Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. R. Loch Macdonald is a scientist, researcher and neurosurgeon and a recognized expert on brain hemorrhage, including subarachnoid hemorrhage and delayed cerebral ischemia. For the past 25 years, his research interest has focused on improving patient outcome after brain hemorrhage, with a specific focus on developing a cure for cerebral vasospasm and DCI. Dr. Macdonald was the former Head, Division of Neurosurgery, St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto and Chief Scientific Officer of Edge Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Macdonald has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and authored multiple textbooks, including one of the definitive textbooks on cerebral vasospasm. His publications have been cited thousands of times and he has spoken at many national and international conferences on the topic of subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia. Prior to St. Michael’s Hospital, he was Professor of Surgery and Radiation & Cellular Oncology at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Macdonald completed medical school at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and completed his Ph.D. in Experimental Surgery at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He completed his Neurosurgery residency at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is currently a neurosurgeon, medical director of neurovascular surgery and of research at Community Neurosciences Institute, Community Health Partners in Fresno, California.

Andrew Ducruet, MD, is an endovascular neurosurgeon at Barrow Neurological Institute at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. He is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery.

Dr. Ducruet’s practice is focused on the use of minimally invasive endovascular techniques to treat patients with vascular disease of the brain and spinal cord. He is an active member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery.

Dr. Ducruet attended Princeton University and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in chemistry. He received his medical degree from Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City and also completed his residency in neurosurgery at Columbia University Medical Center. He then completed a two-year postgraduate fellowship in endovascular neurosurgery at Barrow. Dr. Ducruet practiced for three years as an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh before returning to Barrow in 2016, where he has continued his highly-specialized practice of neuroendovascular surgery. He currently serves as the surgical director of the BNI Intensive Care Unit, and the Associate Program Director for the Neuroendovascular Surgery fellowship at the BNI.

Dr. Ducruet’s research focuses on ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. His laboratory performs basic and translational research using experimental models of cerebral ischemia, with the ultimate goal of developing novel therapeutic strategies for patients with stroke. Dr. Ducruet also performs clinical research and has served as a principal investigator of multiple clinical trials investigating new strategies for stroke treatment.

Dr. Alex Choi is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at UTHealth Houston/ McGovern Medical School. He is Director of Neurocritical Care at Memorial Hermann Hospital. The neurocritical care program at Memorial Hermann is one of largest and busiest in the country with 77 dedicated neurocritical care beds across 3 hospitals in the city of Houston.

Dr. Choi attended Cornell University, Ithaca, NY and graduated with a degree in Neurobiology. He received his medical degree from Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City and completed his residency in neurology at Columbia University Medical Center at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He then completed a three-year neurocritical care fellowship in Columbia University Medical Center where he was on a T32 training grant to study cardiopulmonary consequences of SAH.

Dr. Choi’s primary research focus has been the study of pathophysiological processes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and the development of interventional treatments to improve patient lives after this devastating disease. To that end, he has conducted several clinical trials to examine the potential for therapeutic interventions after SAH. Most of his research is in the realm of clinical translational research. He focuses on using translational and bioinformatics tools to study the clinical pathophysiologic processes seen at the bedside.

W. Taylor Kimberly, MD PhD is Chief of the Division of Neurocritical Care, and a stroke and critical care neurologist in the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Clinically, he primarily cares for patients in the Neuroscience ICU as part of an integrated and multi-disciplinary team, coordinating care with Neurosurgery and Neuroendovascular specialists. He sees Neuro ICU patients in follow-up in outpatient clinic as part of the NeuroRecovery clinical team. He serves on several hospital-based and national committees that focus on clinical guideline development and care improvement.

Dr. Kimberly's research group is located in the Center for Genomic Medicine (Kimberly Lab), and studies metabolomic and neuroimaging biomarkers of subarachnoid hemorrhage, stroke and cerebral edema. The goal of his research is to identify novel pathways and candidate therapeutic targets for the treatment of acute brain injury. Dr. Kimberly has co-led multi-site, randomized, placebo-controlled trials in the prevention of brain edema, and currently co-leads an international phase 3 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of intravenous glibenclamide for the prevention of brain edema after large hemispheric stroke.

Dr. Alejandro A. Rabinstein is Professor of Neurology at Mayo Clinic and a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Hs is also boarded in Vascular Neurology and Neurocritical Care. He currently serves as Chair of the Division of Neurocritical Care and Hospital Neurology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN), the American Neurological Association (FANA), the American Heart Association (FAHA) and the Neurocritical Care Society (FNCS). He has authored over 700 papers, 12 books and multiple chapters on various topics related to Neurocritical Care and Stroke. He is currently Associate Editor of the journals JAMA Open and Neurocritical Care, Assistant Editor of Stroke, and section editor for UpToDate.

Dr. Sherry H-Y Chou, MD MSc. is Chief of Neurocritical Care Division in the Department of Neurology and Associate Professor of Neurology (Neurocritical Care) at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Medical Director of the Neuro/Spine ICU at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Dr. Chou is a fellow of the Neurocritical Care Society (FNCS) and a fellow of critical care medicine (FCCM), and serves on the board of directors for the Neurocritical Care Society (NCS).

Dr. Chou is a physician-scientist with expertise in clinical neurology, neurocritical care and vascular neurology. Dr. Chou's research program focuses on the role of inflammation and immune response in vascular brain injuries and biomarker discovery, particularly in subarachnoid hemorrhage. Dr. Chou is an expert in clinical biomarker discovery and multicenter clinical trials in critically ill patient with SAH. Dr. Chou has led the biomarker section in large international collaboratives such as the National Institute of Neurological Disorders SAH common data element (CDE) in biospecimens and biomarkers.