Leadership Committee Members

Ellen Air, MD, PhD, is Co-director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Residency Program Director at Henry Ford Health System, as well as Clinical Associate Professor at Wayne State University. She serves on the Executive Boards of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Women in Neurosurgery; the Editorial Boards of Congress Quarterly and CNS Watch; and is an Associate Editor for Neurosurgery. Her research is focused on the application of new technologies toward improved patient outcomes.

Dr. Brian Nahed is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He specializes in brain tumors, brain mapping, and intraoperative imaging and technology. His research focuses on developing the first blood test for brain tumors which is funded by the National Institutes of Health. His laboratory is the first to publish the identification of circulating tumor cells in the blood patients with brain tumors. Dr. Nahed serves as the Associate Director of the MGH Neurosurgery Residency Program and is focused on teaching, mentoring, and developing innovative techniques in surgical training.

Dr. Nahed serves as an ex-officio member of the CNS Executive Committee, Vice-Scientific Programming Chair, and Co-Chair of the CNS Leadership Institute.

Dr. Anand Veeravagu is Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, by courtesy, and Director of Minimally Invasive NeuroSpine Surgery at Stanford. Dr. Veeravagu is board certified and is focused on advancing minimally invasive surgical techniques for diseases of the spine and cares for patients with a wide range of spinal disorders.

Dr. Veeravagu’s research efforts are focused on the utilization of large national databases to assess cost, quality, and effectiveness of various treatment algorithms as well as predictive analytics. Dr. Veeravagu is also an author and writes about current events, health policy, and public health-related topics for the San Francisco Chronicle, The Daily Beast, The BBC, and the Huffington Post.