Board of Directors

Aaron Filler is a neurosurgeon and nerve-medicine specialist with leadership experience in clinical care, neurography, and academic neurosurgery. He is a former SBMT President and serves as EVP and Chair of the Legal-Counsel & Ethics Committee.

• SBMT: 13th President; Legal-Counsel & Ethics leadership.
• Clinical focus: nerve medicine, neurography, neurosurgery.
• Location: California, USA.

Abilash Haridas is a pediatric neurosurgeon and former SBMT President. His role adds a pediatric and surgical perspective to the society’s multidisciplinary brain and spine mission.

• SBMT: 22nd President.
• Specialty: pediatric neurosurgery.
• Los Angeles, California, USA.

Ashraf M. Elsayegh, MD, practices pulmonary medicine and critical care at Cedars-Sinai. His clinical background provides SBMT with cross-specialty expertise in respiratory and critical-care medicine.

• Specialty: internal medicine / pulmonary medicine / critical care.
• Clinical affiliation: Cedars-Sinai.
• Los Angeles, California, USA.

Christopher Wheeler is identified by SBMT as a Senior Research Scientist at the Brain Mapping Foundation. His role contributes research and translational-science depth to the organization’s multidisciplinary leadership.

• Role: Senior Research Scientist.
• Organization: Brain Mapping Foundation.
• California, USA.

David O. Keyser, PhD, is Deputy Director of the Traumatic Injury Research Program at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. His research interests include traumatic brain injury, PTSD, assessment, and recovery.

• Title: Deputy Director, Traumatic Injury Research Program.
• Institution: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
• Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Deborah Zelinsky, OD, FNORA, FCOVD, is an optometrist known for work in neuro-optometric rehabilitation and sensory processing. She founded the Mind-Eye Institute and serves as Executive Director of Research.

• Focus: neuro-optometric rehabilitation and sensory integration.
• Organization: Mind-Eye Institute.
• Northbrook/Chicago area, Illinois, USA.

Denise B. Kandel, PhD, is a distinguished psychiatric epidemiologist whose research addresses substance use, risk factors and consequences of drug use, substance dependence, and developmental pathways of problem behaviors. Columbia identifies her as Professor Emerita.

• Columbia University: Professor Emerita, Sociomedical Sciences in Psychiatry.
• New York State Psychiatric Institute: former head of the Department of Epidemiology of Substance Abuse.
• Research: substance use epidemiology and developmental pathways.

Eric R. Kandel, MD, is a Nobel Prize–winning neuroscientist whose laboratory studies molecular mechanisms of memory storage. He is University Professor at Columbia, Kavli Professor and Director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science, and Senior Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: 2000.
• Research: molecular mechanisms of memory.
• Columbia University, New York, USA.

Evan Snyder, MD, PhD, is a stem-cell and regenerative-medicine researcher. Sanford Burnham Prebys identifies him as Professor and Director of its Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, with work including neural stem cells and regenerative approaches to neurological injury and disease.

• Field: stem cells and regenerative medicine.
• Institution: Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.
• La Jolla, California, USA.

Farzad Massoudi provides clinical leadership in neuroscience and spine care through Mission Hospital. His role aligns with SBMT’s emphasis on multidisciplinary clinical translation and brain-and-spine innovation.

• Role: Medical Director, Neuroscience and Spine Institute.
• Institution: Mission Hospital.
• Orange County, California, USA.

George Perry, PhD, is a leading Alzheimer’s researcher and Professor of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at UT San Antonio. His laboratory studies oxidative damage and the cellular mechanisms involved in Alzheimer’s disease.

• Research: Alzheimer’s disease, neurobiology, oxidative stress.
• Role: Semmes Foundation Endowed Distinguished University Chair in Neurobiology.
• San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Giulio Maria Pasinetti is a physician-scientist whose work spans neurology, psychiatry, neuroscience, aging, and neuroresilience. His research addresses molecular mechanisms relevant to neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.

• Institution: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
• Fields: neurology, psychiatry, neuroscience, geriatrics.
• New York, USA.

Houman Badrzadeh is identified by SBMT as Founder and CEO of COMMITMed Supportive Care Medicine. His leadership contributes a supportive-care and healthcare-entrepreneurship perspective to the board.

