Ali R. Rezai (born 1965) is an Iranian-born American neurosurgeon and neuroscientist. His work and research has focused on neuromodulation treatments for patients with neurological and mental health conditions, including neuromodulation techniques such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) through brain chip implants to treat Parkinson's disease tremors, obsessive–compulsive disorder, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and addiction. Recent research since 2020 has focused on deep brain stimulation for addiction treatment,"Safety and Feasibility Clinical Trial of Nucleus Accumbens Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Refractory Opioid Use Disorder", Journal of Neurosurgery, (June 2023) as well as focused ultrasound to treat tremor, addiction and Alzheimer's disease."Focused ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening in Alzheimer's disease: long-term safety, imaging, and cognitive outcomes", Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, J Neurosurg (November 4, 2022) In 2021 Rezai began a new study with trials for low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) as treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) and other substance addiction.
He currently serves as West Virginia University's Associate Dean of Neuroscience, as well as Executive Chair of the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI). Earlier in his career, he served as director of New York University's Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery until 2000. He then served as director of the functional neurosurgery program at the Cleveland Clinic until 2009, when he became director of Ohio State University's Neurological Institute. He is the former president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the North American Neuromodulation Society, and the American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and serves on the editorial board of several scientific journals including Neurosurgery.
In January 2024, Rezai and a team at RNI published findings in The New England Journal of Medicine showing that opening of the blood-brain barrier using focused ultrasound increased removal of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques in Alzheimer's disease patients undergoing anti amyloid-beta (Aβ) antibody treatment.https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/01/08/alzheimers-ultrasound-treatment-brain-barrier/ The study found that the ultrasound in combination with antibody treatment increased Alzheimer's plaque removal by 53% more in six months, as compared to antibody treatment alone. 60 Minutes featured the research, Rezai, and his team in two news spots later that month.
Early life and education Ali R. Rezai was born in 1965 in Tehran, Iran. The oldest of three brothers, he and his family moved to California around 1977. Growing up in Los Angeles, in high school he decided to pursue being a doctor. At age 16, he earned early admission into the University of California-Los Angeles, receiving an undergraduate degree with a major in biology. He subsequently attended the University of Southern California's School of Medicine, graduating with honors with his medical degree in 1990."Dr. Ali R. Rezai, MD", Castle Connolly Top Doctors, 2023
From 1990 until 1997 Rezai attended New York University to study the brain, receiving neurosurgical training under the direction of Joseph Ransohoff and Patrick Kelly and beginning to focus on performing surgeries to implant neurostimulation devices in 1995. He completed a residency program at New York University's School of Medicine in 1997. From 1997 until 1998 he completed his subspecialty fellowship in functional neurosurgery at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. He also was briefly a clinical observer in functional neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. During his training, he studied under and worked with brain specialists such as Michael Apuzzo, Ron Tasker, and Andres Lozano, with a particular focus on functional neurosurgery."Best docs: A cut above", Columbus Monthly (February 5, 2014)
Career NYU and Cleveland Clinic (1998-2009) Rezai was director of the NYU Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery, from 1998 until 2000. At NYU, he was involved with the early use of brain implants and deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the United States to help with diseases such as Parkinson's, a research area he continued pursuing later in his career.
In 2000 he was recruited by the Cleveland Clinic to direct the clinic's functional neurosurgery program and serve as a professor of neurosurgery. He was named the clinic's Jane and Lee Seidman Chair in Functional Neurosurgery."Ali Rezai, MD" , West Virginia University (2024) Rezai established and became the inaugural"Past Presidents", Congress of Neurological Surgeons director of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Neurological Restoration until 2009. During this time, he was involved in a number of clinical trials involving DBS to treat a variety of illnesses."Device wakes man with severe brain injuries", Reuters (August 1, 2007) By 2006, Rezai had performed over 900 procedures to implant neurostimulator devices, treating tremors in patients with Parkinson's, as well as pain from migraines and other chronic pain syndromes.
Ohio State University (2009-2017) In August 2009 he left Cleveland Clinic to began working at Ohio State University, where he was named the Stanley D. and Joan H. Ross Chair in Neuromodulation and the associate dean for neuroscience. He worked for eight years at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, as well as directorOhio State University Neurological Institute 2016, The Ohio State University of the Ross Center for Brain Health and Performance, where he was responsible for organizing popular science conferences featuring luminaries such as Arianna Huffington, and presentations on brain health and nutrition, lifestyle factors, and light, among others. Rezai was also appointed as director of the Ohio State University Neurological Institute and director of Ohio State's Center for Neuromodulation; a self-directed "hub" for his work on neuromodulation. As of 2025, only the Neuroscience Institute is still in existence.
