Dr. Vikram Rao
About Vikram
Dr. Vikram Rao, MD, PhD is Chief of the Epilepsy Divisionin the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco and Professor of Clinical Neurology in the UCSF School of Medicine. His clinical and research interests include applications of neurostimulation devices for drug-resistant epilepsy, neuropsychiatric disorders, and seizure forecasting. He attended UC Berkeley for undergraduate studies in Neurobiology before earning his MD and PhD in Biomedical Sciences from UC San Francisco. He completed Neurology residency at the Brigham & Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals in Boston, serving as Chief Resident in his final year, and he subsequently returned to UCSF for fellowship training in epilepsy. He has been on faculty at UCSF since 2014.
Areas of focus
neurostimulation devices (e.g. RNS)
neurosurgery
utlising medications
Links
UCSF Profiles | UCSF Health | UCSF Comprehensive Epilepsy Center | UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences | Orcid | Google Scholar | ResearchGate | Neuropace
Episode
The Brain Implant That May Do More Than Reduce Seizures
16 July 2026
In this episode we hear:
How RNS may gradually rewire brain networks, making seizures less likely over time
How long-term brain recordings from RNS are improving personalised treatment and advancing epilepsy research
The future potential of RNS for conditions beyond epilepsy, including depression and OCD
Tune in here 👇