Kanika Bagai, MD, MSCI

Kanika
Bagai
MD, MSCI
Professor
Neurology

Dr. Bagai is Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She joined the Neurology faculty at VUMC as a Clinical Instructor in 2004 and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 2005. She has been serving as Director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program at Vanderbilt since 2011. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017 and Professor in 2023. She is involved in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders, and in teaching medical students, neurology residents and sleep medicine fellows.

She is board certified in Clinical Neurology, Diplomate of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and has also received certification in Sleep Medicine through the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN).

Dr. Bagai received her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Delhi, New Delhi, India in 1995. She spent two years as a research assistant at the Rush Cancer Institute, Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s University in Chicago, IL and the Department of Neurology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Bagai completed her internship in Internal Medicine at the Rush Westlake Hospital, affiliated with the Rush University, Chicago, IL from 1998-99. This was followed by a residency in Adult Clinical Neurology at Loyola University Medical Center and the Edward Hines VA, Maywood, IL from 1999-2002. She served as Chief Resident in her final year of residency. She joined Vanderbilt as a fellow in Clinical Neurophysiology and Sleep Medicine in 2002. In 2010, she earned a Masters in Science and Clinical Investigation degree from Vanderbilt University.

(615) 936-0060
Office Address
Medical Center North
1161 21st Avenue South
Room / Suite
A-0118
Nashville
Tennessee
37232

Dr. Bagai’s research interests include studying the mechanisms of obstructive sleep apnea, Restless Legs Syndrome and related cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity.

Derek B. Archer, PhD

Derek
B.
Archer
PhD
Assistant Professor
Neurology

Dr. Derek Archer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) working in the Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer’s Center. Prior to his appointment in the department, he obtained his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (2012) and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida conducting neuroimaging research (2016). Throughout his time at the University of Florida, he focused on the structural and functional differences exhibited in a variety of neurological disorders, including chronic stroke, essential tremor, and Parkinsonism. Throughout his career, he has received funding from the NIH and the Parkinson’s Foundation.

Dr. Archer’s long-term research goal is to identify novel in-vivo neuroimaging and genetic biomarkers in neurodegenerative disease. The focus of his current work is to use multi-site diffusion MRI data to determine which genetic risk factors impact the neurodegeneration of the medial temporal lobe in aging. This research will enhance our understanding of white matter damage and the genes which drive this damage in aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). 

Recent Publications

2017

2016

Lealani Mae (Leah) Acosta, MD, MPH

Lealani Mae (Leah)
Acosta
M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor
Neurology

Dr. Lealani Mae (Leah) Acosta is an Associate Professor of Neurology and a board-certified neurologist specializing in neurodegenerative memory disorders. Currently she serves as co-editor of the Humanities section of the journal Neurology. Dr. Acosta joined the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty in 2013. She completed graduate studies, obtaining a master's in public health at Vanderbilt, with her research focused on error frequency and quality in a task of semantic fluency in patients with mild cognitive impairment. 

She attended The George Washington University, graduating summa cum laude in psychology. She completed graduate studies in psychology, philosophy, and physiology at Oxford University in Oxford, UK. On returning to the United States, she finished both her medical education and residency training in Neurology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. She completed fellowship in Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, under the mentorship of Dr. Kenneth Heilman, focusing on creativity. Her interest in this topic stems in part from her own hobbies of poetry, drawing, and calligraphy. Her range of publications reflects these varied interests, including peer-reviewed research articles and creative writing, primarily poetry.

Dr. Acosta is the principal investigator for Alector Frontotemporal Dementia clinical trial in patients with the progranulin gene mutation and other Alzheimer's disease clinical trial research. As a study physician for Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer’s Center, Dr. Acosta performed clinical evaluations, lumbar punctures for cerebrospinal fluid acquisition, and reviewed laboratory findings. She also is a sub-investigator or study physician for other research projects in Alzheimer's disease and other clinical trials at Vanderbilt, such as the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the MIND (Memory Improvement through Nicotine Dosing) Study, and the Bringing to Light the Risk Factors and Incidence of Neuropsychological Dysfunction in ICU Survivors (BRAIN-2). As a Clinician Educator working with medical students, she has served as a Master Clinical Teacher, working one-on-one supervising histories and physicals, and a Portfolio Coach, and currently serves as College Mentor within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She has published research on medical education. Dr. Acosta has been instrumental in protocol implementation for evaluation of normal pressure hydrocephalus, which won the prestigious Vanderbilt University Medical Center Elevate Team Credo Award in 2023, and the lumbar puncture clinic for the neurology residents.

Bassel W. Abou-Khalil, MD

Bassel
W.
Abou-Khalil
MD
Clinical Director
VUMC Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU)
Professor
Neurology
Program Director
Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship

Dr. Abou-Khalil is Professor of Neurology and Director of the Epilepsy Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is board certified in Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology, and Epilepsy. He is founder and Director of the Vanderbilt Epilepsy Monitoring Unit and Clinical Epilepsy Program and was the founding director of the Vanderbilt Clinical Neurophysiology Training Program, which was accredited by ACGME in 1996. Dr. Abou-Khalil is a member of the American Neurological Association, a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (Epilepsy Section), a fellow of the American Epilepsy Society, and a fellow of the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society.

Dr. Abou-Khalil earned both his B.S. and his medical degree (1978) at the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon. He completed an internship and one year of residency in Internal Medicine at the American University Medical Center in Beirut. He completed his neurology residency and EEG and epilepsy fellowship at the University of Michigan Medical Center in 1985 and then was a post-doctoral fellow in Clinical Neurophysiology at the Montreal Neurologic Institute in Montreal, Quebec in 1986.

Dr. Abou-Khalil’s research interests are predominantly in the area of clinical epilepsy, including seizure semiology, anti-seizure medications, epilepsy surgery, development of new therapies for epilepsy, and clinical epilepsy genetics.

With respect to epilepsy surgery, he is interested in the analysis of seizure signs and their localizing and lateralizing significance and the localization of language and memory functions in the brain before surgery. 

He has conducted numerous trials of experimental and new antiepileptic drugs in various forms of epilepsy. Drugs currently being investigated include XEN1101 and CVL-865 for refractory focal-onset seizures, and OPC-214870 in patients with epileptic photosensitivity.