Neurodegeneration & molecular biomarkers
Tracing Alzheimer disease, Lewy body disease, and Parkinson disease through tau, alpha-synuclein, fluid biomarkers, PET, and longitudinal phenotype.
TauAlpha-synucleinPETPrecision medicine
A life in synthesis
The brain may be studied in signals, but a life is understood in meaning.
I am a neurologist and neuroscientist in training at McGill University, working across neurodegeneration, molecular biomarkers, neuroimaging, and human intracranial electrophysiology. My long-term goal is to build an independent clinician-scientist program connecting disease biology, brain-network physiology, and clinically meaningful neurological phenotype. I also think, write, and make music because a human life exceeds any single method. Science tests what is true. Medicine asks what matters. Music and writing help us hear what the answers mean.
Research programme
From signal
to significance.
Neuroimaging & brain networks
Connecting distributed brain-network physiology to cognition, behaviour, recovery, and clinically meaningful neurological phenotypes.
MEGMRINetwork physiologyNeuromodulation
Human intracranial electrophysiology
Using signals recorded directly from the human brain to study memory, cognition, and the temporal architecture of neural computation.
SEEGMemoryCognitionHuman neuroscience
Clinical trials, AI & translation
Designing clinically meaningful experiments and testing whether artificial intelligence can localize lesions, reason anatomically, and communicate uncertainty.
Clinical trialsLLMsEvaluation scienceTherapeutics
Music cognition & creativity
Studying music as a biological, cognitive, cultural, and therapeutic phenomenon, from auditory processing and creativity to neurological dysfunction and recovery.
Auditory cognitionCreativityMusic therapyNeuroaesthetics
Neurosurgery, epilepsy & brain health
Extending a published body of work across pediatric epilepsy surgery, awake craniotomy, cerebrospinal fluid shunting, flow diversion, global neurosurgery, and neurosurgical education.
Epilepsy surgeryCerebrovascularNeuro-oncologyMedical education
Selected scholarship
Ideas made
public.
Led and collaborative peer-reviewed work across neurodegeneration, epilepsy, neurosurgery, clinical trials, and artificial intelligence.
486Google Scholar citations
12h-index
13i10-index
01
First author
02Early Exposure to Neurosurgery: Assessment of Perceptions, Mentorship and Competence on Medical Student Interest
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences · 2025
First author
03ChatGPT and Neurosurgical Education: A Crossroads of Innovation and Opportunity
Journal of Clinical Neuroscience · 2024
First author
04The Hair-sparing Approach Versus Traditional Hair Clipping for Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunting Procedures
Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics · 2024
First author
05Long-term Cognitive Outcomes Following Pediatric and Adolescent Epilepsy Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Seizure · 2023
Collaborative study
06The Evolution of Randomized Clinical Trial Designs to Assess Therapeutics in Alzheimer Disease
JAMA Network Open · 2025
Co-first author
07Medial Temporal Tau Predicts Memory Decline in Cognitively Unimpaired Elderly
Brain Communications · 2022
Co-first author
GBA1 and the Immune System: A Potential Role in Parkinson's Disease?
Journal of Parkinson's Disease · 2022
Books & long-form work
Ideas need
room.
Books and chapters that cross medicine, neuroscience, history, literature, music, and philosophy.
Cambridge University Press · 2026
Music, Medicine,
and the Neurobiology
of Creativity.
This book presents an interdisciplinary survey at the intersection of music, creativity, and medicine. Featuring contributions from medical doctors, psychologists, and musicians, it surveys thought-provoking findings in the music-medical borderlands. Experts in neuroscience explore the cerebral underpinnings of music, from auditory-motor interactions and rhythm to the role of music in therapy, epilepsy, and cognitive disorders. Case studies trace the medical biographies of Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel, and Gershwin. Accompanying studio recordings from the volume editors extend the book from scholarship into sound. Students, researchers, and readers interested in the new frontiers of music in medicine will find original cross-disciplinary connections throughout the volume.
Amazon Top New Release ISBN 9781009407755
Edited byPhillip L. Pearl, MD Harvard University
Saman Arfaie, MD, CM McGill University
Saman Arfaie, MD, CM McGill University
The response
Advance praise.
