Achal Singh Achrol

Achal Singh Achrol (born April 15, 1980) is an American neurosurgeon, MedTech executive, medical researcher, and inventor in the fields of minimally-invasive robotic surgery, AI-enabled diagnostics, and other medical technologies. Achal serves as Chief Medical Officer of Insightec Inc., and Openwater Inc., and as a member of the academic neurosurgery faculty at Loma Linda University (LLU) Medical Center in California, where he specializes in minimally-invasive neurosurgery for brain tumors as Director of the Glioma Program and Director of Brain Tumor Translational Research. 
Achal is known for his media appearances on health-related issues, and for his scientific contributions toward developing new brain therapies and diagnostics.
==Early life and education==
Achal was born on April 15, 1980, in Jaipur, a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. In 1981, Achal’s parents, Ravi and Padmini Singh of Achrol relocated to the United States. Achal’s early life was initially spent in South Bend, Indiana, and later in Washington, D.C. Achal’s father completed his Ph.D. with Professor Philip Kotler at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and was appointed to the faculty of Notre Dame University in the College of Business, and later as Professor, Chair, and Associate Dean for Research and Doctoral Studies at the George Washington University. Achal’s father is a world expert in channels of distribution, including digital channels, global marketing and competitive strategy, inter-organizational theory, network organization and strategic alliances. Achal’s mother completed Notre Dame Law School and later became general counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. where she led global efforts to ensure clean air and water protections. Achal and his sister, Arundhati Singh, graduated from Thomas Wootton High School. Achal’s sister went on to study engineering at MIT and receive her MBA from Harvard University, and is known for technology executive leadership, including at Uber, with prior leadership roles at Twitter, Google and Disney. Achal’s brother-in-law (Arundhati’s husband) is Ravi Sundararajan, who is COO of Gupshup a conversational messaging platform with a unicorn valuation. Ravi Sundararajan is first cousins with Google CEO Sundar Pichai (born Pichai Sundararajan). Achal credits the diverse interests of his family -- spanning business, law, and engineering -- in influencing his early life and the multi-disciplinary approach he took in his own career path at the nexus of medicine and disruptive technologies.
Achal received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree with distinction in Computer Science from the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). At GW, Achal completed a thesis on handheld computational electrophysiological bio-MEMS systems, and developed a handheld wireless electrocardiogram platform.
Achal completed his medical school and neurosurgery residency at Stanford University, where he was a Soros Fellow, received Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) distinction, and was voted into the Stanford Society of Physician Scholars. Achal completed his post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University under an NIH NINDS R25 with the support of mentors Dr. Irv Weissman and Dr. Griffith Harsh, with a basic science lab focus on cancer stem cells and cancer immunotherapy, and a translational research focus on big data, large scale genomics and imaging informatics.
==Career==
===Neurosurgery===
Achal is a board-certified neurosurgeon who has led brain tumor, stroke and neuroscience translational research programs in academic university hospitals, health systems and industry. Achal completed General Surgery and Clinical Neurosciences internships at Stanford University Medical Center. During his neurosurgery training at Stanford, Achal served as Chief Neurosurgery Resident at the Palo Alto Veteran Affairs Medical Center in service to the Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center and Veteran Affairs Polytrauma Program, caring for older veterans requiring chronic neurosurgical care as well as younger patients requiring acute neurosurgical care returning from the War in Iraq. Achal’s training also included roles as Chief Neurosurgery Resident at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose California, and Chief Neurosurgery Resident at Stanford Children’s Hospital. In his final year of training, Achal served as Chief Neurosurgery Resident at Stanford University Medical Center.
Achal was later recruited by Providence Health & Services, the largest clinical neuroscience network on the U.S. West Coast, to build brain tumor, stroke and neuroscience translational research programs in Los Angeles, CA. In this role, Achal served as Chief of the Glioma Surgery Program and Director of the Neurosurgery Clinical Trials Program at John Wayne Cancer Institute, as well as Director of Neurovascular Surgery and Neurocritical Care for Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.
