Women Leaders and Innovators in Neurosciences

In honor of Women in Medicine Month, Northwestern Medicine is spotlighting women neurologists and neurosurgeons who have shaped the Neurology and Neurological Surgery departments at Northwestern Medicine and are transforming the field of neurosciences. Learn more about these inspiring women and the work they are doing to advance patient care and scientific research below.

Meet A Few of the Women Leading the Way in Neurology and Neurosurgery

​These exceptional women have not only excelled in their respective fields but have also assumed senior leadership positions at Northwestern Medicine, serving as trailblazers for the next generation of female leaders.
​Katherine S. Carroll, MD
 
Katherine S. Carroll, MD, is chief and assistant professor of Comprehensive Neurology in the Department of Neurology. She is also the medical director of the Comprehensive Headache Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which aims to keep migraines out of the emergency room and treat complex headache conditions more effectively. Dr. Carroll’s other clinical interests include seizure disorders, neuromuscular disorders, electromyography and women’s health.
​Case Challenge: Increasing Frequency of Migraine
A 38-year-old patient presented with frequent unilateral headaches and blurriness in her right visual field before the onset of pain. Over the past two years, she had five to seven attacks per month, increasing to 18 to 20 per month in the last four months. Previous treatments with propranolol, nortriptyline, and zolmitriptan were ineffective or intolerable. She recently started galcanezumab, resulting in a significant decrease in headache days and severity, needing only occasional ibuprofen. Read more about and solve this case co-authored by Dr. Carroll and published in Practical Neurology.
Sherry H-Y Chou, MD
 
Sherry H-Y Chou, MD, is chief and associate professor of Neurocritical Care in the Department of Neurology. Her research focuses on the role of inflammation and immune response in vascular brain injuries and biomarker discovery. Dr. Chou founded and leads the large Global Consortium Study on Neurological Dysfunction in COVID-19 (GCS-NeuroCOVID) and serves as an invited member to the World Health Organization forum on the neurological impacts of COVID-19. She serves on the board of directors and as research subcommittee chair of the Neurocritical Care Society.
​Sherry Chou, MD, and Igor Koralnik, MD, Join the BioVie Advisory Board for Bezisterim in Long COVID
Dr. Chou and Igor J. Koralnik, MD, are two of four leading experts who will join the Long COVID Advisory Board of BioVie Inc, where they will provide strategic guidance for a Phase 2b trial evaluating the impact of the novel therapeutic bezisterim in the treatment of patients with long COVID.
​Amy B. Heimberger, MD, PhD
 
Amy B. Heimberger, MD, PhD, an accomplished neurosurgeon and an international leader in brain tumor research, is the scientific director of Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern Medicine, the vice chair of research for Neurosurgery and the Jean Malnati Miller Professor of Neurological Surgery.

Dr. Heimberger specializes in awake craniotomies and brain mapping. As a researcher, she focuses on immune therapeutic strategies for patients with central nervous system malignancies and tumor-mediated mechanisms of immune suppression. She has been involved in a wide variety of bench-to-bedside immune therapeutics, including those developed in her laboratory and arising from her own patents. In 2021, she was named by President Joe Biden to the National Cancer Advisory Board.
Drug Reprograms Immune Responses to Target Glioblastoma
A team co-led by Dr. Heimberger recently discovered that using a novel drug to target the STING pathway in glioblastoma reprogrammed previously suppressed immune responses. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrates the potential of a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with glioblastoma who do not typically respond to current FDA approved immunotherapies.
Tanya Simuni, MD
 
Tanya Simuni, MD, serves as chief of Movement Disorders in the Department of Neurology, director of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center and the Arthur C. Nielsen, Jr., Research Professor of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders. The multidisciplinary movement disorders center she leads has been recognized as a Center of Excellence by the National Parkinson’s Foundation, Wilson’s Foundation and Huntington Disease Society of America, and serves as a regional training model. 

Dr. Simuni’s research focuses on the development of disease-modifying interventions in Parkinson’s disease. She is the principal investigator for several ongoing clinical trials, including those testing novel therapeutics. Notably, she leads the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), a trial that could produce the largest benefit without testing drugs, and has published extensively using PPMI data.
VIDEO: Experimental Therapies for Early Parkinson’s Disease
In this video, Dr. Simuni discusses her work in developing therapeutics aimed at slowing, halting and ultimately reversing the progression of early Parkinson’s disease as well as the future of management for movement disorders. Northwestern Medicine is one of the few centers nationwide involved in the most promising experimental therapeutics programs.
​Lesli E. Skolarus, MD
 
Lesli E. Skolarus, MD, is vice chair of Faculty Development and chief of Stroke and Vascular Neurology in the Department of Neurology and Implementation Science in the Department of Medical Social Sciences. Her research focuses on promoting health equity and improving neurologic outcomes using community-based participatory research, health services research and implementation science approaches. Dr. Skolarus also serves on the American Neurological Association’s Board of Directors; co-chairs the American Neurological Association’s IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Antiracism, Social justice) Task Force; and is a member of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Health Disparities Steering Committee, where she co-leads the Social Determinants of Health Framework subcommittee.
Effect of a Community-Based Intervention on Acute Stroke Thrombolysis Incidence
New research by Dr. Skolarus published in JAMA investigated community-based preparation for stroke care in Flint, Michigan, and found that optimizing emergency department care was associated with increased stroke thrombolysis treatment rates over time in the community.
Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD, PhD
 
Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD, PhD, is the vice dean of Faculty Affairs and director of the Simpson Querrey Center for Neurovascular Sciences at Northwestern Medicine. She is also the Dean Richard H. Young and Ellen Stearns Young Professor and professor of Stroke and Vascular Neurology and of Neurocritical Care.
 