Hover to pause
Under review · University of Calgary Press
COVID-19 Contextualized
A Mosaic of Interdisciplinary Works Through a Canadian Lens
Edited bySaman Arfaie, MD, CM
Peter J. Glinos, PhD
Faraz Honarvar, MD, MSc
Peter J. Glinos, PhD
Faraz Honarvar, MD, MSc
A 300+ page book spanning 20+ chapters, bringing molecular biology, epidemiology, clinical medicine, public health, psychology, education, ethics, policy, history, and leadership into a Canadian account of the pandemic. It moves from viral biology and mathematical modelling to hospital systems, the social consequences of crisis, national research and policy responses, and the lessons Canada must carry forward. Contributors include Trevor Young, Abraham Fuks, Catherine Hankins, Kevin Smith, Timothy Grant Evans, and Dawn Bowdish, alongside scholars and leaders from across Canadian medicine, science, education, and public life.
Selected book chapters
Scholarship in
long form.
Cambridge University Press · Chapter 31
Robert's Health Issues
Clara and Robert Schumann in Context
View the chapterCambridge University PressView the Cambridge volume
View the Cambridge volume Cerebral Processing of Music and Its Possible Biological Role
Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity
The Onset of Silence: Beethoven's Battle with Deafness
Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity
Harmony and Discord: The Medical History of Robert and Clara Schumann
Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity
Music, Medicine and the Neurobiology of Creativity
Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity
COVID-19 Contextualized
From Virus to Vaccine: Unraveling the Historical Strands of COVID-19 in Canada
University of Calgary Press, under review
Looking Ahead: Lessons Learnt from COVID-19 and Canada's Path Forward
University of Calgary Press, under review
Ramamurthi and Tandon's Textbook of Neurosurgery · 4th edition · Volume 4 · 2026
Flow Diversion in the Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysms
Co-authored chapter on the principles, mechanisms, devices, evidence, and clinical application of flow diversion in endovascular neurosurgery.
View the textbook
Reading & thinking
The private life
of an idea.
Love, Loss, and the Architecture of Memory
A developing inquiry into attachment, grief, identity, literature, and the neural architecture through which the self remembers, revises, and survives.
Five TEDx stages
Nationally sought-after
thought leader.
01
TEDxHEC Montréal · 2024
02The Anatomy of Loss
Why we make art about loss
TEDxConcordia University · 2024
03Working in an ER Changed My Understanding of Mental Health
What crisis reveals about care
TEDxMcMaster University · 2024
04The Myth of Arrival
Thriving beyond the destination fallacy
TEDxUAlberta · 2022
05Viral Change
Self-discoveries during COVID-19
TEDxMcGill · 2021
Illuminating the Human Journey
Music, medicine, and meaning
Piano & performance
Music is another
way of knowing.
Classical piano trains attention, architecture, memory, restraint, and the ability to hold many voices at once. It is part of how I think, not an ornament to the scientific life.
May 3, 2026 · American Osler Society · Toronto
Echoes of Time & Memory: The Late Piano Works of Schubert
“Themes return, yet never intact.”
AOS 2026 meeting programmeNovember 2021 · TEDxMcGill
Illuminating the Human Journey: Music, Medicine, and Meaning
Chopin, Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1.
Watch the lecture-recitalAt the keyboard
Current
repertoire.
J. S. Bach
English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807
L. van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, Appassionata
Franz Schubert
Four Impromptus, D. 899 / Op. 90
Franz Schubert
Drei Klavierstücke, D. 946
Franz Liszt
Six Consolations, S. 172
Frédéric Chopin
Ballade No. 4 in F minor; Nocturnes, Op. 48, Nos. 1 and 2
Media & features
Across the
public sphere.
Canadian Medical Association
Award for Young Leaders
A national profile of leadership in medicine, education, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
McGILLA physician-scientist in formation
On immigration, medicine, music, public responsibility, and scientific ambition.
FMHSNational leadership recognition
McGill Medicine on mentorship, service, and interdisciplinary leadership.
TEDMusic, Medicine, and Meaning
A performance and talk on Chopin, suffering, science, and the human condition.
Education & clinical formation
Medicine, mind,
music, meaning.
2026 to present
MSc Candidate, Integrated Program in Neuroscience
McGill University's interdisciplinary graduate neuroscience program, linking molecular, cellular, systems, cognitive, and clinical neuroscience.
2025 to present
Adult Neurology Residency
McGill University, postgraduate clinical training in neurology.
2020 to 2024
Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery, MD, CM
McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. T. F. Rose Entrance Scholar, selected among 10 students from an entrance cohort of 922, placing in approximately the top 99th percentile.
