Dr. Chengwen Zhou is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center specializing in epilepsy research. Since 2018, his research lab has been working on how brain-states influence and trigger seizure onset with homeostatic synaptic plasticity mechanism and recently on sleep-related activity’s roles in pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s diseases. Dr. Zhou is currently a member of the American Epilepsy Society and the Society for Neuroscience, as well as a reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Neurology.

Dr. Zhou’s work has been actively supported by the NIH, including major awards funding his studies that address how sleep-related brain activity drives up neuron synaptic plasticity and further triggers seizure onset. This work also explores a novel treatment of seizures due to sleep-related activity engagement in seizure onset.   

Dr. Zhou’s appointment at VUMC began in 2011 as a staff scientist, working on idiopathic generalized epilepsy(IGE) with GABAergic receptor mutation. Prior to his position at VUMC, he completed postdoctoral training at Children’s Hospital Boston and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (both with Harvard Medical School), working on the neuroscience of synaptic plasticity, pediatric epilepsy, and seizure disorders. He earned his PhD from University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2004 with a focus on Visual Neuroscience, and graduated from Shanghai Institute of Physiology Chinese Academy of Science with a Master’s degree in Neurobiology in 1996. He completed his BS at Southwestern Normal University (China). 

Dr. Holly Westervelt is an Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology and Director of Neuropsychological Services for the Department of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is board certified in clinical neuropsychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology.  As a clinical neuropsychologist, she provides comprehensive cognitive assessment and diagnosis of patients experiencing a wide variety of neurological conditions, with particular expertise in degenerative conditions (e.g., mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body disease, frontotemporal dementia), autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis, and metabolic disorders. Dr. Westervelt has served as a supervisor and mentor for medical students, residents, and neuropsychology interns and postdoctoral fellows. 

Dr. Westervelt is a regular editor and reviewer for a number of professional journals and funding institutions, and she was an associate editor for Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology for 8 years. She is a member of several professional organizations, including a fellow for the National Academy of Neuropsychology. 

Prior to her current appointment, Dr. Westervelt was an Associate Professor at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University (Providence, RI), and Neuropsychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology also at Brown University School of Medicine and Rhode Island Hospital, following an internship at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Westervelt earned both her BA (summa cum laude) and PhD from at the University at Albany, State University of New York. 

Dr. Arthur Walters is currently Professor of Neurology and a member of the Sleep Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) since 2008.  

In 2008 Dr. Walters was given a distinguished faculty medical license from the state of Tennessee. He also received the 2010 American Academy of Neurology Senior Sleep Science Award for excellence in sleep research. 

Dr. Walters completed his medical degree at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, his Neurology residency at Downstate Medical Center Brooklyn, NY, and subsequently his Movement Disorders Fellowship at the Neurological Institute, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY, NY. He served as Assistant and Associate Professor of Neurology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and then as full Professor of Neuroscience at the Seton Hall University School of Graduate Medical Education, both in New Jersey, from 1998-2008. 

Book
Chokroverty S, Hening W, Walters A, eds. Sleep and Movement Disorders, 1st Edition, USA, Butterworth Heinemann, pp 1-546, 2003. Revised edition:  Oxford University Press 2013.

Dr. Nandakumar Bangalore Vittal is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neurology specializing in epilepsy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He works regularly with Clinical Neurophysiology Fellows in both inpatient and outpatient settings at VUMC. His work is primarily focused on clinical and hospital consults, while participating in bedside teaching with medical students and residents in these clinical settings. In addition to his clinical and educational roles at VUMC, Dr. Vittal is also an Associate Professor of Neurology at Meharry Medical College and attending neurologist at Nashville General Hospital, where he regularly offers lecture and bedside education. Dr. Vittal is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society. 

Prior to his current positions, Dr. Vittal was a Clinical Instructor of Neurology in the Epilepsy Division at VUMC, following his completion of a Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship, also at Vanderbilt. He completed his Neurology residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences after earning a Master of Science in Biology at Western Kentucky University. He received his medical degree at Bangalore Medical College (India).

Dr. Upender is a Professor of Neurology and the Medical Director of Vanderbilt Sleep Disorders Center. His clinical, scholarly, and administrative efforts have been centered on the practice and promotion of sleep medicine and sleep health. He has served a 5-year term on the U.S. Coast Guard Medical Advisory Committee. He continues to advocate for sleep health through the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Public Safety Committee. 

