Neurology Grand Rounds - May 20, 2025
David Paydarfar, MD
Beyond the Osler Limit Using Digital Twin Technology: Stroke and Neurocritical Care of the Future, presented by David Paydarfar, MD, to neurology trainnes at the Neurology Grand Rounds meeting in May 2025.
David Paydarfar, MD, is a professor and the inaugural chair of the Department of Neurology at Dell Medical School. He is also director of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences. He previously served as professor and executive vice chair of the Department of Neurology at the UMass Chan Medical School and as an associate faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Dr. Paydarfar received a Bachelor of Science in physics (summa cum laude) from Duke University and a Doctor of Medicine degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed his residency training in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He practices general neurology and is a fellow of the American Neurological Association and an investigator of the Clayton Foundation for Research.
Dr. Paydarfar’s clinical research program seeks to develop novel biosensors, signal-processing algorithms and user interfaces that will enable clinicians and researchers to track and predict the health of individual patients as well as entire populations. This approach will extend beyond current reactive alarm systems, enabling doctors to forecast — and avert — adverse disease trajectories and to test the impact of such a strategy on health outcomes. This engineering and informatics platform should provide unprecedented opportunities to conduct fieldwork on human physiology and pathophysiology.
Dr. Paydarfar’s basic research program seeks to understand mechanisms underlying disease states associated with abnormal behavior of neural oscillators such as apnea, circadian dysrhythmias and epilepsy, as well as the coordination of pacemakers with other physiological and behavioral functions. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Clayton Foundation for Research.
featured in photo from left to right: Muhammed Gunduz, MD, Chief Resident; Lawrence Hayward, MD; Nils Henninger, MD, PhD, DrMed; David Paydarfar, MD; Brian Silver, MD; Robert H. Brown Jr., MD, DPhil; Raphael Carandang, MD; Roberto Bomprezzi, MD, PhD; Beth Laperle, Neurology Clinical Operations Supervisor
Neurology Grand Rounds - April 29, 2025
Dr. Saef Izzy, MD, MBChB
Targeting CNS neuroinflammation in acute brain injury: A novel approach to promote recovery, presented by Dr. Izzy, a former UMass Chan neurology resident who returned to share at the Neurology Grand Rounds in April 2025.
Saef Izzy, MD, MBChB, assistant professor in the Division of Neurocritical Care and Cerebrovascular Diseases in the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and head of the Immunology of Brain Injury Program, of the Ann Romney Center for Neurological Diseases, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Izzy, completed medical school with the University of Baghdad College of Medicine, a neurology residency at UMass Chan Medical School, and a fellowship at Mass General Hospital. He is a published author of “The NeuroICU Board Review” published in 2017 and "The NeuroICU Board Review, 2e” published in 2025.
Dr. Izzy focuses his research lab, interests on immunoregulation in acute neurological disease, mucosal immunology, microglia, gut-brain axis, and immune mechanisms in neurological disorders such as post-traumatic epilepsy, and other neurological disorders; on understanding the underlying immune mechanisms associated with stroke, acute brain injury outcomes, and their response to therapy, to identify novel biomarkers and therapeutics targeting the immune response and improving neurological outcomes after disease and injury.
pictured from left to right: Raphael Carandang, MD; Nils Henninger, MD, PhD, DrMed; Saef Izzy, MD, MbChB; Brian Silver, MD; Carolina Ionete, MD, PhD; Muhammed Gunduz, MD, Chief Resident
Neurology Grand Rounds - March 11, 2025
Jeffrey Britton, MD
Autoimmune associated seizures: Clinical Recommendations and treatments
Presented by Jeffrey Britton, MD, professor of neurology, Division of Epilepsy, Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, on March 11, 2025.
Professional Experience
Jeffrey W. Britton, M.D., is a professor in neurology and chair of the Division of Epilepsy.
His main areas of clinical and research interest are:
- Autoimmune epilepsies and encephalopathies, diagnosis, and treatment
- The effect of epileptic seizures on cardiopulmonary function
- Stimulation therapies in epilepsy
- Clinical aspects of epilepsy and seizures
- Innovations in clinical practice
In addition to his practice and research interests, Dr. Britton has been active in the education of neurology residents and fellows for many years, and currently serves as the Epilepsy Fellowship program director. He is recognized as a Fellow of the American Epilepsy Society, American Academy of Neurology, American Clinical Neurophysiology Society and American Neurological Association.
Jeffrey W. Britton, M.D. - Doctors and Medical Staff - Mayo Clinic
Neurology Grand Rounds - February 4, 2025
Barbara Dworetzky, MD
Functional Seizures: “Working Across Disciplines to Improve Patient Outcomes”
presented by Barbara Dworetzky, MD, FAAN, FANA, FAES, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, and chief of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Epilepsy in February 2025.
Professional Experience
Barbara Dworetzky, MD, FAAN, FANA, FAES is a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, She has been the Chief of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Epilepsy since 2009. She leads the Bromfield Epilepsy Center and the ACGME-accredited Clinical Neurophysiology and Epilepsy Fellowships.
Dr. Dworetzky has served on multiple boards for patient and professional societies, and is the current president of the Functional Neurological Disorder Society (FNDS) She is internationally known for her work in functional seizures (aka psychogenic nonepileptic seizures/PNES).
Education and Certifications
- ScB with Honors in Psychology from Brown University
- MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- Internship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, affiliated Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx
- Residency at Harvard (now MGB).
- Two year fellowship in clinical neurophysiology/epilepsy at BWH, Boston Children’s and Beth Israel.
Her first position was at the Boston VAMC, affiliated with Boston University School of Medicine where she directed several programs. Since her return to the BWH, she and her division have trained 60 clinical and research fellows from all over the world. She has received awards for leadership, professionalism, mentorship, teaching, clinical skills, and has over 140 peer reviewed publications.