Faculty
Clinical Faculty
 Isabelita Bella, MD associate professor
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Dr. Bella has a special interest in the clinical, electromyographic, and pathological aspects of neuromuscular disorders. Dr. Bella is the primary investigator at UMass for the multicenter study "Arrhythmias in Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy.
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 Roberto Bomprezzi, MD, PhD associate professor
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Dr. Bomprezzi is fellowship trained in neuroimmunology and he is involved in the treatment of inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, neurosarcoidosis.
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 Robert Brown, DPhi, MD professor
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Dr. Brown’s laboratory has focused on the identification of gene defects that elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of selected neuromuscular diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), muscular dystrophy, adrenoleukodystrophy, hereditary neuropathy and hyperkalemic periodic paralysis. Knowledge of theses disease genes has facilitated the creation of mouse and cell-based models of these disorders. In turn, these resources have allowed study of therapeutic strategies using conventional small molecule approaches and new modalities such as inhibitory RNAi.
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associate professor
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Dr. Carandang is a neurointensivist and stroke neurologist who provides acute emergent and critical care for patients with ischemic stroke and other devastating neurological diseases like traumatic brain injury, cerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage. His research interests include cerebral edema, subarachnoid hemorrhage, CNS vasculitis, stroke epidemiology and traumatic brain injury. He is studying post-traumatic cerebral edema and its possible genetic determinants and is co-investigator of Outcome Prognostication in Traumatic Brain Injury (OPTIMISM) study and the randomized clinical trial studying Dantrolene for cerebral vasospasm in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage among others. He is also co-founder of the New England Neurocritical Care Consortium that seeks to promote collaborative research in neurocritical care diseases in the region.
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 Felicia Chu, MD assistant professor
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Dr. Chu is an Epileptologist who cares for patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings.
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 Kate Daniello, MD assistant professor
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| Dr Daniello is subspecialty trained in neuromuscular diseases such as neuropathies, motor neuron diseases, myasthenia gravis and muscle diseases like muscular dystrophy and myopathies. She also performs nerve conduction studies and electromyography. |
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assistant professor
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| Dr. Deb is a movement disorders specialist with clinical interests in Parkinson’s disease, autonomic dysfunction, atypical parkinsonism, dystonia, tremor, ataxia, botulinum toxin injections and management of deep brain stimulators (DBS). Her other interests include medical education and global health. |
| assistant professor Faculty profile |
| Wissam Deeb, MD, completed his MD in Lebanon at the University of Balamand. He completed his residency in neurology at the University of Massachusetts in 2015. He then moved to the University of Florida to pursue a movement disorders fellowship and stayed there as a faculty member until June 2020 when he moved back to UMass Chan Medical School as an assistant professor of neurology. Dr. Deeb has a clinical and research interest in Parkinson’s disease and Tourette syndrome, focusing on incorporating technological advancements such as wearable devices in clinical and everyday care. |
 Jordan Eisenstock, MD assistant professor
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| Dr. Eisenstock is a neurologist and psychiatrist with broad interests in neuropsychiatry. He directs the neurorehabilitation program at Fairlawn Rehab. |
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clinical professor
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| Program in medical genetics; lysosomal storage disorders; Ellis-van Creveld syndrome; Search for genes involved in manic depressive illness in the Old Order Amish; molecular diagnostics laboratory |
 Richard Goddeau, DO associate professor
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| Dr. Goddeau is a vascular (Stroke) neurologist with a special interest in acute ischemic stroke therapies, intracerebral hemorrhage, and the role of inflammation in stroke incidence and recurrence. |
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assistant professor
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| Dr. Hall is a neurointensivist caring for critically ill patients, including those with intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral edema, traumatic brain injury and neuromuscular disorders. He is the director of the NeuroICU and TeleStroke Services. |
 Christopher Hemond, MD assistant professor
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| Dr. Hemond is a board-certified neurologist with clinical subspecialty training in neuroimmunology and multiple sclerosis. His research focuses on the exploration of immunological and metabolic factors which determine pathological rates of brain atrophy and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis. Additionally, Dr. Hemond maintains research efforts to determine how social factors influence health and immunity via the neuroendocrine and autonomic nervous systems. He leads the MS center’s efforts in providing free and full access to mindfulness based stress reduction services for patients. |
 Carolina Ionete, MD, PhD professor
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| Dr. Ionete is a clinical neuroimmunologist and educator with special interests including clinical trials in multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune neurological diseases, and neurological complications of HIV infections. She chairs the Department of Neurology's education committee. |
 Adalia Jun-O'Connell assistant professor & quality improvement officer
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| Dr. Jun-O’Connell is a board certified psychiatrist, neuropsychiatrist, and a vascular neurologist with a special interest in post-stroke recovery, acute management of stroke, and neuropsychiatric sequelae of stroke. Her clinic focuses on complex sequelae of strokes, including surveillance and management of post-stroke fatigue, mood symptoms, cognitive change, and motor recovery. |
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assistant professor