As part of the neuromodulation center at Ohio State, Rezai was a researcher in clinical trials involving neuromodulation for psychiatric disorders, traumatic brain injury, obesity, Alzheimer's disease, quadriplegia, chronic pain, and headaches among others. Technologies he assisted on developing involved "brain pacemakers" and micro implants, as well as neurological sensors and monitors. By 2017, he was the scientific lead for the medical device company Neurotechnology Innovations Translator."Ohio State neurosurgeon's startup could seek Third Frontier funds to reduce opioid prescriptions", Columbus Business First (April 27, 2017)
Also while director of Ohio State's Center for Neuromodulation, in 2011 Rezai started an FDA clinical trial with the intent of implanting a chip to bypass spinal injury and restore limb movement using a brain–computer interface. He and his team were awarded the Annual BCI Research Award for the research in 2016. Rezai also was involved in a clinical trial with "brain pacemakers" to help Alzheimer's patients.
West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (2017-present) In September 2017, Rezai was appointed by West Virginia University (WVU), with the backing of US Senator Jay Rockefeller of the Rockefeller family, as the incoming director of the newly formed Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI). He was tasked with leading the patient care, research, and education at the institute. The appointment also made him executive chair and vice president of neurosciences for WVU Medicine, as well as WVU Medicine's associate dean and John D. Rockefeller IV professor in neuroscience.
On November 15, 2018, a team of investigators at RNI conducted the nation's first study with a tiny, pill-like micropellet implant made of a non-addictive, non-steroid medication that was placed into a patient's lower back to combat chronic pain caused from sciatica. Also in 2018, Rezai and a team of neuroscientists at WVU began research into wearable technology and a health app that monitors biometrics of patients to detect and predict the progression of neurological and mental health conditions. In 2018, at WVU, Rezai was lead researcher of the first US human FDA trial using focused ultrasound technology to open the blood brain barrier and reduce beta amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease.
As principal investigator"Deep brain stimulation may ease opioid addiction when other treatments fail", TODAY (September 30, 2021) in a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded study to evaluate deep brain stimulation for treatment of opioid addiction, in 2019, Rezai led a team that surgically implanted a DBS chip into the nucleus accumbens part of the brain to reduce cravings. The operation was a first-in-the-US clinical trial using deep brain stimulation for patients with treatment-resistant opioid use disorder, and garnered the attention of media outlets like BBC and the Washington Post.
He continues to serve as WVU's Associate Dean of Neuroscience, as well as executive chairman and director of the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute.
Innovations and research The holder of 60 US patents as of 2023, Rezai is involved with the study and implementation of neuromodulation procedures and devices in academia, government, and business. Rezai specializes in functional neurosurgery, neuromodulation, and "neurosurgical management" of patients with movement disorders, chronic pain and "neurobehavioral psychiatric disorders." Much of his research, papers and patents involve neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation (DBS), neurostimulation and focused ultrasound technology to treat disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and addiction.
He has also studied and developed monitoring technology for a variety of public health purposes."WVU institute to study how fast Virgin Hyperloop travel may impact brain, body", WCHS 8 / FOX 11 (November 4, 2020) By 2024, he had been a principal or co-investigator on eight grants funded by the National Institutes of Health.
In November 2025, Rezai oversaw the launch of the first "Brain Health Collaboratory" at RNI, merging clinical care, AI-powered research, and continuous data generation to accelerate the discovery and delivery of non-drug neurotherapies. Integrated into RNI’s clinical workflows, Spectris, Cognito Therapeutics’ investigative at-home neuroprotective device, incorporates non-invasive gamma frequency light and sound stimulation to evoke brain activity patterns associated with learning and memory.
Deep brain stimulation While at NYU in the late 1990s, Rezai was involved with the early use of brain implants and deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the United States to help with diseases such as Parkinson's. While working with the Cleveland Clinic in the early 2000s, he continued to be involved in a number of clinical trials involving DBS.
In 2005, he took part in the first DBS procedure done on a patient with a brain injury who was in a minimally conscious state. Around that time he was also part of a trial to treat chronic obsessive compulsive disorder with DBS, with the results published in 2006 in Neuropsychopharmacology."Three-Year Outcomes in Deep Brain Stimulation for Highly Resistant Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder", Neuropsychopharmacology (July 19, 2006) He was furthermore the lead surgeon in a procedure to use DBS to help with chronic depression. Popular Science described the procedure as a success in 2007."Happiness is a Warm Electrode", Popular Science (September 13, 2007)
On May 3, 2016, at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, surgeons performed brain stimulation surgery using an electrical lead attached to a pacemaker to control tremors from Parkinson's disease.