Dr. Sean C. Orr, M.D.

Background & Training

Dr. Sean C. Orr is a fellowship-trained neurologist whose career spans vascular neurology, critical care neurology, and interventional neurology — a rare triple specialization that gives him a uniquely comprehensive view of the brain. He completed his internal medicine internship and neurology residency at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, where he served as Chief Resident in his final year. He then completed fellowship training in stroke, neurocritical care, and neuroendovascular therapy under Dr. Camilo Gomez at the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 1999 to 2001 and served on the UAB faculty.

Before co-founding The Neurogenesis Project, Dr. Orr spent years treating the most acute forms of brain failure — stroke, traumatic brain injury, and neurovascular emergencies. That experience revealed a gap in medicine: patients were surviving brain crises, but no one was optimizing their recovery or protecting them from future decline. The Neurogenesis Project was built to fill that gap.

In Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Orr helped develop a comprehensive stroke center that drew a neurosurgery group to the hospital, and its Neurology and Neurosurgery program was later ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top 50 in the country. He went on to serve as chief of neurology for a multi-hospital system.

Why He Became a Neurologist

Dr. Orr came to medicine from music. He was studying classical trombone in Miami when his brother suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident. The surgery went well, but the recovery that followed required a nurse, a psychologist, a therapist, and educational support, and his mother, herself a nurse and researcher, had to assemble that team on her own. Watching her struggle led him to switch to pre-med, and it is the reason The Neurogenesis Project serves as a medical home for patients and families today.

Read his full story: Why I Became a Neurologist, and Why I Practice Differently.

Clinical Philosophy

Dr. Orr’s approach begins where conventional neurology ends. Rather than waiting for disease to declare itself, he uses advanced diagnostics — high-resolution brain MRI, PET imaging, genomics, biomarkers, and cognitive testing — to detect the earliest signals of neurological change. Every patient receives a level of diagnostic precision that most clinics reserve for research settings.

His therapeutic toolkit is equally unconventional: IV neuromodulators including NAD+, mesenchymal stem cells, exosome therapy, and non-invasive neuromodulation — all delivered within an intensive, multi-day program designed to compress months of care into days.

The Neurogenesis Project

As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Orr personally oversees every patient who enters The Neurogenesis Project’s Intensive Brain Health Program or Rescue From Rehab care. He is not a figurehead — he is the physician in the room, reading the scans, adjusting the protocols, and tracking outcomes longitudinally.

His writing on the NGP blog covers the intersection of clinical neuroscience, brain imaging, neuromodulation, and cognitive optimization — translating peer-reviewed research into actionable insights for patients and clinicians.

Areas of Expertise

• Vascular & Interventional Neurology
• Critical Care Neurology
• Advanced Brain MRI & PET Interpretation
• NAD+ & IV Neuromodulator Therapy
• Regenerative Neurology (Stem Cells, Exosomes)
• Non-Invasive Neuromodulation
• Cognitive Optimization & Brain Performance
• Genomic & Biomarker-Based Diagnostics

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

Dr. Orr’s peer-reviewed work centers on vascular neurology, intracranial stenting, and acute ischemic stroke. The full record is maintained on his ORCID profile (0009-0002-1090-6685).

1. Acute Ischemic Stroke Update. Pharmacotherapy, 2010. doi: 10.1592/phco.30.5.493
2. Novel Biomarkers and Therapeutic Options to Address Neuronal Injury. US Neurology, 2008. doi: 10.17925/usn.2008.04.01.26
3. High Prevalence of Stroke Symptoms Among Persons Without a Diagnosis of Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack in a General Population: the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2006. doi: 10.1001/archinte.166.18.1952
4. An approach to coordinate efforts to reduce the public health burden of stroke: the Delta States Stroke Consortium. Preventing Chronic Disease, 2004. PMID: 15670451
5. Design and Baseline Characteristics of the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) Study. Cerebrovascular Diseases, 2003. doi: 10.1159/000072562
6. Elective Endovascular Reconstruction of the Extracranial Arteries for Stroke Prevention. Southern Medical Journal, 2003.
7. Transpharyngeal Ultrasound Evaluation of Internal Carotid Artery Stent in an Octogenarian. The American Journal of Geriatric Cardiology, 2003. doi: 10.1111/j.1076-7460.2003.02691.x
8. Transesophageal Echocardiographic Detection of Left Vertebral Artery Origin Stenosis. Echocardiography, 2002. doi: 10.1046/j.1540-8175.2002.00695.x
9. Neuroendovascular Rescue: Interventional Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke. Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine, 2002. doi: 10.1007/s11936-002-0020-6
10. Angioplasty and Stenting for Primary Treatment of Intracranial Arterial Stenoses. Archives of Neurology, 2001. doi: 10.1001/archneur.58.10.1687
11. Controversies About Tissue Plasminogen Activator: Extending the Window of Therapy. Current Atherosclerosis Reports, 2001. doi: 10.1007/s11883-001-0025-8
12. Elective Intracranial Arterial Stenting. Seminars in Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 2001. doi: 10.1053/S1528-9931(01)80016-9
13. Extracranial Carotid and Vertebral Artery Stenting. Seminars in Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 2001. doi: 10.1053/scds.2001.24077