Member Spotlight

June 2024

Rushna Ali, MD

Associate Professor
Director of Stereotactic, Functional and Epilepsy Fellowship
Department of Neurological Surgery
Board Certified Neurosurgeon 
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Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota
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​NANS member since 2017
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NANS members can find me on Twitter
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Rushna Ali, MD an Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, is a distinguished board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. Her expertise encompasses advanced surgical treatments for chronic and cancer-related pain, facial pain, movement disorders, stroke rehabilitation, and epilepsy management. Dr. Ali is driven by a passion for restoring her patients' quality of life through innovation and clinical excellence. As a member of the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS), she embraces collaboration, pushing the boundaries of her field alongside fellow experts.
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Areas of Expertise:
Board-certified neurosurgeon with expertise in all salient aspects of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. This includes advanced surgical treatments to treat chronic and cancer-related pain, facial pain and other neuralgia, movement disorders, stroke rehabilitation and recovery, as well as surgical management of epilepsy. 

Why I enjoy what I do:
Helping patients get their quality of life back, through constant innovation and clinical excellence, is a privilege and joy.
  
How I became interested in neuromodulation:
The ability to restore function and improve quality of life for patients is a rare thing and neuromodulation allows us to do exactly that. 

The best thing about NANS:
I am a member of NANS because it gave me an opportunity to meet with clinicians, basic scientists and engineers and discuss new ideas that might advance the field of neuromodulation. The society also provides an excellent setting for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to meet the clinicians and scientists of the articles they read to develop their own research programs that center around neuromodulation.  

What are your highlights from attending NANS 2024? 
I get to surround myself with experts in the field who bring new and innovative perspectives and together we are able to push the field forward. 
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​My favorite book
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

Words to live by
"The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - Excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.’’ 

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