Neurology About Us Contact Us Education & Training Medical Student Education Residency Program Fellowship Programs Research Clinical Expertise IDEAS Committee Diversity in Neurology Academy (DNA) Empowering Women — in Health Sciences — Across the Borders (EWAB) Faculty Research Home Research Research: Clinical Departments Neurology: Home Neurology: Research High-Impact Neurological Research Neurological disorders and diseases — affecting the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles — are among the most complex conditions affecting our population and are on the rise. They can be highly disabling or fatal, yet there remains an urgent need for more effective treatments, cures and prevention. The research program in the Department of Neurology is committed to advancing both clinical and basic science research, with a strong emphasis on translational medicine. Our program focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms of neurological disorders, ranging from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and neuromuscular disease. We aim to bridge the gap between laboratory findings and patient care by integrating cutting-edge basic science research with clinical insights. Our department is dedicated to conducting innovative clinical trials that evaluate new treatments, therapies and interventions, ensuring research outcomes directly benefit patient populations. Through collaborative efforts and interdisciplinary approaches, we strive to make meaningful contributions to the field of neurology, improving patient outcomes and shaping the future of neurological care. Basic and Translational Research Areas Aging, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Brain repair Epilepsy Multiple sclerosis Muscle disease Neurodegeneration Neurogenetics Neuroimmunology Neuroinformatics Neuro-oncology Parkinson’s disease and related disorders Stem cells Stroke Clinical Trials The Department of Neurology has more than 100 ongoing clinical trials in experimental therapeutics for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, autoimmune disorders, brain tumors, epilepsy, headache, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, common and rare neuromuscular disorders, Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, and stroke. While the majority of clinical trials are testing new pharmacotherapies, other interventions include: Brain-computer interfaces Cancer vaccines Gene therapies Neurosurgical intervention Stem cell therapies Find a Trial A research priority of the Department of Neurology is to build translational programs, bringing bench research to the bedside and taking advantage of our strengths in basic cellular, molecular and systems neuroscience research. The goal is to bring these findings to the stage of experimental clinical therapeutics. Researchers by Specialty Aging, Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementias Maria Corrada-Bravo, ScD, is an epidemiologist who focuses her efforts on the epidemiology of cognition and other outcomes of aging, with a particular emphasis on the oldest-old, people aged 90 years and older. She is the director of the 90+ Core of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) and leads studies such as “The 90+ Study” and “Life After 90.” Crystal M. Glover, PhD, is an applied social psychologist and mixed methodologist. She leads the Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Core at the UC Irvine Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) in the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (MIND) and is the associate director of the Recruitment, Engagement and Retention Unit in the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC). Her research is focused on health and research access, and facilitating optimal outcomes in aging, including decision-making associated with complex, nuanced, sensitive topics in older age. Brian Hitt, MD, PhD, is a co-investigator of the Biomarker Exploration in Aging, Cognition and Neurodegeneration (BEACoN) project at UC Irvine. Directed by Michael Yassa, PhD, BEACoN is a study of imaging, neuropsychological and fluid biomarkers in a cohort of cognitively unimpaired participants 60 years old and older. With BEACoN, Hitt investigates neuropsychological and serum biomarker signatures of the earliest brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease, with the hope of eventually employing disease-modifying therapies at an earlier stage. Mark Mapstone, PhD, vice chair for research in the Department of Neurology, is a translational scientist focused on developing biomarkers for early detection of age-related neurological disease that could be used as screening tools and for clinical use. He co-leads the Center for Aging Research in Down Syndrome (CFAR-DS), examining the strong link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. Visit the Mapstone Lab website Ahmad Sajjadi, MD, PhD, is a clinician-scientist who has made significant strides in understanding various forms of dementia, including primary progressive aphasia, Alzheimer’s disease, hippocampal sclerosis of aging and the recently discovered limbic-predominant, age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE). Brain-Computer Interfaces An Do, MD, is a physician-scientist studying neural repair and neurorehabilitation, with emphasis on brain-computer interfaces. Currently, he uses surface electroencephalography to interpret neural signals to help individuals regain movement after stroke. Epilepsy Tallie Z. Baram, MD, PhD, director of the Conte Center @ UCI, focuses on early life experiences and their long-term influence on neuronal functions. David King-Stephens, MD, studies non-ablative, focused ultrasound in patients with non-convulsive and focal motor