Melanie Walker, MD, is a neurological surgeon who specializes in endovascular neurosurgical diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the brain and spinal cord including stroke, trauma, tumors, aneurysms, vascular malformations, pituitary disease, pain management, and hemorrhage. She has been with UW Medicine since 2006 and has held joint appointments in neurological surgery and neurology.

Dr. Walker is Clinical Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington School Medicine and sits on the executive board of the Stroke and Applied Neurosciences Center. She is the founder and director of the UW Clot Bank, providing analysis of specimens collected during intravascular thrombectomy. Based out of Harborview Medical Center, Dr. Walker is an NIH-funded clinical researcher specializing in the endovascular management of neurological disease, with a focus on stroke. Dr. Walker has extensive experience in global health and development, serving previously in various roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organization, and the World Bank.

After graduating from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1998, she began surgical training in 1999 at the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California and moved to Seattle to complete a neurology residency, vascular neurology fellowship, and endovascular neurosurgery fellowship at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She also completed palliative care training at Harvard Medical School.