Contact
Roles
Professor & Chairman of Neurological Surgery
Chief of Service, Jackson Memorial Hospital
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Biography
My neurosurgical training spanned over a decade and included a residency, two fellowships and a Ph.D. in the neurosciences. I had the incredible fortune to have as mentors some of the giants in the field of spinal surgery including Dr. Volker Sonntag – Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix; Dr. Charles Tator – University of Toronto and Dr. Barth Green – University of Miami as well as a world class neuroscientist – Dr. Richard Bunge - who served as my thesis advisor.
I am currently the Chairman of Neurosurgery at the University of Miami and the Chief of Neurosurgical services at Jackson Memorial hospital. My clinical responsibilities include a busy surgical practice with approximately 450 cases/year. I have incorporated some of the newer techniques in spinal surgery such as minimally invasive spinal surgery and complex spinal instrumentation. We have multiple clinical trials in place including the use of moderate hypothermia after SCI and autologous human Schwann cellular transplantation studies for neural repair including long segment nerve injuries. I have committee and administrative responsibilities that have been conducted within the department, the University, the State and nationally including the American College of Surgeons and the Joint Section on Spine and Peripheral Nerve disorders. I am an elected member of two of our most prestigious neurosurgical societies – the American Academy of Neurosurgery and the Senior Society of Neurological surgeons. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
Licensures and Certifications
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Honors & Awards
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Teaching Interests
I have enjoyed the opportunity to serve as a teacher in one of the largest and most prestigious neurosurgical programs in the country. This includes teaching clinical care and techniques of spine and peripheral nerve surgery to medical students, residents and spine fellows. I have served as the neurosurgical spine fellowship director from 1998-2015 and the program has increased to training an average of 3 spine fellows / year. I was honored as a resident and twice as an attending for my dedication to teaching. The Goodman Oral Board course is a bi-annual offering of the AANS and I have served as national director for the last 14 years. Almost all neurosurgeons between years 2 and 5 post-residency take the course. We recruit 35 nationally recognized faculty to teach the 150 attendees every 6 months and this provides me a great opportunity to interact with future leaders in neurosurgery. -
Research Interests
I see my role as a researcher in the basic sciences in helping to bridge the gap in bringing exciting findings from the laboratory to the clinical arena. Hence, much of my research involves the use of human cells, examining human spinal cord pathology and the use of non-human primates. This type of research is exemplified by my Ph.D. in the neurosciences and post-doctoral fellowships which have focused on human Schwann cell biology. The findings were published in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Neuroscience, PNAS and Experimental Neurology. To further this translational research, Currently, my laboratory is pursuing research that involves implanting FDA approved collagen tubes filled with Schwann cells to repair lengthy gaps within the rat sciatic nerve – a critical step before embarking on a second phase study which would involve placing mitogen expanded human Schwann cells within these same tubes in patients with peripheral nerve injuries. This laboratory environment has been an excellent opportunity for our resident and fellows to gain research experience. The investigations performed in the lab has been funded from various sources including the State of Florida, co-investigator in an NIH funded project, foundation grants, industry sponsored funding and philanthropic support. Of my approximately 185 peer-reviewed publications about a third are in the basic sciences. -
Publications
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