John Choi, MD, M.Ed

John was born and raised in Southern California and completed his undergraduate studies in biology, neuroscience, and psychology at the University of Southern California, graduating summa cum laude. He subsequently taught high school science in Los Angeles and earned a master’s degree in education. He received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he conducted research on immunosuppressive mechanisms in neuro-oncology under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Lim. His work earned him the institution’s Harvey Cushing Research Award for excellence in brain tumor immunology. Now pursuing a career in neuro-oncology, John is also actively involved in medical education. He serves as course director for both a Stanford undergraduate neuroscience course and a medical school elective, and he organizes clinical neuroscience didactics for nursing and multidisciplinary staff education. During his research time at Stanford, he was awarded the SFNS Basic Science Young Investigator Award for work on cancer neuroscience and immunometabolism. His interests outside of neurosurgery include reading science fiction, writing short stories, teaching magic tricks to pediatric patients, and exploring the intersection of cooking and chemistry.

Education:

2020 – Present
Stanford University – Palo Alto, CA
Department of Neurosurgery
Resident Physician

2015 – 2020                                                                                 
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine – Baltimore, MD
M.D.

2013-2014
University of California Los Angeles – Los Angeles, CA
M.Ed. Master’s in Education

2008-2012
University of Southern California – Los Angeles, CA
B.S. Biology with emphasis on Neurobiology (Honors), Minor in Psychology, Summa Cum Laude

Research Interests:

  • Neuro-oncology
  • Immunotherapy
  • Cerebrovascular
  • Genetics

Program Completion:

2027

Awards and Honors:

  • SFNS Young Investigator’s Edwin Boldrey Award (2025)
  • UE5 NINDS Research Grant
  • SNS Allan Friedman RUNN Research Award
  • CANS Fellow (2023)
  • Resident Education/Mentoring Award (2022)
  • Best basic science abstract award 2019 Congress of Neurological Surgeons tumor section (2019)
  • Harvey Cushing Research Award (2019)
  • Outstanding Abstract and Presentation Award for 44th Annual KAMA Meeting (2018)
  • Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Dean’s Year of Research Fellowship Award (2018)
  • Morrison Leroy Haviland Scholarship (2017)
  • Outstanding Abstract and Presentation Award for 43rd Annual KAMA Meeting (2017)
  • Deans Research Funding (2016)