Awais Riaz, MD, PhD

Awais Riaz, MD, PhD is the Chief of Epilepsy Division and Director of Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring Services at the University of Utah.

Dr. Awais Riaz received his medical education from King Edward Medical University in Lahore Pakistan. He completed his Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology at the Southern Illinois University in Springfield, IL, where he studied the mechanisms underlying development of seizures during alcohol withdrawal. He then completed his Neurology residency at the same institution followed by Epilepsy/Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship at Washington University, St. Louis, MO and Southern Illinois University, Springfield, IL.

After completion of his training, Dr. Riaz spent several years in private practice. He maintained his academic ties as Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology and Assistant Director of Epilepsy/Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship at Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine. In 2004, Dr. Riaz joined the University of Utah as full time faculty. In 2006, he was appointed Director of the Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring Services at the University of Utah Hospital and in 2011, he was appointed as Chief of the newly formed Epilepsy Division of the Department of Neurology. Since 2009, he has also been serving as the Interim Director of the University of Utah Comprehensive Epilepsy Program.

Dr. Riaz is the Chair of the General Neurology Section of the American Academy of Neurology and Chair of the Student and Resident Education Subcommittee of the American Epilepsy Society. He is also a member of the American Society of Neuromonitoring and has been a member of American Medical Informatics Association and Wilderness Medical Society. On local level, he has been Chair of the Professional Advisory Board for the Epilepsy Association of Utah and works with the Ethics Committee of the University of Utah Hospital.