Achal was subsequently recruited to join Loma Linda University as part of the $1.4 billion "Vision 2020" program, which involved launching a new health center with a $360 million philanthropic effort with a focus on caring for under-served communities and pursuing new research discoveries for a healthier, whole tomorrow. At LLU, Achal specializes in minimally-invasive neurosurgery for brain tumors as Director of the Glioma Program, Director of Brain Tumor Translational Research, and Chair of the Neuro-Oncology Tumor Board for the Cancer Center.
===Scientific career===
Achal began his clinical research career at University of California, San Francisco and the Center for Cerebrovascular Research in 2003. Achal has served as a Principal Investigator in several international clinical trials focused on neuromodulation and therapeutic delivery across the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). This includes: neurosurgical stem cell implantation and surgical devices for post-stroke and TBI motor recovery, stereotactic MR-guided convection-enhanced delivery in brain tumors, liquid biopsy for genome-guided targeted therapies, and novel anti-cancer immunotherapies (e.g. anti-CD47). Achal also led Big Data research in imaging informatics and radiogenomics using AI/machine-learning. 
Achal’s translational research programs demonstrated that heterogeneity in radiographic appearance of brain tumors relates to specific differences in underlying tumor biology. Using imaging informatics techniques, the team identified specific image features that non-invasively predict underlying genetic, molecular and metabolic features of each tumor.
* Gevaert O, Mitchell LA, Achrol AS, Xu J, Echegaray S, Steinberg GK, Cheshier SH, Napel S, Zaharchuk G, Plevritis SK. Glioblastoma: Exploratory Radiogenomic Analysis by Using Quantitative Image Features. Radiology 273(1): 168-174, 2014.
* Perreault S, Ramaswamy V, Achrol AS, Chao K, Liu TT, Shih D, Remke M, Schubert S, Bouffet E, Fisher PG, Partap S, Vogel H, Taylor MD, Cho YJ, Yeom KW. MRI Surrogates for Molecular Subgroups of Medulloblastoma. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 35(7):1263-1269, 2014.
* Itakura H, Achrol AS, Mitchell LA, Loya JJ, Liu TT, Westbroek EM, Feroze AH, Rodriguez S, Echegaray S, Azad TD, Yeom KW, Napel S, Rubin D, Chang SD, Gevaert O and Harsh GR. MR imaging features identify glioblastoma subtypes with distinct molecular pathway activities and therapeutic targets. Science Translational Medicine Sep 2;7(303), 2015. 
* Liu TT, Achrol AS, Mitchell LA, Du WA, Loya JJ, Rodriguez SA, Feroze A, Westbroek EM, Yeom KW, Chang S, Stuart J, Harsh GR, Rubin DL. Computational identification of tumor anatomic location associated with survival in two large cohorts of human primary glioblastomas. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol Apr;37(4):621-8, 2016. 
* Graim K, Liu TT, Achrol AS, Paull EO, Newton Y, Chang SD, Harsh GR 4th, Cordero SP, Rubin DL, Stuart JM. Revealing cancer subtypes with higher-order correlations applied to imaging and omics data. BMC Med Genomics Mar 31;10(1):20, 2017. 
* Liu TT, Achrol AS, Mitchell LA, Rodriguez SA, Feroze A, Iv M, Kim C, Chaudhary N, Gevaert O, Stuart JM, Harsh GR, Chang SD, Rubin DL. Magnetic resonance perfusion image features uncover an angiogenic subgroup of glioblastoma patients with poor survival and better response to antiangiogenic treatment. Neuro Oncol Jul 1;19(7):997-1007, 2017.
Achal’s basic science research programs used single-cell genetic analyses of stem cells to identify population heterogeneity within the stem cells used for human cell-based therapies as well as in brain tumor-initiating stem cells isolated from human brain tumors. This work identified specific surface-expressed proteins for the isolation of these individual stem cell populations to further understand subsets of stem cells to optimize cell-based therapies and anti-cancer stem cell therapies.
* Achrol AS, Rennert RC, Januszyk M, Kahn SA, Liu TT, Liu Y, Sahoo D, Rodrigues M, Maan ZN, Wong VW, Cheshier SH, Chang SD, Steinberg GK, Harsh GR, Gurtner GC. Multiple Subsets of Brain Tumor Initiating Cells Coexist in Glioblastoma. Stem Cells Jun;34(6):1702-7, 2016.
