General Info

Alexander A. Khalessi, MD, is a board-certified neurosurgeon who specializes in cranial and endovascular surgery. He is the acting clinical chief of the Department of Neurosurgery and director of endovascular neurosurgery. He provides both open surgical and catheter-based approaches to complex neurosurgical problems, including brain tumors, aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations (AVM) and carotid disease. His vascular training informs his surgical approach to complex tumors in the brain. He is a fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (FAANS), American Heart Association Stroke Council (FAHA), and senior member of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS).Dr. Khalessi is an active clinical leader in the field of neurosurgery and the treatment of cerebrovascular disease. He is the only neurosurgeon to serve on the Interventional Advisory Panel for the StrokeNet Steering Committee. Developed by National Institutes of Health (NIH), StrokeNet is a stroke trials network that conducts clinical trials and research studies to advance acute stroke treatment and prevention, and recovery and rehabilitation following a stroke. An expert in open cranial surgery, Dr. Khalessi also leads the National Football League's (NFL) Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant Program in Southern California. Dr. Khalessi serves on the Executive Committee of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and represents the CNS and American Association of Neurological Surgeons to the American College of Radiology. Regionally, Dr. Khalessi served two terms as president of the San Diego Academy of Neurological Surgery.His research interests include open surgical and endovascular therapies for intracranial aneurysms, extracranial carotid disease, large-vessel ischemic stroke, and intensive care management and prognosis in head injury. Dr. Khalessi has been a contributing author to the national guidelines efforts that define clinical practice standards, and was a writing group member the American Heart Association/American Stroke Associations guidelines regarding both the extended use of IV-tPA and mechanical thrombectomy for ischemic stroke. Dr. Khalessi is a section editor for Cerebrovascular and Endovasular Neurosurgery for World Neurosurgery, the official journal of the World Federation of Neurological Societies (WFNS). He further chairs the Guidelines Committee for the CNS/AANS Joint Cerebrovascular Section and has authored Multi-Society Consensus Training Guidelines for Neurovascular Surgery. An associate professor for the Department of Surgery and Neurosciences, he directs national and international courses, including the intermediate resident course for the Society of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Khalessi served on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Residency Review Committee (RRC) for Neurological Surgery and the editorial board for the Journal of Graduate Medical Education. He was also named as an ACGME working group member for Neurosurgery and Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology Milestone Projects.He completed his endovascular neurosurgery fellowship at SUNY Buffalo and neurosurgical residency at University of Southern California. Dr. Khalessi earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is board certified in neurological surgery.UC San Diego Health LinksFor more information, see http://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/neuro/specialty-programs/stroke-neurovascular-surgery/Pages/default.aspx.