Rich Leigh, MD

Richard Leigh MD is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research is focused on developing MRI-based tools to better understand, manage, and treat diseases that occur at the interface of the brain and the systemic circulation. This includes acute stroke triage, malignant edema assessment, primary and secondary intracranial hemorrhage, post-stroke inflammation, chronic cerebral small vessel disease, and vascular dementia. He has a particular interest in the blood-brain barrier and its role in the pathogenesis and progression of cerebrovascular disease.

Dr. Leigh originally trained as a biomedical and electrical engineer at Johns Hopkins University prior to completing a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University. He completed a medical internship and neurology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center where he was selected to serve as Chief Resident of Neurology from 2007 to 2008. After residency, he returned to Hopkins as a research fellow in the lab of Dr. Argye Hillis where he was mentored in MRI biomarker development by Dr. Peter Barker. He completed a fellowship in vascular neurology and joined the faculty of the Cerebrovascular Division at Johns Hopkins in 2010.

From 2014–2019 Dr. Leigh was an investigator in the intramural program at the National Institutes of Health where he formed the Neuro Vascular Brain Imaging (NVBI) Unit in the Stroke Branch of NINDS. After completion of his appointment at the NIH, he brought the NVBI to Hopkins and became an extramural NIH investigator. Dr. Leigh is part of the Brain Attack Team at Hopkins which manages treatment of patients with acute stroke presenting to area hospitals. He attends on the inpatient stroke wards of Johns Hopkins Hospital and sees patients with cerebrovascular disease in outpatient clinic at Green Spring Station in Lutherville, MD.

View all trials by this principal investigator.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/2025/10/new-imaging-technique-uses-blood-brain-barrier-leaks-to-predict-vascular-dementia-risk

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2026/05/advanced-imaging-provides-precision-lens-for-treating-stroke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYFcfHSN1fg

Stroke, Dementia, MRI, Blood-brain barrier, Perfusion imaging, Brain health

• Dr. Leigh is chief of the Neuro Vascular Brain Imaging Laboratory which aims to advance the understanding, treatment, and prevention of neurologic disease by developing, implementing and validating novel imaging techniques. Although the techniques developed are often applicable to a host of neurologic conditions, there is a particular focus on using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in vascular brain disease. Although our techniques are primarily aimed at the management of stroke, they are likely to have a broad impact, improving imaging of patients with brain tumors, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury.

Richard Leigh MD is biomedical engineer and stroke neurologist who uses MRI to study neurologic disease. He is an internationally recognized expert on imaging the blood-brain barrier (BBB). He developed a post-processing imaging method, Blood Brain Permeability Imaging (BBPI), which uses dynamic susceptibility contrast images to generate BBB heatmaps that reflect BBB integrity. His work in cerebrovascular disease has shown that BBPI can be used to predict bleeding complications and estimate dementia risk. Ongoing research is focused on developing BBPI as a general marker of brain health to guide treatment strategies. Additionally he has worked on imaging biomarkers for estimating perfusion deficits without perfusion imaging, detecting gadolinium leakage into ocular structures (GLOS), and using amide proton transfer imaging to measure pH in the brain.

1. Leigh R, Valyraki N, Wang NY, Abomulay M, Ter Schiphorst A, Valls Carbó A, Hernández-Pérez M, Charbonneau F, Arquizan C, Wacongne A, Sablot D, Costalat V, Ozsancak C, Cohen C, Pasi M, Boulouis G, Yuen N, Desilles JP, Albers GW, Olivot JM, Seners P. Core Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption in Patients With Large Vessel Occlusion. Stroke. 2026 Jun;57(6):1727-1736. PubMed PMID: 42089148; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13151992.
2. Leigh R, Kern KC, Wang NY, Gottesman RF, Wright CB. Disruption of the Blood-Brain Barrier Predicts Progression of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease White Matter Hyperintensities. Ann Neurol. 2026 Feb;99(2):437-448. PubMed PMID: 41117445; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12894497.
3. Leigh R, Christensen S, Campbell BC, Marks MP, Albers GW, Lansberg MG, DEFUSE 2 Investigators. Pretreatment blood-brain barrier disruption and post-endovascular intracranial hemorrhage. Neurology. 2016 Jul 19;87(3):263-9. PubMed PMID: 27316247; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4955280.
4. Leigh R, Oishi K, Hsu J, Lindquist M, Gottesman RF, Jarso S, Crainiceanu C, Mori S, Hillis AE. Acute lesions that impair affective empathy. Brain. 2013 Aug;136(Pt 8):2539-49. PubMed PMID: 23824490; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3722353.
5. Leigh R, Jen SS, Varma DD, Hillis AE, Barker PB. Arrival time correction for dynamic susceptibility contrast MR permeability imaging in stroke patients. PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e52656. PubMed PMID: 23285132; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3527589.

US Patent US10076263B2: System and method for blood brain permeability imaging (bbpi) using dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging.

2001     American Academy of Neurology Summer Student Scholarship

2003-2004         Department of Neurology Award for outstanding performance by a medical student at Univ. Hospitals/VA,

2007-2008         Distinguished Housestaff Award, New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell Medical Center

2007-2008         Chief Resident of Neurology, New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell Medical Center

2011     Johns Hopkins Neurology Clerkship Teaching Award

2016     Stroke Progress and Innovation Award from the American Heart Association.

2017     NIH Special Act Award for service to Emergency Stroke Program and high impact publications

2018     NINDS Director’s Mentor Award for exemplary performance while demonstrating significant leadership, skill, and ability to serve as a mentor

2020     Stroke Outstanding Reviewer Award from the American Stroke Association of the AHA.

2023     Recipient of the American Heart Association Innovative Project Award

2025     Visiting Professor at Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

2025     Stroke Outstanding Reviewer Award from the American Stroke Association of the AHA.

Member of the American Heart Association

Member of the American Neurological Association

2019-present: Editorial Board, Stroke: A Journal of Cerebral Circulation (American Heart Association)