Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence

Francesca Bagnato, MD, PhD - Nashville, TN

Dr. Bagnato is a dual board (European and American) neurologist at the Nashville VAMC and is on faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her specialty includes neuroimmunology, MS, and neurosciences. Dr. Bagnato serves as the Associate Director of Research for the MS Center of Excellence East. 

Carolyn Bevan, MD - Chicago, IL

Dr. Bevan is an Assistant Professor of neurology specializing in MS and other autoimmune conditions affecting the brain and spinal cord. She is the Director of the MS Regional Program at the Jesse Brown VAMC in Chicago, IL. She completed her medical degree at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, NH followed by her neurology residency at Columbia University in New York, NY. She then completed fellowship training in MS and clinical neuroimmunology at UC San Francisco where she stayed on as faculty before moving to Chicago in 2017. She joined the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University where she maintains a clinical practice and joined the Chicago VAMC in December of 2020. She works to provide high quality subspecialty care to Veterans with MS and related conditions, focusing on a collaborative, team-based approach. She is working to build an MS teleneurology program to improve access to subspecialty care for the Veterans in VISN 12. She is dedicated to medical education and is working with her colleagues to build a research platform exploring risk factors associated with MS onset and outcomes.

Rachel Brandstadter, MD - Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Brandstadter is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at Penn Medicine. She is a neurologist at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VAMC and is affiliated with the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania. She has expertise in multiple sclerosis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, myelitis, and neuromyelitis optica (NMO) spectrum disorder. She completed medical school, her fellowship and residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Kevin Brown, DO, MBA - Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Brown is Chief of Neurology in the Minneapolis VA HCS. He completed his Neurology residency and fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology at the University of Minnesota. In 2014, he graduated from the Physician Executive MBA Program at the University of Tennessee. He is board certified in Neurology and Neuromuscular Medicine. Dr. Brown is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota and enjoys teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. In addition to his clinical responsibilities, since 2016, he has served as medical liaison and educator for Volunteers of America and was instrumental in creating the country’s first Dementia Mobile Unit. Dr. Brown also remains active in clinic research and is currently the principal investigator of two MS trials. His current interest is in the use of humanized monoclonal antibodies against repulsive guidance molecules, which have shown favorable immune modulation in several MS-relevant preclinical models.

Donald Bright, MD - Seattle, WA

Dr. Bright graduated from the University of Washington Medical School in 1992 and then did his residency at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, TX. While in the Air Force, he served as Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine at Bethesda, MD and Andrews Air Force Base. Then from the year 2000 to 2017 he was in solo private practice in Bremerton, WA. Since 2017 he has been at the Seattle and American Lake VAs with emphasis on Headache and MS. He is up to 26,000 headache encounters and counting. 

Kathleen Burgess, MD, MS - Seattle, WA

Dr. Burgess has been Director of the MS Regional Program since 2014 at the Seattle and American Lake campuses of VA Puget Sound HCS (VAPSHCS), which covers about 400 Veterans with MS. The MS Regional Program is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team that works closely with Neurology and SCI/D. Some special features of the MS Program include an active telehealth program, weekly care conferences, advanced spasticity management including baclofen pump management and Botox injections, and a monthly Veteran support group. Dr. Burgess is working with the VAPSHCS Lipoic Acid team as a co-investigator. She has presented symposia and posters at the CMSC and PVA Summit and has led the production of two MSCoE YouTube videos on fatigue and mobility. She is active in the Northwest MS Alliance, is a member of the National MS Society Healthcare Provider Council, and has volunteered at the annual Bike MS Deception Pass biking event. Dr. Burgess is an Associate Professor in the University of Washington Rehabilitation Medicine Department and is active in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows about MS, chronic pain, electromyography, and clinical ethics.

Vicky Chen, MD - Mather (Sacramento), CA

Sarah Corbridge, MD - Hines, IL

Dr. Sarah Corbridge is a neurologist and the MS Regional Program Director at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital as well as an affiliate assistant professor at the Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University of Chicago. She completed her medical school training at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and then went on to complete a 1 year internal medicine intern year at Maimonides Medical Center in New York. She then completed her neurology residency at UW Health University Hospital in Wisconsin. She continued to complete a two year fellowship in MS and Neuroimmunology at Rush University Medical Center. She now specializes in the treatment of people with MS  at Hines VA Hospital. Dr. Corbridge’s medical interests include MS, neuroimmunology, neuroinfectious diseases, and general neurology. 