• Role: Founder and CEO.
• Organization: COMMITMed Supportive Care Medicine.
• California, USA.

Kasif Nevzat Tarhan is a psychiatrist and academic leader associated with Üsküdar University in Istanbul. SBMT identifies him as Professor of Psychiatry and President/Rector, adding international leadership in psychiatry, mental health, education, and neuroscience.

• Field: psychiatry.
• Leadership: President/Rector, Üsküdar University.
• Istanbul, Turkey.

Katie Roper represents the patient-advocacy dimension of SBMT’s leadership. As Co-Chair of the Patient Advocacy Committee, she supports inclusion of patient perspectives in programming, engagement, and mission-driven initiatives.

• SBMT: Patient Advocacy Committee Co-Chair.
• Focus: patient voice, advocacy, engagement.
• Image: dedicated placeholder awaiting approved portrait.

Lawrence Steinman, MD, is a Stanford professor and internationally recognized neuroimmunologist. His research focuses on autoimmune disease, particularly multiple sclerosis, and his academic appointments span neurology, pediatrics, and neuroscience.

• Research: neuroimmunology, multiple sclerosis, immune disorders.
• Institution: Stanford University.
• California, USA.

Lew Lim is an entrepreneur and neurotechnology executive identified by SBMT as Founder and CEO of Vielight Inc. His leadership brings a commercialization and device-innovation perspective to the board.

• Role: Founder and CEO.
• Company: Vielight Inc.
• SBMT profile lists West Virginia, USA.

Marcos Wagner De Souza is a neurosurgeon associated with SBN in Brazil. His inclusion gives the board representation from Brazilian neurosurgery and supports SBMT’s international collaboration agenda.

• Specialty: neurosurgery.
• Affiliation: SBN, Brazil.
• Region: Brazil / Latin America.

Michael J. Roy, MD, MPH, is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Military Internal Medicine at the Uniformed Services University. His research interests include PTSD and traumatic brain injury, and his career includes military medicine leadership.

• SBMT: 7th and 10th President.
• USUHS: Director, Division of Military Internal Medicine.
• Research: PTSD and TBI.

Mike Y. Chen is a neurosurgeon and academic leader in neuro-oncology. SBMT identifies him as former 9th President and Professor of Neurosurgery with leadership of the Malignant Brain Tumor Program at City of Hope National Medical Center.

• SBMT: 9th President.
• Field: neurosurgery / neuro-oncology.
• Institution: City of Hope, California, USA.

Namath Hussain contributes academic neurosurgical expertise to SBMT. His board role supports the society’s clinical, educational, and technology-oriented mission.

• Role: Associate Professor of Neurosurgery.
• Institution: Loma Linda University.
• California, USA.

Qifa Zhou, PhD, is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology at USC. His research focuses on high-frequency ultrasound transducers, photoacoustic imaging, optical-ultrasound integration, and biomedical imaging applications.

• Research: ultrasound imaging, photoacoustics, biomedical transducers.
• Institution: University of Southern California.
• Los Angeles, California, USA.

Reinhard W. Schulte contributes biomedical-engineering expertise to SBMT, supporting the organization’s cross-disciplinary interface between engineering, medicine, technology, and neuroscience.

• Field: biomedical engineering.
• Institution: Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
• California, USA.

Robert Hariri is a physician, scientist, entrepreneur, and regenerative-medicine executive. SBMT identifies him as its 18th President, Chairman and CEO of Celularity, and Adjunct Professor of Neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical School.

• SBMT: 18th President.
• Leadership: Chairman and CEO, Celularity.
• Academic: Weill Cornell Medical School.

Thomas C. Südhof is a Nobel Prize–winning neuroscientist whose work has transformed understanding of synaptic transmission and cellular mechanisms underlying communication between neurons. He is Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: 2013.
• Field: molecular and cellular neuroscience.
• Stanford, California, USA.

Vicky Yamamoto is a cancer scientist associated with USC and the Brain Mapping Foundation. SBMT identifies her as its 20th President and Executive Director. Her scientific work and leadership connect cancer research, neuroscience, scientific programming, and institutional development.

• SBMT: 20th President and Executive Director.
• USC Keck School of Medicine / Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• Brain Mapping Foundation: Senior Research Scientist.