* Rennert RC, Schäfer R, Bliss T, Januszyk M, Sorkin M, Achrol AS, Rodrigues M, Maan ZN, Kluba T, Steinberg GK, Gurtner GC. High-Resolution Microfluidic Single-Cell Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Clinically Relevant Subtypes among Human Stem Cell Populations Commonly Utilized in Cell-Based Therapies. Front Neurol. Mar 22;7:41, 2016.
Achal’s research team identified angiogenic and inflammatory genetic determinants for the development of brain vascular malformations as well as future risk of rupture and intracranial hemorrhage in patients with these lesions.
* Pawlikowska L, Tran MN, Achrol AS, McCulloch CE, Ha C, Lind DL, Hashimoto T, Zaroff J, Lawton MT, Marchuk DA, Kwok PY, Young WL: Polymorphisms in genes involved in inflammatory and angiogenic pathways and the risk of hemorrhagic presentation of brain arteriovenous malformations. Stroke 35(10):2294-2300, 2004.
* Pawlikowska L, Tran MN, Achrol AS, Ha C, Burchard EG, Choudhry S, Zaroff J, Lawton MT, Castro RA, McCulloch CE, Marchuk DA, Kwok PY, Young WL: Polymorphisms in transforming growth factor-ß-related genes ALK1 and ENG are associated with sporadic brain arteriovenous malformations. Stroke 36(10):2278-2280, 2005.
* Achrol AS, Pawlikowska L, McCulloch CE, Poon KY, Ha C, Zaroff JG, Johnston SC, Lee C, Lawton MT, Sidney S, Marchuk D, Kwok PY, Young WL: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha-238G>A promoter polymorphism is associated with increased risk of new hemorrhage in the natural course of patients with brain arteriovenous malformations. Stroke 37(1):231-234, 2006.
* Pawlikowska L, Poon KY, Achrol AS, McCulloch CE, Ha C, Lum K, Zaroff J, Ko NU, Johnston SC, Sidney S, Marchuk DA, Lawton MT, Kwok PY, Young WL: Apoliprotein E epsilon 2 is associated with new hemorrhage risk in brain arteriovenous malformation. Neurosurgery 58(5):838-843, editor’s discussion 8, 2006.
* Achrol AS, Kim H, Pawlikowska L, Poon KY, Ko NU, McCulloch CE, Zaroff JG, Johnston SC, McDermott MW, Lawton MT, Kwok PY, Young WL: Association of tumor necrosis factoralpha-238G>A and apolipoprotein E2 polymorphisms with intracranial hemorrhage after brain arteriovenous malformation treatment. Neurosurgery 61(4):731-739, editor’s discussion 74, 2007.
* Weinsheimer SM, Xu H, Achrol AS, Stamova B, McCulloch CE, Pawlikowska L, Tian Y, Ko NU, Lawton MT, Steinberg GK, Chang SD, Jickling G, Ander BP, Kim H, Sharp FR, Young WL: Gene expression profiling of blood in brain arteriovenous malformation patients. Transl Stroke Res 2(4):575-587, 2011.
* Shoemaker LD, Achrol AS, Sethu P, Steinberg GK, Chang SD. Clinical neuroproteomics and biomarkers: from basic research to clinical decision making. Neurosurgery 70(3):518-525, 2012.
Achal’s research team characterized clinical and demographic risk factors and surgical outcomes from microsurgical resection of brain arteriovenous malformations
* Lawton MT, Du R, Tran M, Achrol AS, McCulloch CE, Johnston SC, Quinnine NJ, Young WL: Effect of presenting hemorrhage on outcome after microsurgical resection of brain arteriovenous malformations. Neurosurgery 56(3):485-493; editor’s discussion 4, 2005.
* Fullerton HJ, Achrol AS, Johnston SC, McCulloch CE, Higashida RT, Lawton MT, Sidney S, Young WL: Long-term hemorrhage risk in children versus adults with brain arteriovenous malformations. Stroke 36(10):2099-2104, 2005.