Sarah Fredrich, MD - Baltimore, MD

Dr. Fredrich is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Maryland School Of Medicine. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of people with autoimmune disorders affecting the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. This includes, but is not limited to, multiple sclerosis, neurosarcoidosis, neuromyelitis optica, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein associate disease, transverse myelitis, optic neuritis, and rheumatologic overlay syndromes. Dr. Fredrich is also involved in MS research and clinical trials investigating new drug therapies.

Marinella Galea, MD - Bronx, NY

Dr. Galea is an internal medicine and spinal cord injury medicine specialist. She currently serves as the Chief of Spinal Cord Injury at the James J. Peters VAMC and is Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her expertise is in rehabilitative interventions to improve function and preventative measures to optimize clinical outcomes.

Carol Gibson-Gill, MD - East Orange, NJ

Dr. Gibson-Gill is a physiatrist and the Chief of Spinal Cord Injury at the VA New Jersey HCS. She specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation.  

Jennifer Graves, MD, PhD, MAS - San Diego, CA

Dr. Graves is an Associate Professor of Neurosciences and Director of the Neuroimmunology Research Program at the University of California (UC), San Diego. She is also Director of the MS Regional Program at the San Diego VA and Director of the Rady Children's Pediatric MS Center. She completed an MD and PhD in Biophysics at the University of Texas Southwestern. She trained in Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania receiving the Arthur K Asbury Award for Clinical Excellence. She completed two fellowships in Neuro-ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania and MS and Clinical Research Methods at the UC, San Francisco. She has received grant support from the NIH, National MS Society, Race to Erase MS, and Foundation for the CMSC. Her current research focuses on the role of biological age on MS phenotype. She is also developing next-generation digital tools to assess neurological patients, leveraging sensors developed in the computer control industry as well as novel applications in mobile technology. Her other work includes the study of genetic, environmental, and sex-related factors on disease course in pediatric MS and the application of visual outcome measures in the pediatric population. She is a collaborator in several national and international research efforts in MS and participates in multi-center clinical trials. She serves on the board of IMSVisual and the editorial boards of Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology and Neurology.  

Robert Gross, MD - Aurora (Denver), CO

Dr. Gross is an Assistant Professor in Neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Director of the MS Regional Program at the Rocky Mountain Regional Veterans Administration Medical Center. He attended college at Columbia University and medical school at NYU School of Medicine. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine and his residency in Adult Neurology at Brown University in Providence. He then returned to New York to complete a fellowship in Multiple Sclerosis/Neuroimmunology at the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for MS at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Gross sees patients with MS and related disorders of the central nervous system. He divides his time between patient care, teaching, and clinical research. Research interests include the identification of biomarkers associated with treatment response in MS and the establishment of prospective databases to aid in prognostication. 

Demetrios Konstas - Tampa, FL

Dr. Konstas is a neurologist at the VA Medical Center in Tampa, FL, specializing in neurology (brain and spinal cord disease). He graduated from Florida State University College of Medicine.

Janice Leon, MD - Miami, FL

Dr. Leon is a neurologist at the Miami VA Healthcare System. She received her medical degree from the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Leon completed her fellowship at Yale, New Haven Medical Center and her Residency at the University of Miami, Jackson Health System.

Leland Lim, MD, PhD - Palo Alto, CA

Dr. Lim is a neurologist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Co-Director of their MS Regional Program. He is a Clinical Associate Professor (Affiliated) in Neurology at Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital. Dr. Lim graduated from University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine in 2000. 

Christopher C. Luzzio, MD - Madison, WI

Dr. Luzzio is a Neurologist who specializes in MS. He develops mechanical assistive devices for disabled persons and is actively involved in clinical research trials related to MS. Dr. Luzzio's medical interests include bioengineering, botulinum toxin treatment for movement disorders, electromyography, general adult neurology, and MS.

