Dr. Towfighi, Associate Professor of Neurology (Clinical Scholar), is Director of Neurological Services for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and Associate Chief Medical Officer of Neurological Services and Chief of Neurology at LAC+USC Medical Center. She received her bachelor degree from MIT, MD from Johns Hopkins, completed internship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Neurology Residency at the Harvard Partners Neurology Program (MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital), and Neurovascular Fellowship at UCLA.

She has published extensively on sex, race/ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in stroke, and is currently testing two interventions designed to address disparities in post-stroke care. She received the prestigious Robert G. Siekert New Investigator in Stroke Award from the American Heart Association and Michael S. Pessin Stroke Leadership Prize from the American Academy of Neurology.

She has been involved in three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of secondary stroke prevention interventions in the Los Angeles County – Department of Health Services (LAC-DHS) public safety-net system: (1) she was the site principal investigator for an American Heart Association-funded multi-center RCT of a chronic-care model based intervention for blood pressure control, SUSTAIN (Systematic Use of STroke Averting Interventions) (Overall PI: Vickrey, UCLA); (2) she is the principal investigator in an American Heart Association-funded RCT of a lifestyle intervention, HEALS (Healthy Eating And Lifestyle after Stroke) (Mentor: Vickrey); and (3) she is the principal investigator (Multiple PI: Towfighi/Vickrey) of an NINDS-funded RCT of a care manager/community health worker team intervention for improving risk factor control after stroke, the “Secondary stroke prevention by Uniting Community and Chronic care model teams Early to End Disparities (SUCCEED)” trial. The SUCCEED intervention is a culturally-tailored, community-based intervention to improve secondary stroke prevention efforts in underserved, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities (primary outcome – blood pressure control). They are enrolling a broad patient population including individuals with transient ischemic attack (TIA), ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.