Kambiz Nael, MD, earned his medical degree from the Shiraz University Medical School in Shiraz, Iran, in 2000. He completed a diagnostic cardiovascular MRI post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA in 2006. After an internship in general surgery at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, he completed a diagnostic radiology residency (2011) and a neuroradiology fellowship (2012) at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.

Dr. Nael has held faculty roles in neuroradiology and neuroscience at University of Arizona Medical Center (2012-15), the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City (2015-19), and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (2020-2024). Dr. Nael’s leadership roles include Director of Neuroradiology MRI and Director of Stroke Imaging at University of Arizona, and Director of MRI, CT & Advanced Imaging and Director of Neuroimaging Advanced and Exploratory Lab at The Icahn School of Medicine.

Dr. Nael’s research investigates quantitative neuroimaging with a clinical focus on cerebrovascular diseases and stroke. Dr. Nael has developed quantitative models to estimate the infarct core in patients with acute stroke with the goal of reducing variability, and has presented his multidisciplinary research at national and international scientific meetings. Related research interests include developing advanced imaging technology and MR protocol design, which have resulted in a 6-minute MRI stroke protocol and a 4D parathyroid MR protocol. His work on using amplified MRI for coupled motion of the brain and blood flow was the winner of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers – Bioengineering Division Competition at the 2018 World Congress of Biomechanics, and the winner of the National Science Foundation (NSF) visualization challenge.

As an educator, Dr. Nael has designed and delivered multidisciplinary conferences for residents and fellows, and mentored medical students, post-docs, and junior faculty. He has published online education lectures on AI in neuroradiology and acute ischemic stroke, and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international society meetings. Dr. Nael is co-chair of the ASNR Research Committee, a member of the ASNR Educational Committee, and he has won the Radiology Editor’s Recognition Award with Distinction for four consecutive years.