Stanford Headache and Facial Pain Program Team

Niushen Zhang, MD, FAHS
Division Chief, Headache and Facial Pain
Clinical Associate Professor, Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Dr. Zhang is a board-certified neurologist and Chief of the Headache and Facial Pain Division in the Department of Neurology. She has a special interest in developing personalized treatment plans for headache patients which incorporate the use of complementary and integrative medicine. She is the Chair of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Special Interest Section of the American Headache Society (AHS). Her research interests include acupuncture for the treatment of migraine, the impact of diet and nutrition on migraine, and the relationship between cannabis use and medication overuse headache in people with chronic migraine. In addition, she participates in clinical trials of new headache treatments for migraine and cluster headache. Dr. Zhang is also actively involved in medical education. She is the Director of the Headache Fellowship Program at Stanford. She serves as a member of the AHS Match Task Force and the AHS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force. She is also a curriculum developer for AHS's REACH Program. She spearheaded the design and creation of the AHS National Headache Fellowship Opportunities website which serves as a central resource for all headache fellowship applicants and promotes the AAN's unified fellowship application timeline.

Dr. Zhang graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. She earned an MD from the New York University School of Medicine. She completed neurology residency and fellowship in headache and facial pain at Stanford University.

Meredith Barad, MD
Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesia

Dr. Meredith Barad is a Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesia (Pain Management) and Neurology and Neurological Sciences, at Stanford Hospital & Clinics. She is also co-Director of the Facial Pain Program. She is also the Program Director of the Pain Fellowship.  Her current clinical research involves the treatment of headache and facial pain in the context of concurrent chronic pain. 

Dr. Barad attended Stanford University Medical School and completed her residency at Stanford Hospital and Clinics where she was Chief Resident of Neurology. She is board certified in the areas of Neurology, Pain Medicine and Headache Medicine and holds memberships with the American Academy of Neurology, American Headache Society, and the American Academy of Pain Medicine where she is the chair of the Headache and Orofacial Pain Special Interest Group. She is on the board of the American Interventional Headache Society. She is a director-at-Large of the American Pain Program Directors and on the Editorial Board of Pain Medicine.  

Robert P. Cowan, MD, FAAN, FAHS
Higgins Family Professor, Neurology & Neurological Sciences and, by courtesy, Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology

Dr. Robert Cowan is Higgins Family Professor of Neurology and Director of the Headache Research Program at Stanford University. Prior to joining Stanford he was the founding medical director of the Keeler Center for the Study of Headache (Ojai, CA) and senior clinical research scientist in molecular neurobiology at Huntington Medical Research Institutes (Pasadena, CA). Prior to that he founded and directed the Headache program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine.

Dr. Cowan attended University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, completed a residency program at USC Department of Neurology and served on faculty there until 2000. He is Board Certified in the areas of: Psychiatry and Neurology and Pain Medicine. He also holds subspecialty certification in Headache Medicine.  Dr. Cowan is widely published in various scientific journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Cephalalgia, and Headache. In addition, Dr. Cowan has held several nationally elected positions, including chair of the section on Chronic Daily Headache for the American Headache Society. He is past-President of the Headache Cooperative of the Pacific, a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society.  He sits on the boards of the Alliance for Headache Diseases Advocacy and the Headache Cooperative of the Pacific. He is an ad hoc reviewer for a variety of journals, and an active mentor in the Stanford BioDesign Program.

Leon Moskatel, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurology & Neurological  Sciences

Dr. Leon Moskatel completed Headache Fellowship at Stanford before joining as a Clinical Instructor. He is trained in Internal Medicine and is excited to bring that perspective to Headache Medicine. He obtained his Bachelor of the Arts from Columbia University and his medical degree at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. During that time, he also researched organic chemistry and microbial metabolism at the California Institute in Technology. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, where he served as president of the Residency Advisory Committee. His research interests focus on the overlap between health economics and headache medicine. His 2019 paper “Did UberX reduce ambulance volume?” received national attention and he received the American Headache Society's 2020 "Frontiers in Headache Research" award.

Oyindamola Ogunlaja, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Oyindamola Ogunlaja joined the headache division after working as a headache and general neurologist at King’s College Hospital in London, England. She completed her Headache fellowship at Stanford. Prior to her fellowship, she completed neurology residency at the Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals in Boston. Her research interests include nummular headache, and she was involved in running clinical trials in the UK. She returns to Stanford Neurology to provide clinical care to headache and facial pain patients in Palo Alto.
 

Addie Peretz, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Addie Peretz, MD, is a board certified Neurologist and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences. Her clinical interests focus on the diagnosis and treatment of headache and facial pain conditions. She is involved in medical education and received the Robert S. Fisher Teaching Award for excellence in neurology resident teaching of medical students at Stanford in June of 2015. Her research interests include understanding the biological underpinnings of migraine and chronic daily headaches. She also participates in clinical trials of new headache treatments. She is currently a member of the American Headache Society as well as the International Headache Society.

Dr. Peretz received her bachelor's degree in Neuroscience at Brown University and earned her medical degree at the New York University School of Medicine. She completed her internship at Georgetown Medical Center in Washington, DC, followed by residency in Neurology and fellowship in Headache and Facial Pain, both at Stanford University.

Carol A. Barch, MN, FNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner IV

Carol received her bachelor's degree in nursing from Wayne State University, and a master's and post-master's nursing degree from Emory University.  She is a board-certified family nurse practitioner, has received national specialty certification in critical care nursing and neuroscience nursing, and added Qualification in Headache Medicine.  

Carol has been nationally recognized for her work in cerebrovascular disease.  However over the past 10 years, her focus has been on headache medicine.  She has presented at local, national, and international programs, published multiple articles and an active member of the American Headache Society. 

As a nurse practitioner on the team, she provides follow-up care to patients working to meet their goals in medication and lifestyle management for headache and facial pain. Her areas of interest include integrative medicine and patient education.

Michelle Krzanich, SCPM

Michelle received her bachelors in Public Relations, with a minor in Sociology, from San Jose State University. She is a Stanford Certified Project Manager (SCPM) and has been working in the Stanford umbrella since 2013. She started with the School of Engineering and then moved to the School of Medicine. As of May 2018, she joined the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford Neurosciences Health Center.