Pittsburgh, February 4, 2010 -- Ali R. Rezai, MD, Julius H. Stone Endowed Professor at Ohio State University and an expert in neuromodulation and functional neurosurgery, will lecture here on psychiatric disorders March 31 as part of the department's visiting professor lecture series.

Dr. Rezai will present the lecture "Surgery for Psychiatric Disorders: Past, Present and the Future" at 4:00 p.m. in the Neurological Surgery Main Conference Room. He also will give a talk "Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders" at 3:00 p.m. during the department's regular conference schedule.

Dr. Rezai's clinical areas of interest include the neurosurgical management of patients with severe movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and dystonia, psychiatric conditions such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, chronic pain and brain injuries.

Prior to coming to the Ohio State University in 2009, Dr. Rezai had been at the Cleveland Clinic for almost 10 years where he was the director of the Center for Neurological Restoration and held the Jane and Lee Seidman Chair in Functional Neurosurgery.

He earned his medical degree from the University of Southern California and underwent neurosurgical training at New York University. He completed his subspecialty training in functional neurosurgery at the University of Toronto and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He then joined the neurosurgical faculty at New York University Medical Center, becoming the director of the Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery.

At Ohio State, Dr. Rezai is also vice chairman of clinical research for the Department of Neurological Surgery, director of the OSU Functional Neurosurgery Program, director of the OSU Center for Neuromodulation, and director of OSU Neurosurgical Innovations.

Dr. Rezai has delivered over 300 lectures nationally and internationally and chaired numerous symposia and meetings. He has received numerous clinical, research and innovation awards, and holds 13 U.S. patents.

In addition to his lectures, Dr. Rezai will participate in the department's conferences throughout the day.

Day's Schedule:

(All events are scheduled for the department's main conference room located in Suite B-400, UPMC Presbyterian)

11:30 a.m.
Case Presentations and Lunch with Residents

2:00 p.m.
Journal Club

3:00 p.m.
Visiting Professor Lecture
"Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders"

3:30 p.m.
Resident Lecture

4:00 p.m.
Visiting Professor Lecture
"Surgery for Psychiatric Disorders: Past, Present and the Future."

For more information on Dr. Rezai's visit, please contact Wendy Edwards at (412) 647-0990.