Gary K. Steinberg, MD, PhD
Co-Director, Stanford Stroke Center
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery

A founding director of the Stanford Stroke Center, Dr. Steinberg has practiced medicine at Stanford for more than 20 years.He has pioneered stereotactic microsurgical techniques to repair intracranial vascular malformations and certain aneurysms that were previously considered untreatable. He has also refined revascularization techniques for patients with cerebrovascular occlusions, as well as moyamoya disease.Dr. Steinberg is currently investigating an innovative approach to improve stroke recovery by transplanting neural cells into damaged brain tissue.  

 Teresa Bell-Stephens, RN, CNRN

Teresa Bell-Stephens joined the Dept. of Neurosurgery in 1990 to work with Dr. Gary Steinberg in the cerebrovascular surgery program. Prior to this, she worked in critical care nursing for several years. Teresa has worked with moyamoya patients since the early 1990s to help coordinate their care before, during and after treatment. She has expertise and knowledge of the symptoms related to the disease and is an excellent resource for patients and families. She has provided long term follow up care and information for moyamoya patients treated at Stanford University Medical Center. Teresa has lectured widely on moyamoya, and received a nursing grant to write an informational booklet for patients and families with moyamoya.

Joli Vavao, NP, MSN, CNRN

Joli joined the Neurosurgical Team in 2004. She has worked as a nurse for over 10 years specializing in neurosurgery and stroke neurology. She plays an active role coordinating the care of moyamoya patients in both an inpatient and outpatient setting.

Michael Thomas, MSW

Michael has worked with the moymoya group for seven years to provide social service support based on the individual needs of the patient and their families.

JoAnn Ceranski, TCD

JoAnn has worked at Stanford for 25 years doing various forms of neurodiagnostic testing, including transcranial Doppler (TCD). She routinely sees our moyamoya patients for daily TCDs while they are in the hospital.