Our Team

Principal Investigator

  • Francesca Bagnato, M.D., Ph.D

    Dr. Francesca Bagnato is a dual-board (European and American) neurology certified physician, currently on faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Dr. Bagnato sees patients with neuroimmunological diseases at the Neuroimmunology Clinic of VUMC as well as the Nashville VA HealthCare System. She joined Vanderbilt in October 2015 where she is now the Head of the Neuroimaging Program of the Neuroimmunology Division, Co-Director of Research-MSCoE-East for the VA and Associate Vice-Chair of Research at VUMC. Dr. Bagnato has authored more than 100 publication focused on MS.  

Research Students

  • Neha Aggarwal

    Neha Aggarwal is a third-year medical student at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She obtained her B.S.P.H. from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2021 in Health Policy and Management. She plans to apply into neurology for residency and is dedicated to exploring the breadth of neurology and the intricacies of neuro-immunology. In her future medical practice, she hopes to both advance patient care and contribute to our developing understanding of neurological diseases. She also has interests in medical humanities, health policy advocacy, and providing high-quality care to underserved communities, serving as a leader in each of these areas at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

  • Ellie McCluey

    Ellie McCluey is an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University majoring in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health and Society. She works on a 7T MRI study to improve the identification of chronic active lesions.

  • Jiacheng Wang

    Jiacheng Wang is a second-year Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University majoring in computer science in Prof Oguz lab. He is passionate about exploring the potential application of machine learning/deep learning in physiological and pathological conditions.

    Jiacheng runs several projects aimed at developing automated segmentation of  paramagnetic rim lesions, leptomeningeal enhancement foci and white matter lesions on 7T MRI under limited human annotations scenarios. 

  • Jessica Zhang

    Jessica Zhang is a junior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health, and Society. She is interested in using MRI to study neuroaxonal injury and chronic inflammation in MS patients.

Research Coordinators

  • Caroline Gheen

    Caroline graduated from Belmont University with her B.S in biology and psychology. Caroline follows alongside patients through the research process by working to recruit patients and assist with their MRIs. She hopes to learn more about the progression and functioning of multiple sclerosis through the use of MRI technology. 

     

  • Taegan Vinarsky

    Taegan has her B.S. in Public Health from the University of Alabama. Taegan enrolls participants, obtains consent, and assists with 7T MRI scans. Taegan is interested in gaining further knowledge in the progression of multiple sclerosis observed through MRI methods and performs image analyses of mice with experimental multiple sclerosis. 

Clinical-Research Team

  • Ahmad Toubasi

    Dr. Ahmad Toubasi completed his medical education at the University of Jordan School of Medicine. During medical school, he coauthored and led tens of research publications on several topics including COVID-19, psychiatry, neurology, and internal medicine all while excelling medical school. He is passionate about evidence-based medicine and aspires to lead in Neurology. His primary interests lie in the fields of demyelinating and neurodegenerative disorders. Currently, he is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Bagnato Lab at VUMC, with plans to pursue residency in neurology in the future.

  • Rozita Khalili

    Dr. Rozita Khalili got her M.D. degree in Iran before joining University of Mississippi, School of Pharmacy as a research fellow. She completed her adult neurology residency at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Dr. Khalili then became a clinical neuroimmunology fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is dedicated to managing Multiple Sclerosis/Neuroimmunology diseases and participating in related cutting-edge research. Dr. Khalili plans to establish a comprehensive multiple sclerosis center in Memphis to serve underserved patients.

Alumni

Salma Ashshareef, M.S.

Previous Position: Masters student in Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge program 

Position in Lab: Research coordinator

Following Position: PhD student at the University of Texas at Dallas, TX

 

Kelsey Barter, M.D.

Previous Position: Medical student at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Position in Lab: Medical research student and awardee of the clinical mentorship of the National MS Society (summer of 2022). 

Following Position: Child Neurology resident at Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Rachael Cheeck, M.S., M.D.

Previous Position: Medical student at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN

Position in Lab: Medical research student and awardee of the clinical mentorship of the National MS Society (summer of 2020). 

Following Position: Child Neurology resident at Baylor University, Houston, TX 

Amalie Chen, M.D.

Previous position: undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

Position in the lab: research medical student (school of medicine Vanderbilt University School of Medicine) and awardee of the clinical mentorship of the National MS Society (summer of 2018). 

Following position: Neurology resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.

Margareta A Clarke, Ph.D

Previous position: PhD at the University of Nottingham, England. Awardee of the ECTRIMS-MAGNIMS research fellowship.

Position in the lab: National Multiple Sclerosis Society post-doctoral fellow (2019-2022).

Bryan Hernandez, B.S.

Previous Position: Undergraduate student at the University of Texas at El Paso, TX

Position in Lab: Undergraduate research student of the Medical Scientist Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN

Following Position: Post-baccalaureate student at Vanderbilt-Ingram Center, Nashville TN 

Faraaz Kazimuddin, B.S.

Previous Position: Undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Position in Lab: Undergraduate research student

Following Position: Post-baccalaureate student at the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD

Adriana Morales, B.S.

Previous position: sophomore undergraduate student at Duke University.

Position in the lab: summer student (2021).

Following position: senior undergraduate student at Duke University.

Keejin Yoon, B.A.

Previous position: undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University.

Position in the lab: undergraduate research student (2020-2021).  

Following position: medical student (MS-I) at University of Central Florida.