Alexander V. Ovechkin, MD, PhD, is a tenured Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Louisville. He received his MD and PhD degrees from Perm State Medical Academy, where he trained and practiced as a general surgeon before joining the University of Louisville in 1999. He subsequently completed a second PhD in Physiology, investigating pulmonary microvascular mechanisms associated with ischemia-reperfusion injury. In 2006, Dr. Ovechkin joined the faculty of the Department of Neurological Surgery and established a human electrophysiology research program within the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center. He currently directs the Adult NeuroRecovery Program and the Neuromodulatory Rehabilitation Research Program. His research focuses on the pathophysiology and recovery of respiratory, cardiovascular, autonomic, and motor functions following spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders, with particular emphasis on the development and clinical translation of invasive and non-invasive spinal neuromodulation and physiology-based rehabilitation approaches.