Professor of Neurosurgery
Dr. Nandan Lad is a neurosurgeon, scientist, and entrepreneur and Professor and Vice Chair of Innovation for Duke Neurosurgery. He is Director of the Functional & Restorative Neuromodulation Program and the Duke NeuroInnovations Program, a systematic approach to innovation to large unmet clinical needs.
He completed his MD and PhD in Biochemistry at Chicago Medical School and his neurosurgical residency training at Stanford with fellowships in both Surgical Innovation and Functional Neurosurgery.
Neuromodulation; Neurorestoration; Bioengineering; Medical Device Design; Clinical Trials; Data Science; Health Outcomes.
Appointments and Affiliations
- Professor of Neurosurgery
- Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
- Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy
Contact Information
- Office Location: 200 Trent Drive, Blue Zone, Su, Durham, NC 27710
- Email Address: nandan.lad@duke.edu
- Websites:
Education
- Ph.D. Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, 2004
- M.D. Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, 2004
- Stanford University, 2005
- Stanford University, 2011
- Stanford University, 2008
- Stanford University, 2009
Courses Taught
- BRAINSOC 796T: Bass Connections in Brain & Society Research Team
- BRAINSOC 795T: Bass Connections in Brain & Society Research Team
- BRAINSOC 394T: Bass Connections in Brain & Society Research Team
- BRAINSOC 393T: Bass Connections in Brain & Society Research Team
In the News
- Duke Scientists Create Brain Implant That May Enable Communication From Thought…
- When Diabetic Neuropathy Made Him Miserable, A Spinal Cord Stimulator Got Him B…
- A Challenging Diagnosis in a Patient With Metastatic Lung Cancer (Sep 13, 2016 …
- Chronic Foot, Ankle Pain After Lumbar Decompression Surgery (Aug 16, 2016 | Cli…
- Trying a New Pulse for Pain Relief (Nov 1, 2015)
- MRI Technology Reveals Deep Brain Pathways in Unprecedented Detail (Jun 4, 2015…
- Surgical Complications of DBS No Higher Risk for Older Parkinson’s Patients (Au…
- Spinal Fusion Material, BMP, Increases Risk of Benign Tumors, Not Cancer (Sep 5…
Representative Publications
- McCormick, Zachary L., Denise D. Lester, Michael J. DePalma, Christopher A. Gilmore, Sean Li, Jessica B. Jameson, Mehul J. Desai, et al. “Comparison of percutaneous 60-day peripheral nerve stimulation of the lumbar medial branches to usual care with standard interventional management for chronic low back pain-a multicenter pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RESET).” Pain Med 27, no. 4 (April 1, 2026): 462–73. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnaf147.
- Blackburn, Spiros L., Marc A. Babi, Andrew W. Grande, Omar A. Choudhri, Erik F. Hauck, Christopher P. Kellner, Michael C. Giordano, Shivanand P. Lad, and Aaron R. McCabe. “Correction: Prospective Trial of Cerebrospinal Fluid Filtration After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage via Lumbar Catheter Extension (PILLAR-XT).” Neurocrit Care 44, no. 2 (April 2026): 742. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-025-02380-4.
- McCormick, Zachary L., and RESET Clinical Trial Investigator Group (NCT04246281). “Authors' response to the letter to the editor on "Comparison of percutaneous 60-day peripheral nerve stimulation of the lumbar medial branches to usual care with standard interventional management for chronic low back pain-a multicenter pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RESET)".” Pain Med 27, no. 2 (February 1, 2026): 236–37. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnaf168.
- Deer, T. R., A. Nairizi, C. W. Hunter, H. Kalia, J. E. Pope, E. G. Cornidez, D. Sayed, et al. “The American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN) Evidence-Based Consensus Recommendations on Programming and Coding Implantable Spinal Cord Stimulation Devices for Treatment of Chronic Intractable Pain.” Journal of Pain Research 19 (January 1, 2026): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S541843.
- Chen, Sully F., Robert J. Steele, Glen M. Hocky, Beakal Lemeneh, Shivanand P. Lad, and Eric K. Oermann. “Large-scale multi-omic biosequence transformers for modeling protein-nucleic acid interactions.” PLoS One 21, no. 2 (2026): e0341501. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0341501.