* Achrol AS, Guzman R, Varga M, Adler JR, Steinberg GK, Chang SD. Pathogenesis and radiobiology of brain arteriovenous malformations: implications for risk stratification in natural history and post-treatment course. Neurosurg Focus 26(5):E9, 2009.
* Achrol AS, Steinberg GK. Personalized Medicine in Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery: Precision Neurosurgical Management of Cerebral Aneurysms and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. Front Surg. Jun 22;3:34, 2016.
Achal’s research team characterized changes in cerebral hemodynamics and cerebral perfusion after revascularization treatments, including extracranial carotid stenting and intracranial-to-extracranial bypass.
* Achrol AS, Ko NU, Martin AJ, Chopra M, Saloner D, Higashida RT, Young WL: Magnetic resonance perfusion tracks 133Xe cerebral blood flow changes after carotid stenting. (co-first author). Stroke 36(3):676-678, 2005.
* Ko NU, Achrol AS, Gupta DK, Chopra M, Sahu M, Smith WS, Higashida RT, Young WL: Cerebral blood flow changes after endovascular treatment of cerebrovascular stenoses. AJNR: Am J Neuroradiol 26(3):538-542, 2005.
* Guzman R, Lee M, Achrol AS, Bell-Stephens T, Kelly M, Do HM, Marks MP, Steinberg GK. Clinical outcome after 450 revascularization procedures for moyamoya disease. J Neurosurg 111(5):927-935, 2009.
* Achrol AS, Khan N, Guzman R, Burns TC, Dodd R, Bell-Stephens T, Steinberg GK. Sex differences in clinical presentation and treatment outcomes in Moyamoya disease. (co-first author). Neurosurgery 71(3):587-593; editor’s discussion 593, 2012.
===Industry leadership===
Achal serves as Chief Medical Officer of Insightec Inc. and Openwater Inc. Insightec is the world leader in focused ultrasound (incision-less neurosurgery), a paradigm shift in the treatment of brain diseases that have received FDA Breakthrough Designation. Insightec's technology is treating patients at >100 medical centers across >18 countries, with active clinical trials in movement disorders, neuro-oncology, CNS drug delivery, immunotherapy, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, pain, addiction, and neuropsychiatry. Insightec has raised >$700M with a unicorn valuation of >$1B.
Openwater is creating the future of AI-enabled, wearable brain diagnostics and therapeutic devices for brain diseases. Founded by CEO Mary Lou Jepsen Ph.D. and led by president Maurizio Vecchione, Openwater has raised >$40M, investors include Khosla Ventures, Bold Capital, Plum Alley, Brook Byers, Howard Morgan, Juan Enriquez, Nicholas Negroponte.
==Awards and honors==
Achal has been credited with several awards for his notable research. To include:
* Mahaley Award of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
* The Academy Award of the American Academy of Neurosurgeons (AAcNS) (Note: there is only one academy award winner in neurosurgery every year since 1955)
* Competition Winner, Best Research Award, Western Neurosurgical Society (WNS), 2015
* Competition Winner, Best in California Research Award, California Association of Neurological Surgeons (CANS), 2015
* National Institute of Health Science Education (R25) Research Award, 2013
* Leslie Munzer Neurological Institute Research Award, 2009
* CyberKnife Society Research Award, 2007
* John Hanbery Neurosurgery Award, 2007
* Stanford Medical Scholars Research Award, 2006
==Notable publications==
# Halim AX, Johnston SC, Singh V, McCulloch CE, Bennett JP, Achrol AS, Sidney S, Young WL: Longitudinal risk of intracranial hemorrhage in patients with arteriovenous malformation of the brain within a defined population. Stroke 35(7):1697-1702, 2004.
# Pawlikowska L, Tran MN, Achrol AS, McCulloch CE, Ha C, Lind DL, Hashimoto T, Zaroff J, Lawton MT, Marchuk DA, Kwok PY, Young WL: Polymorphisms in genes involved in inflammatory and angiogenic pathways and the risk of hemorrhagic presentation of brain arteriovenous malformations. Stroke 35(10):2294-2300, 2004.
# Lawton MT, Du R, Tran M, Achrol AS, McCulloch CE, Johnston SC, Quinnine NJ, Young WL: Effect of presenting hemorrhage on outcome after microsurgical resection of brain arteriovenous malformations. Neurosurgery 56(3):485-493; editor’s discussion 4, 2005.