Since joining Northwestern Medicine, Dr. Sorond has played an important role in developing clinical programs and supporting the career development of faculty members in the Department of Neurology while also carrying out a research program focused on the association between cerebral blood flow regulation, structural changes in the brain and clinical outcomes of cerebrovascular injury. She has made multiple significant scientific discoveries that have advanced our understanding of brain vascular aging and cerebral small vessel function focused primarily on age-related brain white matter lesions (WML) and the accompanying decline in cognition and mobility.
Focus on Impact
Dr. Sorond brings a uniquely winding career path and passion for taking care of others. Her story highlights resilience, adaptability, compassion and the relentless pursuit of excellence.
Phyllis C. Zee, MD, PhD
 
Phyllis C. Zee, MD, PhD, is the director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine, chief of Sleep Medicine in the Department of Neurology and the Benjamin and Virginia T. Boshes Professor of Neurology. Dr. Zee is a leader in the field of sleep and circadian disorders, with hundreds of publications spanning basic science investigation into circadian rhythms to clinical research examining the relationship between sleep and cardiovascular outcomes.
 
Dr. Zee is also the founder of the first circadian medicine clinic in the U.S. The clinic is part of the Northwestern Medicine Sleep Health Centers. She has served as president of the Sleep Research Society, president of the Sleep Research Foundation and chair of the NIH Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board, and she is currently president of the World Sleep Society. In 2021, Dr. Zee received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Sleep Foundation.
NIH Director’s Lecture: Dynamic Interplay of Circadian Rhythms and Sleep on Health
In this recent NIH Director’s Lecture, Dr. Zee discusses the implications of circadian-sleep disruption for human health, focusing on cardio-metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders, and the promise of circadian-sleep based interventions such as timed light exposure and time-restricted feeding to improve health outcomes by enhancing the cross-talk between central and peripheral clock-sleep mechanisms.

Meet the WOMEN neurologists who joined our team this year

​Amara Mian, DO – General Neurology
Ditte Primdahl, MD – Neuro-Oncology
MerryJean Losso, MD – Stroke
Catherine Daley, MD – Neuromuscular
Sarah Brooker, MD – Movement Disorders 

More Women Advancing the Field of Neuroscience

Neurology
 
Sabra M. Abbott, MD, PhD
Senda Ajroud-Driss, MD
Maria Armakola, PhD
Bianca E. Barcelo, MD
Anne T. Berg, PhD
Carolyn J. Bevan, MD
Lena F. Burbulla, PhD
Fan Z. Caprio, MD
Gabriela Caraveo Piso, PhD
Katherine S. Carroll, MD
Gemma L. Carvill, PhD
Neena R. Cherayil, MD
Sherry H-Y Chou, MD
Amy R. Corcoran, MD
Erica Cotton, PsyD
Elena Crisan, MD
Leah Cuddy, PhD
Yvonne M. Curran, MD
Divya D.A. Raj, PhD
Justyna Dobrowolska Zakaria, PhD
Hongxin Dong, MD, PhD
Elizabeth E. Gerard, MD
Nida G. Gleveckas-Martens, DO
Paulina Gonzalez Latapi, MD
Edith L. Graham, MD
Elena Grebenciucova, MD
Daniela Grimaldi, MD, PhD
Katherina K. Y. Hauner, PhD
Bo Hu, PhD
Qin Li Jiang, MD
Minjee Kim, MD
Alexa M. King, MD
Lisa M. Kinsley, CGC
Kristen L. Knutson, PhD
Jhumku D. Kohtz, PhD
Nancy L. Kuntz, MD
Allison E. Lapins, MD
Danielle N. Larson, MD
Christina Marciniak, MD
Martha T. McGraw, MD
Daniela Maria Menichella, MD, PhD
Kalpana M. Merchant, PhD
Yara Mikhaeil-Demo, MD
Jelena Mojsilovic-Petrovic, MD, PhD
Jennifer M. Mundt, PhD
Charulatha P. Nagar, MBBS
Aditi P. Narechania, MD
Jennifer L. Nichols, MD
Cindy J. Nowinski, MD, PhD
Sandra F. Olson, MD
Hande Ozdinler, PhD
Roshni A. Patel, MD
Laura L. Pedelty, MD, PhD
Cynthia Poon, PhD
Kathryn Jean Reid, PhD
Nan E. Rothrock, PhD
Katherine Rose Sadleir, PhD
Dina Simkin, PhD
Shira S. Simon, MD
Lesli E. Skolarus, MD
PingPing Song, PhD
Jessica W. Templer, MD
Cynthia K. Thompson, PhD
Geeta Verma, MD
Padmaja Vittal, MD
Sandra Weintraub, PhD
Lisa F. Wolfe, MD
Yvette C. Wong, PhD
Catherine S. Woolley, PhD
Margaret Y. Yu, MD
Cindy Zadikoff, MD
Christina M. Zelano, PhD
Yueqin Zhou, PhD
​
Neurosurgery
 
Christina Amidei, PhD
Irina V. Balyasnikova, PhD
Robin M. Bowman, MD
Yu Cheng, PhD
Aruna Ganju, MD
Roxanna M. Garcia, MD
Laura B. Hemmer, MD
Sandi Lam, MD
Catalina Lee Chang, PhD
Denise M. Scholtens, PhD
​

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