Maria Gaitan MD

Dr. Gaitan received her medical degree with honors at the University of Buenos Aires, School of Medicine in 2004. She completed her residency training in neurology and was appointed Chief Resident at Fleni (Institute for Neurological Research), Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2009, Dr. Gaitán joined the Translational Neuroradiology Unit, Neuroimmunology Branch, NINDS, NIH, as a postdoctoral fellow, under the supervision of Dr. Reich. During this time, she did experimental and translational research. She led the authorship of several papers describing new patterns of alteration in the blood-brain barrier in multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as the perivenular development of demyelinating lesions in animal models of multiple sclerosis using high-resolution magnetic resonance. Her work has been published in top journals in the field of neurology.

Dr. Gaitan returned to Buenos Aires in 2012 to take a position as a Staff Clinician in the Department of Neurology, Neuroimmunology, and Demyelinating Diseases Section at Fleni. In this capacity, she took care of people living with MS; oversaw clinical trials; taught neurology at the University of Buenos Aires; led postgraduate medical education; and engaged in translational research. Dr. Gaitán achieved a remarkable scientific publication track record in MS and imaging, including peer-reviewed papers in high-impact neurology, MS, and radiology journals. At the end of 2021, Dr. Gaitán rejoined the Translational Neuroradiology Section (TNS) in the NINDS, where she helped Dr. Reich lead all clinical projects in the lab.

In December 2022, she was appointed staff clinician at TNS, where she is responsible for performing and supervising projects involving human MRI scanning. She is also acting as an associate investigator for clinical interventional trials in the TNS and allied labs; works with TNS fellows to develop new protocols; and takes care of research patients in TNS protocols and neurology patients on the NINDS clinical service.