# Achrol AS, Ko NU, Martin AJ, Chopra M, Saloner D, Higashida RT, Young WL: Magnetic resonance perfusion tracks 133Xe cerebral blood flow changes after carotid stenting. (co-first author). Stroke 36(3):676-678, 2005.
# Fullerton HJ, Achrol AS, Johnston SC, McCulloch CE, Higashida RT, Lawton MT, Sidney S, Young WL: Long-term hemorrhage risk in children versus adults with brain arteriovenous malformations. Stroke 36(10):2099-2104, 2005.
# Ko NU, Achrol AS, Gupta DK, Chopra M, Sahu M, Smith WS, Higashida RT, Young WL: Cerebral blood flow changes after endovascular treatment of cerebrovascular stenoses. AJNR: Am J Neuroradiol 26(3):538-542, 2005.
# Pawlikowska L, Tran MN, Achrol AS, Ha C, Burchard EG, Choudhry S, Zaroff J, Lawton MT, Castro RA, McCulloch CE, Marchuk DA, Kwok PY, Young WL: Polymorphisms in transforming growth factor-ß-related genes ALK1 and ENG are associated with sporadic brain arteriovenous malformations. Stroke 36(10):2278-2280, 2005.
# Achrol AS, Pawlikowska L, McCulloch CE, Poon KY, Ha C, Zaroff JG, Johnston SC, Lee C, Lawton MT, Sidney S, Marchuk D, Kwok PY, Young WL: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha-238G>A promoter polymorphism is associated with increased risk of new hemorrhage in the natural course of patients with brain arteriovenous malformations. Stroke 37(1):231-234, 2006.
# Chen Y, Pawlikowska L, Yao JS, Shen F, Zhai W, Achrol AS, Lawton MT, Kwok PY, Yang GY, Young WL: Interleukin-6 involvement in brain arteriovenous malformations. Ann Neurol 59(1):72-80, 2006.
# Chen Y, Fan Y-F, Yao JS, Poon KY, Achrol AS, Lawton MT, Zhu Y, McCulloch CE, Hashimoto T, Lee C, Barbaro NM, Bollen AW, Yang GY, Young WL: MMP-9 expression is associated with leukocytic but not endothelial markers in brain arteriovenous malformations. Front Biosci 11(1):3121-3128, 2006.
# Pawlikowska L, Poon KY, Achrol AS, McCulloch CE, Ha C, Lum K, Zaroff J, Ko NU, Johnston SC, Sidney S, Marchuk DA, Lawton MT, Kwok PY, Young WL: Apoliprotein E epsilon 2 is associated with new hemorrhage risk in brain arteriovenous malformation. Neurosurgery 58(5):838-843, editor’s discussion 8, 2006.
# Zaroff JG, Pawlikowska L, Miss, JC, Yarlagadda, S, Ha C, Achrol AS, Kwok PY, McCulloch CE, Lawton, MT, Ko NU, Smith WS, Young WL: Adrenoceptor polymorphisms and the risk of cardiac injury and dysfunction after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Stroke 37(7):1680-1685, 2006.
# Achrol AS, Kim H, Pawlikowska L, Poon KY, Ko NU, McCulloch CE, Zaroff JG, Johnston SC, McDermott MW, Lawton MT, Kwok PY, Young WL: Association of tumor necrosis factor-alpha-238G>A and apolipoprotein E2 polymorphisms with intracranial hemorrhage after brain arteriovenous malformation treatment. Neurosurgery 61(4):731-739, editor’s discussion 74, 2007.
# Dispensa BP, Saloner DA, Acevedo-Bolton G, Achrol AS, Jou L-D, McCulloch CE, Higashida RT, Dowd CF, Halbach VV, Ko NU, Lawton MT, Martin AJ, Quinnine NJ, Young WL: Estimation of fusiform intracranial aneurysm growth by serial magnetic resonance imaging. J Magn Reson Imaging 26(1):177-183, 2007.
