Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD, PhD

Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD, PhD is Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the Dean Richard H. Young and Ellen Stearns Young Professor, and a Professor of Neurology in the Divisions of Stroke & Vascular Neurology and Neurocritical Care. Her clinical practice is based at Northwestern Medicine, where she cares for patients with cerebrovascular disease, including cryptogenic stroke, carotid disease, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and vascular cognitive impairment.
Dr. Sorond earned her BS in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Houston, then completed the MD and PhD in the Medical Scientists Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine. She trained in neurology at the Harvard Longwood Neurology Program and pursued stroke and neurocritical care fellowship at the Beth Israel Deaconess and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals.
Dr. Sorond’s research focuses on vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) and brain health across the lifespan, with emphasis on cerebral small vessel disease, cognitive and motor aging, and non-invasive hemodynamic biomarkers (e.g., transcranial Doppler and advanced MRI). She has served as principal investigator and co-investigator on multiple NIH awards, and her portfolio includes clinical and mechanistic studies as well as interventional work (e.g., modulating cerebral blood flow with iron chelation or flavanol-rich cocoa).
She is a frequently invited speaker and keynote lecturer on vascular cognitive impairment, brain health, and cerebrovascular hemodynamics. Her scholarly output spans more than a hundred peer-reviewed publications, reviews, scientific statements and editorials on brain health, VCID, and aging. Her most recent work addresses white-matter integrity and clinical factors in midlife, stress and stroke, preventive neurology and brain health.
Across her clinical, research, and leadership roles, Dr. Sorond is recognized for advancing a translational agenda to understand, prevent, and treat vascular contributions to acute and chronic brain injury, preserving brain health across the lifespan, and improving outcomes for patients with stroke and age-related cognitive disorders.