Donald Brady, MD - Little Rock, AR

Elina Melamed, MD - Long Beach, CA

Dr. Melamed recently joined the Long Beach VA as the neuroimmunology/MS specialist in August 2022 after serving as the VA MS Regional Program Director in the Northern California Healthcare System/Sacramento from 2019-2022. In addition to evaluating and managing patients in the neurology clinic, Dr. Melamed is an integral part of the Spinal Cord Injury team at the Long Beach VA. She is involved in the co-management of MS patients that travel to the Long Beach VA SCI Clinic from other parts of the Desert Pacific Healthcare Network. She earned her medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, and completed her neurology training at Montefiore Medical Center/ Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She went on to do a fellowship in multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston prior to relocating to California. 

Anza Memon, MD - Detroit, MI

Dr. Memon is dual fellowship trained in MS/clinical neuroimmunology and clinical neurophysiology/electromyography. She specializes in managing immune-mediated central and peripheral nervous system diseases. She loves teaching, clinical, and translational research and is also a certified electromyographer. Dr. Memon has served as the clinical neurophysiology fellowship director at Henry Ford Health. Currently she serves as director of MS center and neurophysiology lab at the John D. Dingell VAMC. She has published numerous papers and participated in several clinical trials as a primary site investigator and co-investigator. She has also been a primary investigator in a imaging biomarker study for MS and serum biomarker study for diabetic peripheral neuropathy. She has received several research and teaching awards. 

Dr. Memon, specializes in treatment of MS, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease (NMOSD), myasthenia gravis, neurosarcoidosis, transverse myelitis, vasculitis, immune mediated neuropathies such as Guillain Barre syndrome (GBS), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), vasculitic neuropathies, and inflammatory myopathies. In addition, Dr. Memon is skilled in performing botulinum toxin injections for spasticity, migraine, movement disorder indications, and sialorrhea. She is also experienced in performing skin biopsies for small fiber neuropathy. Her research interests include MS, MS cognition and fatigue, myasthenia gravis, neurosarcoidosis, NMOSD, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Viviana Orozco-Lean, MD - San Juan, PR

Dr. Orozco-Leon is a neurologist at the VA Caribbean HCS and is an Assistant Professor at the UPR Medical Sciences Campus. She is certified as a Rare Neuroimmunologic Disorders (CRND) and Multiple Sclerosis (MSCS) specialist from the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC).

Doug Ota, MD - Palto Alto, CA

Dr. Ota is a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Spinal Cord Injury specialist. He is Chief of Spinal Cord Injury at the VA Palo Alto HCS and a Clinical Professor (Affiliated) Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine. He provides outpatient clinical care including primary care and management of secondary conditions throughout the lifetime for Veterans with an SCI/D.

Maria Fides Pacheco, MD - Dallas, TX

Dr. Fides Pacheco is a staff physician and Director for Clinical Operations at the SCI Center of the VA North Texas HCS in Dallas. She is also the Co-Director of the VA North Texas HCS MS Regional Program. She completed her Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency and Spinal Cord Injury fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She has been at the Dallas VA SCI Center for more than 15 years, having moved there to complete a Special Advanced Research Fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury (doing Robotics and Rehab Technology). She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She is also the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) Consultant for the National VA SCI System of Care.

Jonathan Galli, MD - Salt Lake City, UT

Carlos Perez, MD - Houston, TX

Dr. Perez is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. He also serves as the Director of the MS Regional Program at the Michael E. DeBakey VAMC. He completed his medical training at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, including a five-year residency in pediatric neurology and a two-year clinical and research fellowship in multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology. He has participated in several NIH-funded research studies and his current research interests are focused on the use of advanced sequencing techniques to identify neural pathways in MS-related tremor, and quantitative data extraction from conventional MRIs to explore health disparities in MS across ethnic/racial groups. He is an active participant in several national, multi-center clinical trials in MS, and serves as a member of the Institutional Review Board at Baylor College of Medicine. 

Meheroz Rabadi, MD - Oklahoma City, OK

Dr. Rabadi is a staff Neurologist at the Oklahoma City VAMC and Clinical Professor of Neurology at Oklahoma University. He is the Director of the SCI program at the Oklahoma City VAMC, a comprehensive program that deals with Veterans with SCI/D, MS, and ALS. The program actively sees around 325-350 Veterans of which around 150-180 have MS. The MS program is comprehensive and includes other disciplines in addition to MS providers (MD, PA-C, SW), Dietician, OT/PT, Nursing for B&B, Pharmacy, Laboratory, and Radiology. The providers publish MS-related data regularly in peer-review journals, with aims of improving the quality of care provided at our facility and informing other clinicians how they can improve the care of Veterans with MS.

