Staff Spotlight Tasha Renner-Chavez

Tasha Renner-Chavez

Tasha Renner-Chavez began working at Washington University in 2011 in the Department of Psychiatry as a medical records clerk. Over the years, she advanced to become the lead scheduler and credentialing assistant. When she discovered credentialing, she knew it was the right fit and eventually joined the Department of Neurology in January 2023. Moving to […]

Smyser named next Division Director of Pediatric and Developmental Neurology

Chris Smyser

As of Sept. 1, 2025, Christopher Smyser, MD, will be the next division director of Pediatric and Developmental Neurology at WashU Medicine Neurology. He succeeds Christina Gurnett, MD, PhD, who has served as division director of Pediatric and Developmental Neurology since 2018. Smyser began his training at the University of Iowa, earning his undergraduate degree […]

Spotlight: 2026 adult neurology chief residents

2025-2025 adult neurology chief residents group photo

Michael Petrany Co-administrative Chief Where I’m from Huntington, West Virginia Brief background about my education/training I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio for college at Xavier University and stayed in the city for the MD/PhD program at University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I completed my PhD in Doug Millay’s lab studying mechanisms of myoblast fusion […]

Faculty Profiles Aaron Struck

Aaron Struck, MD, joined the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis on July 1, 2025, as associate professor of neurology and head of the adult epilepsy section. His clinical and research interests include surgical treatment of idiopathic generalized epilepsy, EEG and neuroimaging, molecular imaging and data science. Struck came to WashU […]

Faculty Profile Nico Dosenbach

Nico Dosenbach

“I really love maps. I’m not good at art, but as a kid, I would draw medieval maps and those kinds of things.” Now an adult, Nico U. Dosenbach, MD, PhD, still draws maps, but of the human brain. Dosenbach is a professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, in […]

Staff Spotlight Ashley Wade

Ashley Wade

Ashley Wade began her career at WashU Medicine in the Department of Neurology four years ago. She is a billing/scheduling associate II who processes all incoming pediatric referrals. Initially, she worked with adult referrals but switched to pediatric referrals about three years ago, which she loves. Coming from a small family, Wade is the oldest […]

Staff Spotlight Nicole Elmore

Nicole Elmore

Nicole Elmore earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and later completed a Master of Science, Adult Nurse Practitioner degree at Saint Louis University. With an extensive background of 18 years in cardiology, she joined the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center (Knight ADRC) in 2017 as the initial nurse […]

In my own words — Dave Krygiel’s story of surviving stroke, patient advocacy

Dave Krygiel, stuffed Elmo and Gary

My name is Dave Krygiel; I was born May 11, 1946. Advanced Thanks On May 8, 2015, I suffered a brain-bleed with a brain mass. I had a very difficult time emotionally recovering from this event. Clinically, there is no medical recovery, there was only learning to accept it and then learning the skills to […]

Faculty Profile: Saumel Ahmadi

headshot of Dr. Saumel Ahmadi

Saumel Ahmadi, MD, PhD, has been appointed instructor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Ahmadi earned an MD from Saurashtra University in India and a PhD in Genetics and Physiology from The Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto before joining WashU Medicine for his pediatric neurology residency […]

Hassenstab installed as Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology

John Morris, Jason Hassenstab and Jin-Moo Lee

Jason Hassenstab, PhD, was installed as the Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology on Thursday, March 27, 2025. The ceremony was followed by remarks from John Morris, MS, and Jin-Moo Lee, MD, PhD, and an address from Hassenstab titled, “Boundaries and Crossing Borders in Alzheimer’s Disease Research.” Hassenstab is a professor of Neurology and professor […]