He graduated summa cum laude from University of Connecticut in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology and Neurobiology. He earned his medical degree from University of Connecticut in 1995. During medical school, he received the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Research Scholarship to conduct research at the NIH. He completed medical internship at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in 1996. He then completed neurology residency and fellowship in neuromuscular diseases and electromyography at the Washington University in 2000. Upon completion of training, he joined a general neurology practice in Connecticut and later in middle Tennessee. During this time, he pursued his interests in sleep medicine and clinical research and completed numerous clinical trials in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, post herpetic neuralgia, headache, and insomnia. He joined Vanderbilt Neurology faculty in January of 2011 to focus his efforts in sleep medicine. He received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in 2016.

Dr. Upender is a diplomate of American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and holds certification in both Neurology and Sleep Medicine. He is also a diplomate of American Board of Electromyography.

Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Stephanie Taylor is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, specializing in Neuroimmunology and General Neurology. In her clinical roles, she manages patients in outpatient clinics, as well as inpatient Neurology service and consultations in the hospital as well as via teleneurology. She provides education to medical students, residents, and fellows through clinical experience and didactic instruction. 

Prior to her current appointment, Dr. Taylor completed a Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Care Physician Fellowship, awarded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, at VUMC. She also completed her Neurology residency at VUMC, serving as Chief Resident her final year. She earned her MD from the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, and her BS in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University. Throughout undergraduate and medical school, Dr. Taylor worked as a research coordinator with a focus on Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis and Women’s Health
My Southern Health

Multiple Sclerosis: Finding the Right Diagnosis
My Southern Health

Dr. Randy Taneja is an Assistant Professor of Neurology specializing in epilepsy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He works regularly with Neurology residents and Clinical Neurophysiology fellows in both inpatient and outpatient settings. In addition to managing epilepsy patients, Dr. Taneja attends to patients and supervises residents in the general neurology clinic and hospital. He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society, and is board certified in both Neurology and Epilepsy.

Dr. Taneja serves as the Director of the TeleEEG Service recently launched by the Department of Neurology. As part of the department’s growing teleneurology program, the TeleEEG service allows VUMC physicians to read EEG data for nearly a dozen satellite hospitals in Tennessee and Kentucky, thus providing highly specialized care throughout the region. Highly proficient in information technology, Dr. Taneja also provides key technical support to the department. He aided in the monumental undertaking of launching VUMC’s Epilepsy Monitoring Unit and ICU EEG service upgrade, as well as initiating the TeleEEG services.

In addition to his clinical, educational, and technical roles at VUMC, Dr. Taneja is involved in various epilepsy clinical trials as well as investigational studies regarding the treatment of small fiber neuropathy. He co-authored and edited Essentials of Nerve Conduction Studies (a guide to help physicians and technicians perform nerve conduction tests). He also actively participates in community events, raising awareness for epilepsy and other neurological conditions and coordinating closely with such organizations as the Epilepsy Foundation of Middle and West Tennessee for the annual Walk to End Epilepsy. 

After completing his medical education at Kasturba Medical College in India and Ross University, Dr. Taneja completed his Neurology residency at Cooper University Hospital in New Jersey, where he served as Chief Resident during his final year. This was followed by a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he remained to work as clinical faculty. 

Kassandra Stubblefield is currently a nurse practitioner in the Department of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). In her role, she supports the inpatient neurohospitalist consultation service and provides neurology consultations to Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital. 

Kassandra received her bachelor degree from Florida State University with majors in biochemistry and chemical science. She later earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing in 2001 from the Adult Nurse Practitioner program at Vanderbilt University. 

Dr Sriram is Professor of Neurology and Immunology and Head of the Neuroimmunology Divsion. He has worked in the field of multiple sclerosis and allied demyelinating disorders his entire professional career.
He received the MBBS from University of Madras, India. He then completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Ford Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan and Neurology residency at Stanford University Medical Center.

He was Acting Assistant Professor of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA where he completed a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Neurology. He then moved to the University of Vermont College of Medicine where he was Assistant Professor of Neurology first and then promoted to Associate Professor of Neurology.
In 1993 he moved to Nashville, TN and started a Multiple Sclerosis Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Dr Sriram founded the first comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Center of the SouthEastern.