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The brain is the most exciting organ, because it controls who we are, how we feel, and what we do. My interest in the brain and my passion for caring for people and organizing chaos led me to become a neurointensivist, caring for people in a neurological intensive care unit (ICU).

As director of �����о��� Langone’s , I treat patients admitted to the ICU due to critical conditions affecting the brain, spine, or nerves. Some examples of these conditions include strokes, spinal cord compression, and Guillain-Barré syndrome (a disorder in which the immune system damages nerves). These patients require close monitoring for neurological deterioration and may need medical or surgical interventions to prevent or treat brain swelling, brain compression, and seizures. Although the primary focus in the neurological ICU is on the nervous system, I also pay detailed attention to the function of the heart, lungs, kidneys, and other organs.

To optimize each patient’s outcome, I work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team: physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants with expertise in diverse areas such as neurosurgery, stroke, seizures, and infectious diseases, as well as nurses, social workers, care managers, physical/occupational/speech therapists, and chaplains. Throughout the challenges encountered during admission to the ICU, I work closely with each patient and their family to establish individualized treatment goals.

My interests include quality improvement in neurocritical care and social, ethical, and legal issues related to end-of-life care. I have over 150 peer-reviewed publications. I am co-editor-in-chief of Journal of Clinical Neuroscience and deputy editor of Seminars in Neurology and the “Letters to the Editor” section of Neurology. In addition, I have served as the guest editor of Continuum: Lifelong Learning in Neurology, Neurosurgical Focus, and the AMA Journal of Ethics.

At �����о��� Langone, I am a member of the Ethics Committee. I am also a past chair of the Neurocritical Care Society’s Ethics Committee and from 2017 to 2025 served on the Ethics, Law, and Humanities Committee—a joint committee of the American Academy of Neurology, American Neurological Association, and Child Neurology Society. I was a lead author of the 2023 American Academy of Neurology/American Academy of Pediatrics/Child Neurology Society/Society of Critical Care Medicine Brain Death/Death by Neurologic Criteria guidelines, served on the Steering Committee for the World Brain Death Project, was an International Advisor to the Canadian Critical Care Society Definition and Determination of Death Committee, and represented the American Academy of Neurology as an observer on the Determination of Death Act Drafting Committee.

I was selected to be a fellow of the Neurocritical Care Society and the American Academy of Neurology based on my clinical and academic leadership in the field. In addition, I received �����о��� Grossman School of Medicine’s Innovator Award for Teaching Excellence for incorporating simulation in neurology education. I also received the Department of Neurology Innovator Award for my leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.