and their ability to make replacement neurons. Her research is currently funded by an Alzheimer's Association New Investigator Award.
Anna Finley-Caulfield, MD
Clinical Instructor
Dr. Finley joined the Stanford Stroke Center in 2004 from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She cares for acute stroke patients and other neurologically critical ill patients in the intensive care unit. Her research interests include developing new methods of treatment for acute stroke patients and new techniques for improving their clinical outcomes.
Currently, she is involved in assessing the effectiveness of different hypothermia therapies in patients who have had strokes or cardiac arrest.
Neurosurgery
Stanford Stroke Center neurosurgeons continue to develop and refine innovative surgical therapies for stroke treatment and prevention.
Gary K. Steinberg, MD, PhD
Co-Director, Stanford Stroke Center
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery
A founding director of the Stanford Stroke Center, Dr. Steinberg has practiced medicine at Stanford for more than 20 years.
He has pioneered stereotactic microsurgical techniques to repair intracranial vascular malformations and certain aneurysms that were previously considered untreatable. He has also refined revascularization techniques for patients with cerebrovascular occlusions, as well as moyamoya disease .
Dr. Steinberg is currently investigating an innovative approach to improve stroke recovery by transplanting neural cells into damaged brain tissue.
Steve Chang, MD
Director of Cyberknife Radiosurgery
An expert in stroke disorders, Dr. Chang has already been recognized with numerous clinical research awards.
He has published extensively on the use of radiosurgery for treatment of arteriovenous malformations and cavernous malformations, multi-modality treatments for arteriovenous malformations and surgical treatment of intracranial aneurysms.
Dr. Chang is also the Director of the Cyberknife Stereotactic Radiosurgery Program at Stanford .
Neuroradiology
Stanford Stroke Center's interventional neuroradiologists treat both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke through endovascular techniques. Stanford radiologists have also been on the forefront of developing new imaging techniques to improve stroke diagnosis.
Michael P. Marks, MD
Director, Stanford Stroke Center Neuroradiology
As a founding director of the Stanford Stroke Center, Dr. Marks oversees the endovascular treatment program.
Using catheter-based approaches, he has pioneered techniques to effectively cure cerebral aneurysms by inserting platinum coils and using special glues to obliterate arteriovenous malformations.
Dr. Marks has also employed endovascular techniques to treat ischemic cerebrovascular disorders. He has a broad experience with cerebral angioplasty, and he is currently developing a new laser therapy for vaporizing intracranial thrombi.
Huy M. Do, MD
Dr. Do focuses his efforts on interventional neuroradiologic approaches to treat both ischemic and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disorders.
He has developed expertise in cerebral angioplasty and intra-arterial thrombolysis,as well as the treatment of aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations and cerebral vasospasm.
Dr. Do's current research focuses on evaluation of neuroprotectants for ischemic strokes, development of novel laser microdevices for emulsification of intracranial clots, stenting of carotid and vertebral arterial stenosis, evaluation of new liquid embolic agents for arteriovenous malformations, neuroimaging of strokes, vascular malformations, and aneurysms with advanced MRI techniques, and treatment of painful compression fractures with acrylic cement.
Robert Dodd, MD, PhD
Dr. Dodd received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he also earned a PhD in Neurosciences from the Department of Neurobiology. His neurosurgery training also took place at Stanford, where he recently completed an endovascular fellowship. His research interests have been in cerebral blood vessel reactivity and stroke. Dr. Dodd's clinical interests include endovascular and microsurgical treatment of intracranial aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations; percutaneous and surgical interventions for both extracranial and intracranial carotid artery occlusive disease; and minimally invasive neurosurgery though the use of neuroendoscopy and keyhole approaches.
Intraoperative Neurophysical Monitoring
The Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring program consists of a core group of neurologists and electrodiagnostic technicians who use different neurophysiologic techniques to assess the functional state of the nervous system. These techniques allow for improved safety and aide in the prevention of stroke and other injuries during surgery and other procedures.
Jaime R. Lopez, MD
Director, Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring Program
Dr. Lopez completed his residency in Neurology and fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology and Neuromuscular Diseases at Stanford.
In 1994, Dr. Lopez established the Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring Program at Stanford. The program has expanded to more than 500 cases annually.
Dr. Lopez continues to research the use of innovative techniques for monitoring different regions of the nervous system during a variety of neurovascular surgical procedures, endovascular embolizations, and spinal cord and orthopedic surgeries.
S. Charles Cho, MD
Dr. Cho recently joined the Intraoperative Monitoring Service at Stanford, transferring from the Massachusetts General hospital at the Harvard Medical School.
His interests are in the neurophysiology and electrical functions of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.
He is currently involved in recognizing reversible ischemia and preventing strokes during surgical and interventional neuroradiology procedures.
Neuroanasthesia
The Stanford Stroke Center neuroanesthesiologists continue to develop and refine ways to protect the brain from ischemia during neurosurgical and neuroradiological procedures to reduce the incidence of perioperative stroke.
Richard A. Jaffe, MD, PhD
Chief, Neurosurgical Anesthesia
Dr. Jaffe's research interests include the development and characterization of electrophysiologic monitoring techniques for the early detection of intraoperative cerebral ischemia.
Using these techniques he is also able to study the effects of anesthetics and related drugs on the brain's sensitivity to transient ischemic events. The results of these studies can be used to improve the anesthetic management of patients undergoing a wide variety of neurosurgical procedures.
Rona Giffard, MD, PhD
Dr. Giffard works to develop novel treatments to reduce brain vulnerability to stroke.
Using gene therapy she is probing the mechanisms of injury and protection to develop treatments to improve outcomes of both surgical patients and others suffering a stroke.
She studies the susceptibility of individual brain cell types to target mechanisms that are important in each cell type to provide the best overall protection.