Dr. Abla studied engineering at Duke University and medicine at University of Pittsburgh. He finished neurosurgery residency training at the Barrow Neurological Institute under Dr. Spetzler, including a cerebrovascular & skullbase fellowship. He then spent one year in vascular neurosurgery fellowship at UCSF under Dr. Lawton, with additional study in surgery for deep AVMs, posterior circulation aneurysms, and intracranial-intracranial bypass.

In residency, he obtained endovascular (interventional) clinical experience both at Barrow and at Buffalo. He focuses on both surgical and minimally invasive endovascular techniques for aneurysms, AVMs, intracranial bypass, cavernous malformations, carotid disease, and acute stroke. He has over 75 publications in peer –reviewed journals.