Dr. James Tao obtained his MD degree in Wannan Medical College in Wuhu city, China in 1984. After his graduation, he went to Capital Medical University in Beijing, China for a post-graduate study. In 1997, he obtained his PhD degree in neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH. In 2001, Dr. Tao completed his neurology residency training in the Department of Neurology at the University of Chicago, and then completed his training as a clinical neurophysiology/epilepsy fellowship in 2002 in the same department. He became a faculty in the Department of Neurology at the University of Chicago in the same year. Currently he is an associated professor of Neurology. Dr. Tao specializes in the diagnosis and management of seizure disorders and epilepsy syndromes. Dr. Tao is interested in the use of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), surgery and neuro-stimulation for treating patients with medically resistant epilepsy.
Dr. Tao’s research focuses on the use of electrophysiology and neuroimaging, including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) to precisely localize the epileptic focus and subsequently to guide epilepsy surgery. In addition, Dr. Tao is interested in the mechanism and prevention of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), which is the leading cause of mortality in patients with chronic uncontrolled epilepsy.
