Our Team

Dr. Francesca Bagnato is a dual-board (European and American) neurology certified physician, currently on faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Dr. Bagnato sees patients with neuroimmunological diseases at the Neuroimmunology Clinic of VUMC as well as the Nashville VA HealthCare System. She joined Vanderbilt in October 2015 where she is now the Head of the Neuroimaging Program of the Neuroimmunology Division, Co-Director of Research-MSCoE-East for the VA and Associate Vice-Chair of Research at VUMC. Dr. Bagnato has authored more than 100 publication focused on MS.  

Neha Aggarwal is a third-year medical student at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She obtained her B.S.P.H. from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2021 in Health Policy and Management. She plans to apply into neurology for residency and is dedicated to exploring the breadth of neurology and the intricacies of neuro-immunology. In her future medical practice, she hopes to both advance patient care and contribute to our developing understanding of neurological diseases. She also has interests in medical humanities, health policy advocacy, and providing high-quality care to underserved communities, serving as a leader in each of these areas at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Ellie McCluey is an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University majoring in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health and Society. She works on a 7T MRI study to improve the identification of chronic active lesions.

Jiacheng Wang is a second-year Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University majoring in computer science in Prof Oguz lab. He is passionate about exploring the potential application of machine learning/deep learning in physiological and pathological conditions.

Jiacheng runs several projects aimed at developing automated segmentation of  paramagnetic rim lesions, leptomeningeal enhancement foci and white matter lesions on 7T MRI under limited human annotations scenarios. 

Jessica Zhang is a junior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health, and Society. She is interested in using MRI to study neuroaxonal injury and chronic inflammation in MS patients.

Caroline graduated from Belmont University with her B.S in biology and psychology. Caroline follows alongside patients through the research process by working to recruit patients and assist with their MRIs. She hopes to learn more about the progression and functioning of multiple sclerosis through the use of MRI technology. 

 

Taegan has her B.S. in Public Health from the University of Alabama. Taegan enrolls participants, obtains consent, and assists with 7T MRI scans. Taegan is interested in gaining further knowledge in the progression of multiple sclerosis observed through MRI methods and performs image analyses of mice with experimental multiple sclerosis. 

Dr. Carynn Koch completed her undergraduate education at University of Southern Indiana and medical education at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She then joined Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she trained in neurology and served as Chief Neurology Resident during her last year. Dr. Koch is a clinical fellow sponsored by the National MS Society, with plans to pursue a career in the comprehensive management of multiple sclerosis. Dr. Koch is also engaged in a research project studying the longitudinal outcome of lesions with and without a central vein sign. 

Dr. Zach Rohm is a board-certified neurologist who joined Vanderbilt as a 2023-2024 clinical neuroimmunology fellow. He earned a B.S. in neuroscience at Emory University in 2011 and M.D. at the Medical College of Georgia in 2015. He completed neurology residency at Emory University and served as chief resident from 2018-2019. Dr. Rohm has spent the last four years in clinical practice, first as a neurohospitalist at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia and more recently as an outpatient general neurologist at Ascension St. Vincent's Healthcare in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Dr. Ahmad Toubasi completed his medical education at the University of Jordan School of Medicine. During medical school, he coauthored and led tens of research publications on several topics including COVID-19, psychiatry, neurology, and internal medicine all while excelling medical school. He is passionate about evidence-based medicine and aspires to lead in Neurology. His primary interests lie in the fields of demyelinating and neurodegenerative disorders. Currently, he is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Bagnato Lab at VUMC, with plans to pursue residency in neurology in the future.