Hospitals

Cleveland Clinic neurosurgeon Ali Rezai leaving for Ohio State University

Dr. Ali Rezai, who holds seven patents and whose research has helped launch three life science companies, will leave the Cleveland Clinic and start at OSU in July or August.

By Chris Seper on June 11, 2009

CLEVELAND, Ohio — One of the Cleveland Clinic’s top neurosurgeons will leave later this year for the Ohio State University Medical Center.

Dr. Ali Rezai, who holds seven patents and whose research has helped launch three life-science companies, will be formally appointed in September but likely will start at OSU in July, university spokesman David Crawford said.

Rezai’s strength is in deep brain stimulation. He was working with Minneapolis medical device maker Medtronic on clinical trials for a deep-brain stimulation device that treats depression, and also has focused on treatments for Parkinson’s disease, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, chronic pain and brain injury.

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He is the Clinic’s director of the Center for Neurological Restoration. Autonomic Technologies, CardioNomic and  IntElect Medical base their products on Rezai’s research (he is also a board member for Autonomic).

Dr. Andre Machado, whose work also contributed to the three companies connected with Rezai, will now run the Center for Neurological Restoration.

At OSU, Rezai will be vice chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery. He also will oversee the Center for Neuromodulation and areas dealing with functional neurosurgery and neurological innovation. He’ll make $600,000 a year.

Rezai is in Italy and unavailable for comment, according to the Clinic.