status epilepticus. He is also developing potential plasma biomarkers of epilepsy in tuberous sclerosis complex. Kurt Qing, MD, PhD, is an epileptologist and a biomedical engineer whose research interests include computational EEG analysis, brain stimulation and medical devices, with the aim of improving the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and other conditions. Neurocritical Care Yama Akbari, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist whose lab focuses on mechanisms underlying consciousness, coma and global stroke, with a focus on cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Imad Khan, MD, is a neurointensivist and clinical researcher with experience in multimodal and particularly noninvasive neuromonitoring in comatose patients with cardiac arrest, traumatic brain injury and stroke. In addition to serving as a site PI for multicenter clinical trials, including ICECAP (NCT04217551) and BOOST3 (NCT03754114), he leads a multidisciplinary collaboration examining cerebral perfusion and neurovascular coupling in comatose cardiac arrest patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (R01 NS131967). Ahmad Riad Ramadan, MD, is a physician-scientist with a clinical focus on neurocritical care that is closely allied with his research program in neurovascular disease, neuroinflammation and the gut-brain axis. Neurodegeneration Albert La Spada, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist who discovered triplet repeat disorders during his work on Kennedy’s disease. These disorders provide fundamental importance to neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease and spinocerebellar ataxias. Leading the Neurodegenerative Disease and Neurotherapeutics Collaboratory, he spearheads efforts to develop innovative therapeutics for a number of progressive and incurable neurological disorders. John Weiss, MD, PhD, aims to examine cellular mechanisms of neurodegeneration in models of diseases, including stroke, seizures, Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and seeks to identify new approaches for beneficial therapeutic interventions in these conditions. Changrui Xiao, MD, aims to improve the diagnosis and care of patients with rare genetic conditions that impact the nervous system. This includes using novel technologies such as long-read and epigenomic sequencing to understand molecular mechanisms of disease and evaluating the best way these novel tools should be incorporated into clinical practice. He serves as PI of the Southern California Undiagnosed Diseases Network site and as an investigator at the UCI-GREGoR site. Neuroimmunology & Multiple Sclerosis Michael Demetriou, MD, PhD, studies how protein glycosylation and its metabolic regulation by N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) modulates inflammation, myelination and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis and related disorders. In his NIH-funded mechanistic clinical trial, GlcNAc was safe and lowered multiple inflammation and neurodegeneration markers. GlcNAc treatment was also associated with improvement in clinical disability. Neuroinformatics Ali Ezzati, MD, is a physician-scientist leveraging AI and machine learning with “big data” to pursue predictive analytics to improve diagnosis, prognosis and treatment outcomes integral to our pursuit of developing a precision neurology approach. Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders Nicolas Phielipp, MD, is conducting research to identify a biomarker for Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders that can accurately predict the onset and progression of the disease. Neuromuscular Disease & Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Tahseen Mozaffar, MD, focuses on understanding molecular, immunological and cellular pathogenesis of acquired and inherited neurodegenerative diseases of neuromuscular and spinocerebellar systems. Mozaffar’s research efforts employ various methodologies, including genetics, high-resolution immunology, electrophysiology, morphology, cell biology and animal behavior. This work is done in collaboration with several UC Irvine faculty, including S. Armando Villalta, PhD, Kyoko Yokomori, PhD, Ali Mortazavi, PhD, Ranjan Gupta, MD, Virginia Kimonis, MD, and Michael Hicks, PhD. Neuro-oncology Daniela Bota, MD, PhD, addresses the mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment and chemotherapy’s impact on neural stem cells and adult neuronal dendritic structures. She also works on malignant gliomas’ unique sensitivity to inhibitors of protein folding and degradation. She designs and conducts clinical trials for patients with brain and spinal cord tumors. Stem Cells Lisa Flanagan, PhD, vice chair for academic personnel, investigates mechanisms that control functional neuron generation from stem cells. Her lab identifies genetic and environmental cues that regulate the proliferation and neuronal differentiation, and she is exploring 3-D biomaterials that would serve as transplantation scaffolds for both neural and human embryonic stem cells. Stroke Mark Fisher, MD, investigates novel mechanisms of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, incorporating preclinical (in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo), neuropathological and clinical research. Traumatic Brain Injury Patrick Chen, MD, leads the Neurology Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion Program (NTBIC Lab), which focuses on understanding the factors and mechanisms, particularly biomarkers and social determinants of health, that drive long-term functional and cognitive decline post-TBI/concussion. Themes include the intersection between chronic disease (e.g., dementia), biomarkers, brain health and the patient environment.