Dr. Barmada received his Ph.D. in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University in St. Louis, and completed his neurology residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). During residency and continuing in a postdoctoral fellowship, he worked with Dr. Steve Finkbeiner at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco to establish faithful model systems for the study neurodegenerative conditions, including one of the first human stem cell-based models of disease. Dr. Barmada moved to the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor of Neurology in 2013. Combining basic biology with translational research and technology development, his research centers on critical abnormalities in RNA and protein metabolism in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

In recognition of the impact and promise of his original research, he was awarded the Young Physician Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2014, was named the distinguished Angela Dobson and Lyndon Welch Research Professorship at the University of Michigan in 2015, and received the prestigious Derek Denny Brown Award from the American Neurological Society in 2022. Dr. Barmada serves on the executive advisory board of the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research, and acts on the scientific advisory boards of the Live Like Lou Foundation, Synapticure, and Ninesquare Therapeutics. He has taken an active role in raising awareness of ALS and FTD in the community, participates in several local and national fundraising efforts, and helps guide priorities for national research funding through NIH-sponsored panels.