Dr Lal is a clinician-scientist in cerebrovascular disease and in venous thromboembolism. He has an active clinical practice in two major urban hospitals. He is also deeply involved in helping academic societies grow and mature the specialty of vascular surgery.

Carotid Disease. Dr Lal has a clinical practice in cerebrovascular disease at the University of Maryland. He launched the field of cognitive-mobility dysfunction in carotid stenosis. His investigations continue with funding from the NIH and the VA. Through additional NIH funding, he is investigating how the structure & biomechanics of carotid plaque impacts plaque disruption and stroke and cognitive dysfunction. He is testing how structure responds to pharmacotherapy, rehabilitation, and revascularization. He is National Co-PI of CREST-2, an NIH trial in stroke-prevention. As PI of C2R, he works with NIH and CMS to establish physician credentialing and clinical performance standards in carotid stenting. As Director of the Center for Vascular Research, he manages a large translational vascular research laboratory with over 32 funded active clinical studies.

Venous thromboembolism. Dr Lal is a founding member and clinical leader in the PERT Program at the University of Maryland. He has just completed a VA- randomized trial on testing novel exercise interventions to accelerate thrombus resolution in patients with acute DVT. He is conducting another randomized trial on swimming exercise intervention to improve right heart ejection fraction in patients with acute sub-massive PE. He is currently using novel machine learning algorithms and genomic information to improve prediction of hospital-associated venous thromboembolism.