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| Dr. Moodie is a neuroimmunologist with clinical interest in multiple mclerosis. She also serves as the co-director of the Neurology Clinical Clerkship. |
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professor
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| Dr. Moonis is director of Stroke Services and the Stroke Prevention Program. |
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associate professor
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| Dr. Muehlschlegel is a neurointensivist devoted to improving the care of patients with catastrophic neurological injuries. Her research interests concentrate on outcome prognostication in Neurocritical care, particularly in moderate-severe traumatic brain injury. She is the principal investigator for several research studies at the UMASS Neuro-Intensive care unit (NeuroICU), including the Outcome Prognostication in Traumatic Brain Injury (OPTIMISM) Study. In addition, she is the site-principal investigator for clinical trials involving subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage and large ischemic strokes with severe brain edema. |
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assistant professor
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| Dr. Noviawaty is an Epileptologist who manages all aspects of epilepsy patient care. Her main clinical interest are complex refractory epilepsy and epilepsy surgery. She specialized in various epilepsy surgery evaluations including Stereo-EEG(SEEG) and responsive neurostimulation (RNS). Dr. Noviawaty's academic interests include semiology and epileptogenic zone localization, brain connectivity and epileptogenesis to better understand epilepsy surgery candidate selection along with the process of epileptogenesis and seizure recurrence after surgery. Administratively, she also serves as the co-director of the epilepsy surgery program. |
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assistant professor
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| Dr. Osgood is a neurointensivist caring for patients who have devastating neurologic injury and require critical care services. This includes patients with traumatic brain injury, intracranial hemorrhage and ischemic stroke. Her interests include improving medical education with respect to management of neurologic emergencies as well as outcome prognostication following neurologic injury. Dr. Osgood is the neurology clerkship director. |
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assistant professor
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| Dr. Owegi specializes in neuromuscular disorders in adults. She focuses on the diagnosis and management of motor neuron diseases such as ALS, myasthenia gravis, muscular dystrophies, myopathies and peripheral neuropathies. Dr. Owegi graduated from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. She completed her neurology residency training and neuromuscular disease fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. |
 Catherine Phillips, MD clinical associate professor
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| Dr. Phillips specializes in the management of refractory seizures, surgical treatment of epilepsy, and in all aspects of electroencephalography and epilepsy. |
 Lan Qin, MD, PhD associate professor
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| Dr. Qin is a general clinical neurologist with special interests in neurophysiology, electrodiagnosis, neuromuscular disease and epilepsy. |
 Muhammad Ramzan, MD assistant professor
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| Dr. Ramzan is a general clinical neurologist with special interests in neurophysiology, electrodiagnosis, neuromuscular disease, cerebrovascular disease, stroke and epilepsy. |
 Peter Riskind, MD, PhD clinical professor
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| The Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at UMass Memorial Health Care participates in many clinical trials to evaluate the effectiveness of a variety of drugs and treatments for MS. Currently it is the site of several different clinical trials involving patients with Relapsing Remitting and Primary Progressive MS. We are involved in trials to prevent the future worsening of MS, and to improve the quality of life of our patients. |
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chair and professor
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| Clinical and research focus in vascular neurology, stroke prevention, acute stroke treatment, and neurorestoration. |
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clinical professor
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| Dr. Sargent is a general clinical neurologist, including neuro-ophthalmology, neuromuscular disease, and electromyography. |
 Kara Smith, MD assistant professor
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 Naren Sodha, MD assistant professor
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| Dr. Sodha has special interest in electrodiagnosis, stroke, and neuromuscular diseases. |
 Joan Swearer, PhD clinical professor
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| Dr. Swearer is a clinical neuropsychologist. Research interests include clinical features and treatment of dementing illnesses, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis. |
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| Dr. Umeton is an assistant professor of neurology, who joined our faculty in 2020. Dr. Umeton earned her medical degree at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, followed by a Master in Medical Sciences in Headache Medicine at the same institution. She completed her internship year and neurology residency training at the UMass Chan Medical School. She also completed a one-year neuroimmunology/multiple sclerosis fellowship at the University of Massachusetts and during that year she also gained further training at the Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis and Demyelinating Disease clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She is fluent in both English and Italian. Dr. Umeton has an interest in autoimmune disorders of the nervous system and specializes in evaluation and management of patients with MS and other neuroinflammatory disorders. She is also actively involved in conducting research exploring the association between gut microbiome and MS, and in studying the epidemiology of primary headache disorders in MS patients. Dr. Umeton is board certified in psychiatry and neurology and is a member of the American Academy of Neurology. |
 Mikhail Vydrin, MD, PhD assistant professor
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| Dr. Vydrin is a general clinical neurologist with special interests in memory impairment, insomnia, geriatric neurology, headache, and psychosomatic disorders. Dr. Vydrin is an ABPN Board certified Diplomate in the subspecialty of Sleep Medicine. |
Raffaella Umeton, MD, MMSc