Our vision
Our research seeks to advance our understanding of cerebrovascular disease and to develop new minimally invasive treatments for these diseases. We study ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, cerebral aneurysms, delayed cerebral ischemia, cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), dural arteriovenous fistulae, and other vascular diseases of the brain. We use state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques to non-invasively study these diseases, and we are developing future endovascular technologies to advance neurointerventional surgery.
Basic and Translational Science Research
From bench top...
Our basic and translational scientific team is working to advance our understanding of cerebrovascular development and patterning, the genetic basis of cerebrovascular malformation and aneurysm pathogenesis, and cellular adaption to cerebral ischemia. Our current knowledge about cerebrovascular development in humans is meager and limits our ability to develop new, molecularly targeted treatments for ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. New knowledge about cerebrovascular development could generate new, molecularly targeted treatments for ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes and transform clinical paradigms for these diseases.
Clinical Research
...to bedside.
Our clinical research team seeks to advance our understanding of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke pathophysiology and improve the non-invasive imaging evaluation and endovascular treatment of these diseases. In addition, we are working to identify circulating biomarkers of acute and subacute cerebral ischemia to identify patients at risk of stroke before it happens.
The team
Our team comes from a variety of different backgrounds and has a wide range of expertise.
Jeremy J. Heit, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Heit is an Assistant Professor of Radiology and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery at Stanford University.
His interest in research was piqued as an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was a member of Tom Cech's lab. He completed his MD and PhD degrees at Stanford University, an internal medicine internship at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a radiology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a neurointerventional radiology fellowship at Stanford. He has been an attending neurointerventional surgeon and physician scientist at Stanford since 2015.
Dylan Wolman, MD
Radiology Resident and Research Associate
Dr. Wolman is currently a Radiology Resident at Stanford and a Research Associate in the Heit Lab. Dr. Wolman completed his undergraduate degree at Brandeis University and his MD at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Wolman will begin his Neurointerventional Surgery Fellowship at Stanford in 2020 after completion of his radiology residency. Dr. Wolman's research focuses on novel imaging techniques, such as dual energy CT and perfusion imaging, for the evaluation of acute ischemic stroke.
Shruti Arora, BS
Life Science Research Professional
Ms. Arora is a LSRP in the Heit Lab. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, where she performed neurosciences research that has become her passion. Her research interests in the Heit Lab are focused on murine models of acute ischemic stroke and cutting edge brain microscopy imaging using CLARITY to study developmental cerebral vasculature patterning and vascular changes during ischemic stroke. She is currently applying for MD/PhD programs and is an aspiring physician scientist.
Gabriella Kuraitis, BS
Research Assistant
Ms. Kuraitis is a research assistant in the Heit Lab. She completed her undergraduate degree in the biological sciences with an emphasis on neuroscience at the University of Oregon. She has had prior research experience at Stanford University and University of California, San Diego, which included a study to determine if artificial intelligence could be used to screen patients with retinal diseases. Her research interests in the Heit Lab are focused on stroke imaging and predicting clinical outcomes of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes.
Alumni
Graduates of the Heit lab continue to do amazing things!
Eric Sussman, MD
Chief Resident in Neurosurgery, Stanford University
Dr. Sussman was a prior Neurosurgery Resident, Neurointerventional Surgery Fellow at Stanford and a Research Associate in the Heit Lab. Dr. Sussman completed his undergraduate degree at Duke University and his MD at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Dr. Sussman's research in the Heit lab focused on the identification of factors that predict clinical outcomes following ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke as well as neurovascular proteomics and metabolomics.
Tobias Faizy, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf
Dr. Faizy is an Assistant Professor of Neuroradiology at UKE in Hamburg, Germany. During his postdoctoral studies in the Heit Lab, Dr. Faizy worked to understand better how collateral blood flow maintains brain tissue viability during ischemic stroke. His innovative contributions led to publications in Stroke, Radiology, the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, and other prestigious journals. Dr. Faizy continues to collaborate with Dr. Heit from "across the pond."
Reza Kabiri, BS
MD/PhD Student, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf
Mr. Kabiri is a MD PhD student in Hamburg, Germany, and he was a research associate at Stanford University during his time in the Heit Lab. His research interests include stroke imaging, artificial intelligence, and advance imaging of cerebral ischemia.
Matt Leipzig, BS
Research Associate
Mr. Leipzig is currently working as an artificial intelligence consultant. During his time as a research associate in the Heit Lab, he worked to develop statistical models that can improve both prediction and inference related to stroke. He also performed machine learning analyses to advance our understanding of ischemic and hemorrhage stroke.
David Marcellus, BS
Clinical Research Coordinator
Mr. Marcellus is a Clinical Research Coordinator at Stanford University and a Heit Lab alumni. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and joined Heit Lab as a Research Associate. After one year in the Heit Lab, he transitioned to a Clinical Research Coordinator, where he currently works. He continues to collaborate with Dr. Heit and serves as the clinical research efforts of the Heit Lab and the Stanford Neurointerventional Radiology service.
Publications
Selected publications from the Heit Lab
Comprehensive List of Dr. Heit's Publications
Pubmed Bibliography
Perfusion imaging-based tissue-level collaterals predict ischemic lesion net water uptake in patients with acute ischemic stroke and large vessel occlusion
Faizy T, et al. (2021) JCBFM Feb 8;271678X21992200. doi: 10.1177/0271678X21992200.
Automated Cerebral Hemorrhage Detection Using RAPID
Heit JJ, et al. (2021) AJNR Jan;42(2):273-278. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A6926. Epub 2020 Dec 24.
High-Performance Automated Anterior Circulation CT Angiographic Clot Detection in Acute Stroke: A Multireader Comparison
Dehkharghani S, et al. (2021) Radiology Mar;298(3):665-670. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2021202734. Epub 2021 Jan 12.
CT perfusion core and ASPECT score prediction of outcomes in DEFUSE 3
Kim-Tenser M, et al. (2020) Int J Stroke Mar 31;1747493020915141. doi: 10.1177/1747493020915141.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32233746/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32233746/
Effect of Oxygen Extraction (Brush-Sign) on Baseline Core Infarct Depends on Collaterals (HIR)
Guenego A, et al. (2021) Front Neurol Jan 6;11:618765. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.618765. eCollection 2020.
Thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke in nonagenarians compared with octogenarians.
Sussman ES, Martin B, Mlynash M, Marks MP, Marcellus D, Albers G, Lansberg M, Dodd R, Do HM, Heit JJ. (2020) Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Nonagenarians Compared to Octogenarians. JNIS 12:266-270.
Endovascular versus medical therapy for large-vessel anterior occlusive stroke presenting with mild symptoms.
Wolman DN, et al. (2019) Int J Stroke. doi: 10.1177/1747493019873510
Rapid Neurologic Improvement Predicts Favorable Outcome 90 Days After Thrombectomy in the DEFUSE 3 Study
Heit JJ, et al. (2019) Stroke. May;50(5):1172-1177. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.119.024928
Collateral blood flow measurement with intravoxel incoherent motion perfusion imaging in hyperacute brain stroke.
Federau C, et al. (2019) Neurology. May 21;92(21):e2462-e2471. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000007538
Hypoperfusion Intensity Ratio Is Correlated With Patient Eligibility for Thrombectomy.
Guenego A, et al. (2019) Stroke. Apr;50(4):917-922. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.118.024134
