My Story
William W. Ashley, Jr., MD, PhD, MBA, is a board-certified, dual fellowship-trained cerebrovascular neurosurgeon.
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A Chicago native, Dr. Ashley graduated from Stanford University with a degree in biology. He earned a medical degree and a doctoral degree in physiology and biophysics at the University of Illinois College Of Medicine and an MBA in healthcare administration from the Graduate School of Business at Loyola University of Chicago. He then completed a neurosurgical residency at Barnes Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. After residency he completed a dual fellowship in cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center.
He is currently the Director of Cerebrovascular, Endovascular, and Skull Base Neurosurgery and Chief of the Division of Neurointerventional Radiology at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and LifeBridge Health System.
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Dr. Ashley specializes in the treatment of all aspects of cerebrovascular disease. He uses open cranial and skull base surgical approaches and minimally invasive endovascular techniques. His areas of expertise include cerebral aneurysms, stroke, brain tumors, and arteriovenous malformations.
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Dr. Ashley has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and abstracts, and acts as an editor for several national and international journals. He is actively involved in research, with interests in the molecular basis for brain aneurysm rupture, cerebral vasospasm, stroke. He is also an expert in neurosurgical and neuroendovascular innovation and currently serves as a novel device reviewer for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, United States Food and Drug Administration.
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Dr. Ashley is very active with the American Heart Association. He is President of the American Heart Association, Greater Maryland Board of Directors and Director-at-Large of the American Heart Association, Eastern States Regional Board of Directors. Additionally, he serves as the Chair of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Stroke Quality Improvement Committee. He is a senior member of the Society of Neurointerventional Surgeons, an active member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the AANS/CNS joint cerebrovascular section.
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Dr. Ashley is dedicated to medical education and advancing equitable care. While serving on the AANS young neurosurgeons committee, he created the medical student organized neurosurgical fellowship. He serves on the Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi) IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Empowerment and Advocacy) Task Force. He is a founding member and the first president of the American Society of Black Neurosurgeons.