Megan Raverty, MD - Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Raverty is a Minnesota native and completed medical school and residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Minnesota in 2015. She worked in the private sector upon completing her residency and began working at the SCI/D Center at the Minneapolis VA in 2018. Outside of work, she is married with a 5-year-old son, and they enjoy spending time camping and at the lake.

John R. Rinker, II, MD - Birmingham, AL

Dr. Rinker is a neurologist at the Birmingham VAMC and is on faculty at the VA affiliate, University of Alabama Health Services Foundation, PC, with special training and skill in studying, diagnosing, and treating disorders of the nervous system.

Andrew Romeo, MD - Ann Arbor, MI

Dr. Romeo grew up in Dearborn, MI. He graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan in 2009, with a concentration in cellular and molecular biology. Dr. Romeo graduated from the Wayne State University School of Medicine with high distinction, in 2013. After completing an internal medicine internship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL, he completed neurology residency at the University of California San Francisco in 2017. Dr. Romeo continued at UCSF and completed a clinical neuroimmunology (multiple sclerosis) fellowship in 2018, subsequently joining the neurology faculty at the University of Michigan. His clinical activities at Michigan Medicine include a multi-disciplinary neuro-rheumatology clinic. 

Alessandro Serra, MD - Cleveland, OH

Dr. Serra is a neurologist at The Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC. He is also a clinical neuroimmunology attending on faculty at the VA affiliate, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Case Western Reserve University.

Christopher Severson, MD - Boston, MA

Dr. Severson is a neurology specialist at the VA Boston HCS and is affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital. 

Suma Shah, MD - Durham, NC

Dr. Shah is a neurologist at the Durham VAMC and is on faculty at Duke University Health System as the Assistant Professor of Neurology, Associate Director, Residency Program, and the Medical Director, Duke Neurology of South Durham.

Elizabeth Silbermann, MD, MCR - Portland, OR

Dr. Silbermann is the MS Regional Director of the VA Portland HCS and is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Oregon Health and Science University. She received her medical degree at Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, RI. She completed a residency in neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, MO and a Sylvia Lawry Physician Fellowship through the National MS Society in Neuro-immunology at Oregon Health and Science University at the Portland VA. She received a Masters in Clinical Research through Oregon Health & Science University. Her research focuses on the relationship between vascular risk factors and microvascular damage in MS. 

Lucas Stenzel, MD - Omaha, NE

Dr. Stenzel is an Instructor in the Department of Neurological Sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Stenzel is a Texas native. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of North Texas and received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 2014. Dr. Stenzel is particularly interested in resident and student education and inpatient neurology focused on epilepsy and stroke care.

Olaf Stüve, MD, PhD - Dallas, TX

Dr. Stüve is a Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Chief of Neurology at the VA North Texas HCS/Dallas VAMC. At the Dallas VAMC, Dr. Stüve attends to Veterans with neurological disorders. In addition to his clinical activities, he has been the principal investigator and site principal investigator for numerous clinical trials. Dr. Stüve also runs a research laboratory at UT Southwestern. His research interests include molecular and cellular markers of autoimmunity, immune tolerance, and experimental therapies for autoimmune disorders, and he has numerous ongoing collaborations with national and international investigators. Dr. Stüve’s research has been supported by grants from the VA, National MS Society, and several Foundations. He has published over 200 research articles, review articles, editorials, and book chapters, and he has given over 200 invited presentations.

Dr. Stüve is a fellow of the American Neurological Association, American Academy of Neurology, and European Academy of Neurology. He is an elected member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He has served on numerous editorial boards of medical and scientific journals and has been a member of National Institutes of Health and National MS Society study sections. He received his medical degree from the Free University of Berlin, completed a medical doctoral thesis in Physiology at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin magna cum laude, and earned a PhD in Immunology in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Immunology at Maastricht University. He completed a transitional internship at the University of Cape Town, and a preliminary internship and Neurology residency at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Stüve also received postdoctoral fellowship training in neuroimmunology at McGill University in Montreal, and at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Stüve has received numerous clinical teaching awards. He has mentored undergraduate students, graduate students, medical students, residents, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty. Dr. Stüve was elected Top Provider in Neurology at the VA North Texas HCS repeatedly by physician peers across medical and surgical specialties, and he has been listed in D Magazine's Best Doctors list.

