Neurosurgery Blog

August 9, 2017
Part of achieving good outcomes for our patients requires defining what success looks like. For a patient with a brain tumor, success means meeting three criteria. First and foremost, we want to do no harm, so the patient should not be...
May 22, 2017
The link between an Antiguan painter and a New York neurosurgeon seems unlikely at best, but life does have a way of making some rather extraordinary connections. I was recently introduced to the work of Frank Walter (1926-2009), whose paintings...
May 18, 2017
A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about 17-year-old Kenny Bui, who died in 2015 after his post-concussion return to football. Nobody had done anything wrong, according to concussion protocol – the teen had passed a...
March 13, 2017
Over the past couple of years there has been an explosion of new data proving the benefits of two things: early intervention for stroke, and mechanical embolectomy using endovascular techniques.  We have long known that “time is brain,” but we...
February 28, 2017
The past few decades have seen a dramatic increase in our understanding of the brain and how it works – new findings about plasticity, for example, have allowed us to revise our expectations about recovery after traumatic injury or stroke — and...
February 23, 2017
Earlier this month I was honored to serve as international faculty for a two-day seminar in Najaf, Iraq, sponsored by AOSpine Middle East. This was my third visit to Iraq for an AOSpine course, but my first time in Najaf. Although these teaching...
January 31, 2017
As a pediatric neurosurgeon, a large part of my job involves talking with anxious parents about their child’s upcoming surgery, and carrying families through a process they are never truly prepared for. As a parent myself, I cannot imagine how...
January 25, 2017
I know what to expect when I mention “awake craniotomy” to anyone – the very mention of undergoing brain surgery while awake usually makes people shudder. It’s not surprising, since we all like to keep our skull intact and our brain protected. The...
November 17, 2016
Patients who are referred here for neurosurgery are often a bit confused when they’re scheduled for time with a neuropsychologist before or after surgery. What does a psychologist have to do with neurosurgery, anyway?
October 26, 2016
Last week the Cancer Moonshot Task Force released its official recommendations for achieving the lofty goal set out in President Obama’s State of the Union address in January: ending cancer as we know it. I am convinced we can do it, but we need...

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