Vanja Douglas, M.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor
of Neurology
Phone: 415-514-1575
Fax: 415-476-3428
Email: Vanja.douglas@ucsf.edu
Box: #0114
Dr. Douglas was raised in the small town of Point Reyes Station, California. He graduated from Marin Academy High School and went to college at Yale University, where he majored in History and Biochemistry. He attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco and graduated in 2004. He stayed at UCSF for his internship in internal medicine and residency in neurology, serving as Chief Resident during his final year of residency. After residency, he completed a neurohospitalist fellowship at UCSF, focusing on the treatment of inpatient neurological conditions.
In July 2009, Dr. Douglas joined the faculty as an assistant clinical professor in the neurohospitalist program. He spends most of his time attending on the general neurology inpatient ward or consult services. Dr. Douglas is actively involved in teaching medical students and residents, and has won several teaching awards including the Henry J. Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching, one of the highest teaching honors bestowed at UCSF. His clinical expertise includes the treatment of patients with common inpatient neurological diseases including stroke, transient ischemic attack, Guillain-Barre syndrome, multiple sclerosis, seizures and status epilepticus, meningitis, and delirium. In addition, since UCSF is a major tertiary referral center, Dr. Douglas is expert in the diagnosis and treatment of uncommon conditions such as acute transverse myelitis, refractory status epilepticus, infectious encephalitis and autoimmune encephalitis. One reason he enjoys working at UCSF is that "we emphasize approaching patients with compassion, and recognize the toll that neurological illness can take on patients and their families. We try to provide a comprehensive care plan that not only includes cutting edge diagnostics and treatments during the hospitalization, but also ensures continued care and follow up after discharge."
In 2011, Dr. Douglas was appointed Director of Undergraduate Education for the Department of Neurology; in this capacity he will oversee the neurology clinical clerkships within the department.
Selected Publications
1. VC Douglas, CM Johnston, JS Elkins, SX Sidney, DR Gress, SC Johnston. Head CT Findings Predict Short-term Stroke Risk After TIA. Stroke Dec 2003; 34(12):2894-8.
2. VC Douglas, DC Tong, LA Gillum, S Zhao, LM Brass, J Dostal, SC Johnston. Do the Brain Attack Coalition's Criteria for Stroke Centers Improve Care for Ischemic Stroke? Neurology Feb 2005; 64:422-427.
3. VC Douglas, SJ DeArmond, MJ Aminoff, BL Miller, GD Rabinovici. Seizures in Corticobasal Degeneration: A Case Report. Neurocase, 2009 Jun 18:1-5. [Epub ahead of print].
See all publications
Read about the Neurohospitalist Program at UCSF
