Carissa Pineda, MD
Professor, Cerebrovascular Disease and Neurological Critical Care,  Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University

After beginning her affiliation with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as a resident in neurology from 1998 to 2001, Dr. Pineda was a fellow in stroke and neurocritical care from 2001 to 2002 before assuming her current clinical responsibilities.

Dr. Pineda’s expertise in stroke management and prevention has earned her frequent invitations to lecture on stroke therapy. She is co-investigator in several recent and ongoing clinical trials pertaining to acute ischemic stroke.  She is a member of the National Stroke Association, Delaware Valley Stroke Council and the American Academy of Neurology, as well as the American Stroke Association.

Along with her Acute Stroke Center colleagues, Rodney D. Bell, MD, and David G. Brock, MD, Dr. Pineda is also collaborating with Jefferson Hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory in a clinical trial to determine whether there is a link between stroke and a patent foramen ovale (PFO), which is a flap sometimes present between the two upper chambers (the right and left atria) of the heart. The trial results could help to prevent recurrence of stroke in certain patients between the ages of 20 and 55. 

Dr. Pineda returned to her native country to earn her medical degree at the University of the Philippines in Manila after receiving a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Bryn Mawr College. She then returned to the United States to complete her internship in internal medicine at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania, prior to her arrival at Jefferson Hospital.