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Who We Are

The Neurocritical Care Fellowship program is dedicated to teaching our multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, research assistants, pharmacists, and allied health professionals working to give the best evidence-based care to our critically ill neurological patients. We are dedicated to improving care by investigating clinical aspects of disease, participating in clinical trials, and committed to providing compassionate and humanistic care to our patients and supporting their families. The Neurocritical Care fellowship program was born out of our passion for education and mentorship.

Fellows work with a dedicated multidisciplinary team of specialists, including:

Neurointensivists, vascular neurologists, neurointerventional radiologists, neurosurgeons, trauma surgeons, anesthesiologists
Neurocritical care and Surgical Critical Care trained Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners
Neurocritical care nurses
Faculty, Fellows, and Residents from multiple specialties
Neurocritical care pharmacy specialists
Respiratory, Physical, Occupational, Speech, and Music Therapists
Research coordinators

Our faculty

A. Ana Beesen, MD

Ayshe Ana Beesen, MD, Associate Professor
Medical Director, 2Lakeside NeuroTrauma ICU
Program Director, Neurocritical Care Fellowship

Academic Profile
Physician Profile

Education:
fellowship in Neurocritical Care at Cedar Sinai School of Medicine, NY
residency in Neurology at UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
medical school at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY

Raphael Carandang, MD

Raphael A. Carandang, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Anesthesiology and Surgery
Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, Department of Neurology
Associate Program Director, Neurocritical Care Fellowship
Director, Neurohumanities Program, Department of Neurology

Academic Profile
Physician Profile

Education:
fellowship in Vascular Neurology at Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland OH, and in Neurocritical Care at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston MA
residency in Neurology at Boston University Medical School/Boston Medical Center, Boston MA
internship in Internal Medicine at New York Medical College/Metropolitan Hospital, NY
residency in Internal Medicine at Cardinal Santos Medical Center, San Juan, MM, Philippines
medical school at University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, Metro Manila, Philippines

Wiley Hall, MD

Wiley Hall, MD, Assistant Professor
Director, Neurocritical Care Division
Director, Tele-Stroke Service

Academic Profile
Physician Profile

Education:
fellowship in Neurocritical Care at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
residency in Neurology at Hahnemann Univ Hospital-Drexel College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
medical school at Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Veronica Peschansky, MD, PhD

Veronica Peschansky, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor
Co-Leader, Neurology Residency Global Health and Advocacy Track
Director, 2Lakeside NeuroTrauma ICU Medical Student Rotation Program

Academic Profile
Physician Profile

Education:
fellowship in Neurocritical Care at Columbia University & Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian, New York, NY
residency in Neurology at Icahn School of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY
internship in Internal Medicine at Highland Hospital/Alameda Medical System, Oakland, CA
medical school at University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
graduate school in Neuroscience at University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Program in Biomedical Sciences, Miami, FL

Christine Eckhardt, MD

Christine Eckhardt MD, MS, Assistant Professor
Academic Profile
Physician Profile

Christine Eckhardt, MD, MS, assistant professor of neurology, in the Neurocritical Care / NeuroICU Division in the Department of Neurology. She completed undergraduate and medical school at Harvard, and a neurology residency and neurocritical care fellowship at Mass General Hospital Brigham.

Dr. Eckhardt’s research focuses on the use of artificial intelligence and quantitative EEG to automate detection of encephalopathy in various disease states, such as neurotoxicity from CAR-T cell therapy. Clinically, she is interested in EEG and multimodality monitoring in the NeuroICU among patients with encephalopathy, traumatic brain injury and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Dr. Eckhardt shares, “I have a longstanding interest in neuroscience since college and was fortunate to rotate in the NeuroICU as a third-year medical student. I found the acuity, team dynamics, patient interactions and physiology fascinating, and the opportunity to combine my clinical and research interests exciting.”

Hena Waseem, MD

Hena Waseem, MD, MPh, Assistant Professor

Academic Profile
Physician Profile

Education
fellowship in Neurocritical care at Stanford Health Care, Palo Alto, CA
fellowship in Preventive Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
graduate school in Public Health at Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH
residency in Neurology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
internship in Internal Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
medical school at University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, FL

John Dorfman, MD

John Dorfman, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery
Interim Chief, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care
Trauma Medical Director
Specialty: Trauma and Surgical Critical Care
Patient Information at UMassMemorial.org
Research and Publications

For more information, contact:

Ayshe Ana Beesen, MD

Program Director

David DeMarzio, Education Coordinator, Department of Neurology
David DeMarzio
Neurology Fellowship Coordinator
David.DeMarzio@umassmed.edu
Telephone: 508-334-8173

Fellows and Alumni

Sarah Pearl Siganporia, MD

2025-2027 Fellow
Sarah-Pearl Siganporia, MD, a current Neurocritical / NeuroICU fellow at UMass Chan Medical School. Dr. Siganporia completed a neurology residency program at UMass Chan.

Kendall Presti, MD

2024-2026 Fellow
Kendall Presti, MD, completed a neurology residency at UMass Chan Medical School before being accepted into the Neurocritical Care / NeuroICU Fellowship Program at UMass Chan.

Christine Tschoe, MD

2024-2026 Fellow
Christine Tschoe MD, a current Neurocritical / NeuroICU fellow at UMass Chan Medical School. Dr. Tschoe completed a neurology residency program at Baylor College of Medicine after attending medical school at Boston University School of Medicine.

Uzair Khalid, MBBS, Fellow

2022-2024 graduate
Uzair Khalid, MBBS, of UMass Chan Medical School. Khalid, MBBS, completed medical school at Aga Khan University in Pakistan.

Alaaedin Alhomosh, MD, Alumni Fellow

2023 graduate
Aladdin Alhomosh, MD, was an attending neurointensivist of Houston Methodist at The Woodlands in Houston, Tx. Upon graduating from the Neurocritical Care fellowship with UMass Chan Medical School, Alhomosh, MD, started a new (NSICU) Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit. Alhomosh completed medical school at Damascus University Faculty of Medicine, Syria.