Dr. Irene C. Cortese

Dr. Arun Venkatesan serves as Director of the Johns Hopkins Encephalitis Center, where he directs clinical activities and research. At the center he has developed a multidisciplinary program devoted to optimizing diagnosis and management of patients with infectious and autoimmune encephalitis and understanding mechanisms of disease in order to develop more effective treatments. He also plays an active role in the Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis and Transverse Myelitis Centers. He received his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1994, followed by a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology and an M.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed his residency in neurology and fellowship in neuroinfectious and neuroinflammatory diseases at Johns Hopkins, after which he was appointed to the faculty in the department of neurology in 2007. His laboratory research focuses on defining causes and mechanisms of central nervous system injury in the setting of infection and neuroinflammation, with a goal towards developing protective and regenerative strategies. He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund. Dr. Venkatesan is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Encephalitis. His top areas of expertise are Encephalitis, Herpes Simplex Encephalitis, Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis, and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Dr. Probasco is a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Neurology. He is the Vice Chair for Quality, Safety, and Service for the department. He also serves as the Director of the Johns Hopkins Division of Advanced Clinical Neurology as well as the Medical Director of the Johns Hopkins Inpatient General Neurology Service. He co-directs the Johns Hopkins Encephalitis Center and the Johns Hopkins Center for Refractory Status Epilepticus and Neuroinflammation. He cares for general neurology inpatients and outpatients, specializing in autoimmune and paraneoplastic syndromes as well as neurological immune-related adverse events following immunotherapies for cancer. After completing his undergraduate studies in biochemistry at the University of New Mexico, Dr. Probasco attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and earned a second undergraduate degree in psychology, philosophy and physiology. He went on to earn his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed an internship in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and a residency in neurology at Johns Hopkins, where he was the faculty liaison/executive chief resident. He went on to complete an instructorship in inpatient general neurology at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Probasco’s research interests include increasing care value through improving outcomes, incorporation of patient experience of disease and treatment, the efficiency of care delivery, and diagnostic test utilization in general and specifically in relation to autoimmune and paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, including encephalitis. Finally, he is interested in the management of neurological immune-related adverse events following immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. Dr. Probasco has been recognized at the departmental, institutional, and national levels for teaching and clinical excellence, including the American Academy of Neurology’s A.B. Baker Teacher Recognition Award and the Frank L. Coulson, Jr. Award from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Miller-Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence. He is a past graduate of the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute Resident Scholars (AIRS) program in Patient Safety and Quality. As a faculty member, he was inducted into the Miller-Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence in 2019. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of NEJM Journal Watch Neurology. Videos The impact of COVID-19 on the Department of Neurology‚Äôs clinical care and medical education programs. Dr. Probasco is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Encephalitis. His top areas of expertise are Encephalitis, Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis, Status Epilepticus, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and Gastrostomy.

Avindra Nath is a Neurologist in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Nath is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Encephalitis. His top areas of expertise are Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy, Encephalitis, CACH Syndrome, and Stroke.