2013 to 2017
BSc, Molecular and Cell Biology
Emphasis in Neurobiology, University of California, Berkeley.
2013 to 2017
BA, Near Eastern Languages and Literatures
Emphasis in Persian Literature, University of California, Berkeley.
Minor
Music
Advanced coursework in music history, theory, and performance.
Minor
Chemistry
Undergraduate training in chemical science.
Teaching & mentorship
Knowledge
in motion.
Transition to Clinical Practice Lecture Series
Large-group McGill neurology teaching for 70+ students per session, integrating clinical neurology, neuroanatomy, bedside reasoning, and examination preparation across epilepsy, neurological emergencies, coma, headache, pain, and transient loss of consciousness.
Block J Neurology
Case-based teaching for groups of 12 to 15 students focused on neuroanatomical localization, clinical neuroscience, the neurological examination, pediatric neurology, movement disorders, diplopia, dementia, coma, and brain death.
McGill University Prestige Scholars Program
Academic, research, and professional mentorship for undergraduate scholars selected for exceptional achievement and leadership.
Selected initiatives
Leadership
& collaboration.
2020 to 2024 · Co-founder and president
Canadian Medical Student Interest Group in Neurosurgery
Co-founded Canada's first nationally focused medical-student neurosurgery initiative. Led approximately 30 events with 23,000+ views, national mentorship, career resources, and Women in Neurosurgery programming.
2022 to present · Co-founderNeuro International Collaborative
International research collaborative supporting 50+ medical students, doctoral candidates, and undergraduate researchers across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Africa.
Debate & Model United Nations
Learning to move
a room.
More than 20 national and international Model United Nations and debate awards across North America, with 50-plus resolutions co-authored and passed across 20 committees. Delegations earned recognition at Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Chicago, and McGill.
Third Best Individual Speaker · University of Victoria Senior Debate TournamentBest Double Speaker · Lower Mainland Regional Debate Tournament
Italian delegation, Global Model NATO Summit
Honorable Delegate, UBC Model United Nations
Distinguished Delegate, University of California, Santa Barbara Model United Nations
Best Delegate, British Columbia Model United Nations Horizon
Outstanding Delegate, Canadian High School Model United Nations
Outstanding Delegate, Vancouver Model United Nations
Best Delegate, Canadian Future Model United Nations
Honorable Mention, Canadian International Model United Nations
Recognition
Honours
& awards.
Academic, scientific, artistic, and leadership recognition across Canada and the United States.
20262024202420242023202320232022202220222022202120212020202020172016
American Academy of Neurology Resident Scholarship
Selected as the sole resident from the McGill training program for the AAN Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Canadian Medical Association Award for Young Leaders
One of two medical students in Canada and one of 13 healthcare leaders recognized nationally.
American Osler Society Top Three Presenter
Third prize for scholarship on Leonardo da Vinci's medical library at the international annual meeting.
Neurosurgery Best of 2023 Award
Recognition for research on stress, anxiety, and depression associated with awake craniotomy.
Ives Scholarship
A 5,000 CAD scholarship awarded through McGill Student Aid.
Canadian Medical Education Rising Star
Certificate of Excellence for commitment to health professions education.
Canadian Federation of Medical Students Leadership Award
McGill's recipient for innovative contributions to university and community leadership.
William B. Bean Student Research Award
One of five medical students selected across North America by the American Osler Society.
Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards Finalist
National finalist recognized for leadership, achievement, and contribution.
Molina Foundation Osler Library Research Award
A 5,000 CAD award for research on Leonardo da Vinci's medical library.
American Osler Society Full Travel Award
Support to present work on Robert Schumann's health and musical creativity.
McGill Medical Students' Society Leadership Award
Sole class recipient for leadership, initiative, and community involvement.
Two Canadian Federation of Medical Students Tier 1 Grants
A combined 5,500 CAD supporting COVID-19 Contextualized and student neuroscience initiatives.
William Osler Medalist and First Prize Winner
Winner of the Osler Library essay competition.
T. F. Rose Entrance Scholarship
A 7,000 CAD McGill Faculty of Medicine scholarship for merit, research, and leadership.
Top Four UC Berkeley Graduating Seniors
Departmental recognition for exceptional academic performance and advanced scholarship.
UC Berkeley Research Fellow
A 4,000 USD award supporting original humanities research.
Collaboration & correspondence