# Kim H, Sidney S, McCulloch CE, Poon, KYT, Singh V, Johnston SC, Ko NU, Achrol AS, Lawton MT, Higashida RT, Young WL: Racial/ethnic differences in longitudinal risk of intracranial hemorrhage in brain arteriovenous malformation patients. Stroke 38(9):2430-2437, 2007.
# Guzman R, Lee M, Achrol AS, Bell-Stephens T, Kelly M, Do HM, Marks MP, Steinberg GK. Clinical outcome after 450 revascularization procedures for moyamoya disease. J Neurosurg 111(5):927-935, 2009. 
# Achrol AS, Guzman R, Varga M, Adler JR, Steinberg GK, Chang SD. Pathogenesis and radiobiology of brain arteriovenous malformations: implications for risk stratification in natural history and post-treatment course. Neurosurg Focus 26(5):E9, 2009.
# Lee M, Zaharchuk G, Guzman R, Achrol AS, Bell-Stephens T, Steinberg GK. Quantitative hemodynamic studies in moyamoya disease. Neurosurg Focus 26(4):E5, 2009.
# Achrol AS, Guzman R, Lee M, Steinberg GK. Pathophysiology and genetic factors in moyamoya disease. Neurosurg Focus 26(4):E4, 2009.
# Kim H, Hysi PG, Pawlikowska L, Poon A, Burchard EG, Zaroff JG, Sidney S, Ko NU, Achrol AS, Lawton MT, McCulloch CE, Kwok PY, Young WL: Common variants in interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) gene are associated with intracranial hemorrhage and susceptibility to brain arteriovenous malformation. Cerebrovasc Dis 27(2):176-182, 2009.
# Gabriel RA, Kim H, Sidney S, McCulloch CE, Singh V, Johnston SC, Ko NU, Achrol AS, Zaroff JG, Young WL: Ten-year detection rate of brain arteriovenous malformations in a large, multiethnic, defined population. Stroke 41(1):21-26, 2010.
# Weinsheimer S, Xu H, Achrol AS, Stamova B, McCulloch CE, Pawlikowska L, Tian Y, Ko NU, Lawton MT, Steinberg GK, Chang SD, Jickling G, Ander BP, Kim H, Sharp FR, Young WL: Gene expression profiling of blood in brain arteriovenous malformation patients. Transl Stroke Res 2(4):575-587, 2011.
# Achrol AS, Khan N, Guzman R, Burns TC, Dodd R, Bell-Stephens T, Steinberg GK. Sex differences in clinical presentation and treatment outcomes in Moyamoya disease. (co-first author). Neurosurgery 71(3):587-593; editor’s discussion 593, 2012.
# Shoemaker LD, Achrol AS, Sethu P, Steinberg GK, Chang SD. Clinical neuroproteomics and biomarkers: from basic research to clinical decision making. Neurosurgery 70(3):518-525, 2012. 
# Ajlan A, Achrol AS, Soudry E, Hwang PH, Harsh G. Spontaneous sphenoid wing meningoencephaloceles with lateral sphenoid sinus extension: the endoscopic transpterygoid approach. J Neurol Surg Skull Base. 75(5):314-323, 2014.
# Gevaert O, Mitchell LA, Achrol AS, Xu J, Echegaray S, Steinberg GK, Cheshier SH, Napel S, Zaharchuk G, Plevritis SK. Glioblastoma: Exploratory Radiogenomic Analysis by Using Quantitative Image Features. Radiology 273(1): 168-174, 2014.
# Morgan AA, Achrol AS, Li MD, Khatri PJ, Cheshier SH. Multiplex meta-analysis of medulloblastoma expression studies with external controls. Pac Symp Biocomput: 99-109. 2014.
# Perreault S, Ramaswamy V, Achrol AS, Chao K, Liu TT, Shih D, Remke M, Schubert S, Bouffet E, Fisher PG, Partap S, Vogel H, Taylor MD, Cho YJ, Yeom KW. MRI Surrogates for Molecular Subgroups of Medulloblastoma. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 35(7):1263-1269, 2014.
# Itakura H, Achrol AS, Mitchell LA, Loya JJ, Liu TT, Westbroek EM, Feroze AH, Rodriguez S, Echegaray S, Azad TD, Yeom KW, Napel S, Rubin D, Chang SD, Gevaert O and Harsh GR. Magnetic resonance imaging features identify glioblastoma subtypes with distinct molecular pathway activities and therapeutic targets. Science Transl Med 7(303), 2015. 