William Tyor, MD - Decatur (Atlanta), GA

Dr. Tyor is a neurologist at the Atlanta VAMC and is a Professor of Neurology at the Emory School of Medicine. He is also Co-Director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research NeuroAIDS Scientific Work Group.

Mitchell Wallin, MD, MPH - Washington, DC

Dr. Wallin is the Director for MSCoE-East and MS Regional Program Director for the Washington, DC VAMC. Dr. Wallin received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. He completed his medicine internship at Northwestern University followed by residency in Neurology at the University of Minnesota. He subsequently pursued a Preventive Medicine residency and earned a Master’s of Public Health/International Health at Johns Hopkins University. While in Baltimore in 1996, Dr. Wallin was recruited by John Kurtzke to join the faculty at the VA Medical Center-Washington, DC and the Neurology Department at Georgetown University. Dr. Wallin holds academic appointments as Associate Professor of Neurology at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He received the 2010 Wolcott National Award for Clinical Leadership, the highest clinical prize within the VA system. His research interests include MS neuroepidemiology/global health, and neurological infections. Dr. Wallin is widely published, has several active research grants, and serves on many national committees.

Eric Williamson, MD - Los Angeles, CA

Dr. Williamson moved to Los Angeles to join the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) faculty as an Associate Professor in 2019 and serve as Director of the West Los Angeles VA Hospital's MS Regional Program. He earned his medical school degree from Ohio State University's College of Medicine in 2007. Thereafter, Dr. Williamson pursued a residency at the University of Chicago before completing a neuroimmunology fellowship at the University of Southern California and then serving on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, where he previously directed the Philadelphia VA MS Regional Program. While Dr. Williamson’s primary focus is patient care, he is also intimately involved in trials and clinical research efforts to better treat patients with MS and like diseases, serving as an investigator and examiner in a number of research studies. He has particular interest and expertise in conditions such as neuromyelitis optica, transverse myelitis, and infectious central nervous system diseases. Dr. Williamson's research interests have helped to better characterize and examine the potential risks and benefits of neuro-immune therapies. He has and continues to conduct research, lecture on, and write about a number of topics related to MS. These topics include infections encountered in demyelinating disease, vaccinations in MS, and how the use of monoclonal antibodies and other novel therapies in central nervous system illness may impact cancer biology.

Gregory Wu, MD - St. Louis, MO

Dr. Wu is an Associate Professor in Neurology as well as in Pathology and Immunology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a clinician and clinical research investigator with a laboratory dedicated to understanding the regulation of adaptive immune responses in the central nervous system during health and disease. He is currently focused on the role of two cell populations – B cells and microglia – that are highly relevant to the pathogenesis of MS, in large part due to their antigen presentation and regulation of CD4 T cell-mediated immunity. While his lab utilizes an animal system (EAE) to analyze distinct contributions of various antigen presenting cells, Dr. Wu also specializes in understanding the underlying mechanisms of disease-modifying therapies for MS. He is one of four clinicians caring for over 2,000 MS patients at the John L. Trotter MS Center and is the Director of the MS Regional Program at the St. Louis VA Hospital. He has been the site PI for several phase IV clinical trials in MS at Washington University in St. Louis. His basic science and clinical research has been funded by the NIH, National MS Society, Doris Duke Foundation, Barnes Jewish Foundation, and Hope Center for Neurologic Diseases.

Islam Zaydan - Pittsburg, PA

Dr. Zaydan’s clinical interest is to provide longitudinal care and treatment for people with neurological and neuro-ophthalmic conditions. As a neurologist and a neuro-ophthalmologist, his research is focused on studying the acute and long-term effect of inflammatory, degenerative, and demyelinating diseases of the nervous system and their effect on the visual pathways and visual function. His major emphasis has been on studying multiple and neuro-myelitis optica new therapeutics and the effects of the diseases on the structure of the white matter tracts using high-definition fiber tractography imaging techniques. Dr. Zaydan completed his fellowship (neuro-ophthalmology) and residency at Virginia Commonwealth University.