New faculty spotlight: Afsaneh Shirani, M.D.

Afsaneh Shirani, M.D., is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Afsaneh Shirani, M.D.
• Hometown: Tehran, Iran
• Title and department at UNMC: Assistant professor, UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences, Division of Multiple Sclerosis

Research interests:

• Multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating autoimmune diseases;
• Drug effectiveness and precision medicine in multiple sclerosis;
• Biomarkers, particularly neuroimaging biomarkers in multiple sclerosis;
• Disease progression and outcome research; and
• Neurorepair and neuroprotection strategies in the central nervous system.

How I fell in love with neurology: The brief answer is that it was hard for me not to fall in love with neurology.

As a teenager, I was drawn to problem solving, which led me to learn a number of computer programming languages. I enjoyed simplifying problems and developing algorithms to approach them. Later, I found that this is a common approach in medicine. Specifically, my enthusiasm in pursuing a career in neurology developed in medical school as I started to learn how our brain makes us who we are. I also was fascinated by the rationale behind neuroanatomical localization and how the intricate clinical findings help to narrow down the diagnosis.

Understanding the incredibly complex human brain, and consequently understanding neurological disorders, became my long-term interest and academic goal. I have been very fortunate to have had wonderful mentors throughout this ongoing journey. I was also touched personally when my much-loved grandmother developed and died from Alzheimer’s disease after a long struggle, and when another relative was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis just a few months after her wedding. These personal experiences further shaped my desire to become a clinician-scientist in academic neurology, so I could help effect change in the lives of others similarly impacted.

Education:

• M.D., Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Pharmacoepidemiology of Multiple Sclerosis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• Internship, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
• Residency, Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
• M.S., clinical investigation, Washington University, St. Louis
• Fellowship, multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology, Washington University, St. Louis

Memberships:

• The American Academy of Neurology
• The American Neurological Association
• The American Society of Neuroimaging
• The Transverse Myelitis Association
• The International Society of Neuroimmunology

Three things people may not know about me:

• Hiking is my peaceful way of relaxing.
• I am a huge fan of TED talks.
• I am a great believer in the quote that “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy chocolate, which is kinda the same thing!”