# Liu TT, Achrol AS, Mitchell LA, Du WA, Loya JJ, Rodriguez SA, Feroze A, Westbroek EM, Yeom KW, Stuart JM, Chang SD, Harsh GR, Rubin DL. Computational identification of tumor anatomic location associated with survival in two large cohorts of human primary glioblastomas. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 37(4):621-8, 2016.
# Zhang M, Hutter G, Kahn SA, Azad TD, Gholamin S, Xu CY, Liu J, Achrol AS, Richard C, Sommerkamp P, Schoen MK, McCracken MN, Majeti R, Weissman I, Mitra SS, Cheshier SH. Anti-CD47 Treatment Stimulates Phagocytosis of Glioblastoma by M1 and M2 Polarized Macrophages and Promotes M1 Polarized Macrophages In Vivo. PLoS One 11(4):e0153550, 2016. 
# Rennert RC, Schafer R, Bliss T, Januszyk M, Sorkin M, Achrol AS, Rodrigues M, Maan ZN, Kluba T, Steinberg GK, Gurtner GC. High-Resolution Microfluidic Single-Cell Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Clinically Relevant Subtypes Among Human Stem Cell Populations Commonly Utilized in Cell-Based Therapies. Front Neurol 7:41, 2016.
# Achrol AS, Rennert RC, Januszyk M, Kahn SA, Liu TT, Sahoo D, Rodrigues M, Maan ZN, Wong VW, Cheshier SH, Chang SD, Steinberg GK, Harsh GR, Gurtner GC. Multiple subsets of brain tumor-initiating cells co-exist in glioblastoma. (co-first author). Stem Cells 34(6):1702-7, 2016.
# Sussman ES, Ho AL, Pendharkar AV, Achrol AS, Harsh GR. Pituitary Apoplexy Associated with Carotid Compression and a Large Ischemic Penumbra. World Neurosurg 581.e7-581, 2016 
# Achrol AS, Steinberg GK. Personalized Medicine in Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery: Precision Neurosurgical Management of Cerebral Aneurysms and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. Front Surg 3:34, 2016 
# Ajlan A, Achrol AS, Albakr A, Feroze AH, Westbroek EM, Hwang P, Harsh GR 4th. Cavernous Sinus Involvement by Pituitary Adenomas: Clinical Implications and Outcomes of Endoscopic Endonasal Resection. J Neurol Surg B Skull Base. 2017 Jun;78(3):273-282.
# Ajlan AM, Abdulqader SB, Achrol AS, Aljamaan Y, Feroze AH, Katznelson L, Harsh GR. Diabetes Insipidus following Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery for Pituitary Adenoma. J Neurol Surg B Skull Base. 2018 Apr;79(2):117-122. 
# Graim K, Liu TT, Achrol AS, Paull EO, Newton Y, Chang SD, Harsh GR 4th, Cordero SP, Rubin DL, Stuart JM. Revealing cancer subtypes with higher-order correlations applied to imaging and omics data. BMC Med Genomics. 2017 Mar 31;10(1):20.
# Liu TT, Achrol AS, Mitchell LA, Rodriguez SA, Feroze A, Iv M, Kim C, Chaudhary N, Gevaert O, Stuart JM, Harsh GR, Chang SD, Rubin DL. Magnetic resonance perfusion image features uncover an angiogenic subgroup of glioblastoma patients with poor survival and better response to antiangiogenic treatment. Neuro Oncol 2017 Jul 1;19(7):997-1007.
# Achrol AS, Piccioni DE, Kiedrowski LA, Banks KC, Boucher N, Barkhoudarian G, Kelly DF, Juarez T, Lanman RB, Raymond VM, Nguyen M, Truong JD, Heng A, Gill J, Saria M, Pingle SC, Kesari S. Analysis of cell-free circulating tumor DNA in 419 patients with glioblastoma and other primary brain tumors. CNS Oncol 2019 Mar 11. (co-first author). 
