Artificial Intelligence > The Orchestrator

The Orchestrator

By Alison Caldwell, Ph.D. Photography by Paul Flessland

Gelareh Zadeh, M.D., Ph.D., arrived at Mayo Clinic in January 2025 with a clear mandate: to transform how the institution approaches neurological disease.

As chair of Neurosurgery, David C. and Flora C. Pratt Distinguished Chief Medical Officer for Mayo Clinic Platform, and a William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor, Dr. Zadeh brings both the scientific credentials and the leadership vision to drive that change.

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Before joining Mayo Clinic, Dr. Zadeh spent nearly two decades building one of North America's premier brain tumor programs at the University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where she became the first woman elected as chair of the Division of Neurosurgery and earned recognition with the Canada Gairdner Momentum Award.

Dr. Zadeh brings her expertise in cancer genomics and disease prediction modeling to a transformative vision for BIONIC, and she cautions that the path to transformation won't be easy.

There is a lot for us to learn at a physiological, cellular and genomic level. And that, really, is the inspiration for BIONIC.
— Gelareh Zadeh, M.D., Ph.D.

"We don't understand neurological circuitry as well as we need to," she explains. "There is a lot for us to learn at a physiological, cellular and genomic level. And that, really, is the inspiration for BIONIC."

She sees the field of neuroscience as still in its infancy — and that gap between what we know and what we need to know has become her rallying cry for building BIONIC as an institution-wide effort. By bringing together neurologists, neurosurgeons, bioengineers and neurophysiologists, she's orchestrating a fundamental shift: moving from treating symptoms to understanding and speaking the brain's own language.