# Achrol AS, Rennert RC, Anders C, Soffietti R, Ahluwalia MS, Nayak L, Peters S, Arvold ND, Harsh GR, Steeg PS, Chang SD. Brain metastases. Nature Reviews (Dis Primers) 2019 Jan 17;5(1):5. 
# Mukherjee A, Waters AK, Kalyan P, Achrol AS, Kesari S, Yenugonda VM. Lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles as a next-generation drug delivery platform: state of the art, emerging technologies, and perspectives. Int J Nanomedicine 2019 Mar 19;14:1937-1952. 
# Loya J, Zhang C, Cox E, Kesari S, Achrol AS. Biological intratumoral therapy for the high-grade glioma part I: intratumoral delivery and immunotoxins. CNS Oncol 2019 Nov 1;8(3):CNS38. (co-senior author)
# Loya J, Zhang C, Cox E, Kesari S, Achrol AS. Biological intratumoral therapy for the high-grade glioma part II: vector- and cell-based therapies and radioimmunotherapy. CNS Oncol. 2019 Nov 1;8(3):CNS40. (co-senior author) 
# Kawabori M, Weintraub AH, Imai H, Zinkevych L, McAllister P, Steinberg GK, Frishberg BM, Yasuhara T, Chen JW, Cramer SC, Achrol AS, Schwartz NE, Suenaga J, Lu DC, Semeniv I, Nakamura H, Kondziolka D, Chida D, Kaneko T, Karasawa Y, Paadre S, Nejadnik B, Bates D, Stonehouse AH, Richardson RM, Okonkwo DO. Cell Therapy for Chronic TBI: Interim Analysis of the Randomized Controlled STEMTRA Trial. Neurology. 2021 Jan 4:10.1212.
# Ellingson B, Sampson J, Achrol AS, Aghi M, Bankiewicz K, Wang C, Bexon M, Brem S, Brenner A, Chowdhary S, Floyd J, Han S, Kesari S, Randazzo D, Vogelbaum M, Vrionis F, Zabek M, Butowski N, Coello M, Merchant N, Merchant F. Modified RANO (mRANO), iRANO, and standard RANO response to convection-enhanced delivery of IL4R-targeted immunotoxin MDNA55 in recurrent glioblastoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Jul 15: 27(14).
==Ancestry==
Agnatically, Achal is a member of the Kachwaha dynasty of Rajputs of Achrol. He is known to be a descendant of one of India’s oldest royal houses and military families. Ancestors in the lineage on Achal’s father's side include many who died in battle in the protection of their communities, and include the royal families of Jaipur, Amber, Ayodhya, Udaipur, Multhan, Sudasna, Gondal, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Achal’s grandfather was a leader of the Sawai Man Guards, which fought for India in World War II.
Achal is named after Thakur Achal Das, the son of Kunwar Balbhadra Singh, the founder of Achrol and younger son of Maharaja Prithviraj Singhji of Amber. Prior to this, the ancestral patrilineality of Achrol descended with the Rulers of Jaipur (one of the Chathis Rajkula) from Kush, one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. The predecessor state of Dhundhar (Dausa) was founded in 1093 by Duleh Rai (Dulha Rao), a descendant of Raja Nal of Ayodhya; the state was then known as Amber from the 1300's to 1727, when a new capital called Jayapura was built, and the state was then renamed Jaipur. Achal’s family believes in servant leadership, as dharma, with a focus on hard work, dedication, loyalty and honor, with a legacy established only through contribution to the greater good of your community and humanity as a whole.
==Personal life==
Achal is married to Danielle Nicole Burckhard, who served as lead child life specialist in the Stanford University Medical Center and Stanford Children’s Hospital Emergency Room, where she cared for children across a range of complex traumatic emergencies for over a decade. Achal first met Danielle during an emergency trauma they both worked together on Valentine’s Day in 2011, and they have been together ever since. They were married in a Hindu wedding ceremony in 2017 at their home in Malibu, California. Achal follows the spiritual teachings of Self Realization as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda, with an equal openness to scientific inquiry and core spirituality within all religious backgrounds as multiple paths to the same ultimate goal.
==References==
==External links==
* Company website
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Category:1980 births
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Category:Stanford University alumni