Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center

Mischer Neuroscience Institute

Meet the Team

Neurosurgery

Aaron Mohanty, M.D. - Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery, at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston, Dr. Mohanty's specializations include pediatric neurosurgery, neuroendoscopy and stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. His experience in endoscopic neurosurgical and minimally invasive neurosurgical procedures enables Memorial Hermann to be one of the few hospitals in Houston to offer these specific procedures.

Dr. Mohanty is a member of the the International Endoscopic Tumor Biopsy Group, an organization of select Neurosurgeon specialists engaged in tumor biopsy using endoscopic guidance. He has several publications in the field of endoscopic surgery to his credit.

Stroke

James C. Grotta, M.D. – Professor of neurology and director of the Stroke Program, Dr. Grotta occupies the Roy M. And Phyllis Gough Huffington Distinguished Chair in Neurology and is funded by the National Institutes of Health for grants to carry out laboratory and clinical stroke research.

Dr. Grotta joined the UT–Houston faculty in 1979. He's widely published and a frequent invited lecturer nationally and internationally

Frank M. Yatsu, M.D. – Former chairman of neurology at UT – Houston, Dr. Yatsu has been involved in stroke research for more than 30 years and written or edited six books primarily on stroke. He was on staff at the University of California at San Francisco and was chairman of neurology at the Oregon Health Sciences Center.

Jerek Aronowski, Ph.D. – Associate professor of neurology and director of stroke research, his interests include laboratory models of ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage.

His research has focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathology of acute cerebral ischemia, reperfusion injury and intracerebral hemorrhage, with emphasis on calcium-related signal transduction, adenosine receptors, protein phosphorylation, transcription factors, apoptosis and inflammation.

Xiurong Zhao, M.D. – A research assistant professor, Dr. Zhao focuses on sensory-motor function recovery and molecular neurogenesis. Her other interests include the interaction among glial cells and between glial cell and neuron in the primary glial-neuronal culture system in vitro.

John Choi, M.D. – A board certified neurologist, Dr. Choi is also certified in neurosonology and neuroimaging interpretation, as well as neurorecovery. Dr. Choi is also an authority on telemedicine and its application to neurological care, and the designer of the Memorial Hermann telemedicine program. He has extensive experience in acute stroke intervention, and joined the Stroke Team in 2003, where he's active in managing the inpatient acute stroke service.

Elizabeth Noser, M.D. – A former chief resident of neurology, Dr. Noser's research is in improving stroke recovery, and ethnic, gender and racial disparities in stroke-care delivery and outcome. Dr. Noser joined the UT/MHH Stroke Team in 2005.

Skull-base Surgery

M. Serdar Alp, M.D. – Dr. Alp completed a fellowship in skull-base surgery at the department of neurological surgery, Oregon Health & Science University in Portland . Dr. Alp is the author of numerous journal articles and four book chapters and is a frequent invited presenter.

Epilepsy

Jeremy D. Slater, M.D. – Director, Texas Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and associate professor of neurology, Dr. Slater is board certified in both neurology and sleep medicine, and specializes in adult seizure and sleep disorders.

James A Ferrendelli, M.D. – Professor and chairman of the department of neurology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston , Dr. Ferrendelli is widely published and a frequent lecturer. He was awarded a NINDS Special Fellowship by the Department of Pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo.

James E. Baumgartner, M.D. – A pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Baumgartner is board certified in neurosurgery and has authored chapters in four books and numerous articles.

Joshua Breier, Ph.D. – An associate professor in the department of neurosurgery, division of clinical neurosciences, he is actively involved in research and teaching services and is head of neuropsychology in the neurosurgery department. Dr. Breier is a member of the American Epilepsy Society, International Neuropsychology Society and the American Psychological Association.

Nitin Tandon, M.D. – An assistant professor of neurosurgery, Dr. Tandon is a frequent lecturer and an author of 18 clinical articles, as well as an ad-hoc reviewer for the Journal of Neurology , Human Brain Mapping , Journal of Trauma , Neurosurgery , and the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Center for Cerebrovascular Surgery

Dennis G. Vollmer, M.D. – Professor and chairman of the department of neurosurgery, Dr. Vollmer joined our practice in 2003 after serving seven years as head of the division of neurosurgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He is board certified in neurological surgery and specializes in cerebrovascular neurosurgery and stereotactic radiosurgery. He is the director for the Comprehensive Center for Cerebrovascular Surgery at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, and also serves as the medical director of the Gamma Knife facility there.

Edwin Cacayorin, M.D. – Professor and chief of diagnostic and interventional neuroradiology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Board certified in radiology, Dr. Cacayorin is a frequent lecturer who has contributed chapters to major neuroradiology and neurosurgery textbooks. He is the recipient of an American Medical Association Physician's Recognition Award.

Dr. Cacayorin's expertise includes vascular abnormalities of the central nervous system, including endovascular coiling of aneurysms; bucrylate embolization of arteriovenous malformations and tumors; and emergency and non-emergency reperfusion treatment of stroke including stenting and balloon angioplasty of carotid and vertebral stenosis.

Stephen A. Fletcher, D.O. – Dr. Fletcher has been practicing neurosurgery in Houston since 1985. His practice has consisted of adult and pediatric neurosurgery. In 2003 Dr. Fletcher decided to concentrate on neurological surgery for children. Joining the Texas Pediatric Surgical Associates associated with the University of Texas Medical School at Houston allowed him the support to concentrate on this surgical sub-specialty. The University of Texas Neurosurgeons for Children provides a comprehensive program of evaluation and management of children of all ages with neurological disorders that often require surgery. Operating predominantly at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, the group of neurosurgeons provides care for patients from all over Texas and the country.

MEG

Andrew C. Papanicolaou, Ph.D. – Professor and director of clinical neurosciences, department of neurosurgery at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and director of Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center's MEG unit, Dr. Papanicolaou, a Fulbright Scholar, has been an investigator on 31 major research projects, many with NIH funding.

A frequent lecturer, he's authored or co-authored five books, 24 book chapters and 154 peer-reviewed articles. The American Society of Neuroradiology awarded Dr. Papanicolaou a cum laude citation, and he has served as an editorial advisor for the International Journal of Neuroscience , Developmental Neuropsychology , and the Journal of International Neuropsychological Society .

Eduardo M. Castillo, Ph.D. – Assistant professor in the department of neurosurgery at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Dr. Castillo has completed a post-doctoral fellowship. He is a frequent lecturer and presenter.

An author of 46 published, peer-reviewed articles and eight book chapters, he's served as an ad-hoc reviewer for Neurocase , Neuroreport , Biological Psychiatry , Neuroimage , the Journal of Neurology , Neurosurgery , and Psychiatry . Dr. Castillo's clinical responsibilities include the use of MEG for pre-surgical localization of epileptogenic foci and functional mapping of somatosensory, motor and language-specific cortex.

Joshua I. Breier, Ph.D. – An associate professor in the department of neurosurgery, division of clinical neurosciences at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Dr. Breier is actively involved in research and teaching services and is head of neuropsychology. His clinical practice includes evaluation of children and adults with a wide variety of learning disabilities as well as illnesses affecting the central nervous system.

Current research projects include imaging of language function using MEG in adults with chronic aphasia secondary to stroke, and in children and adults with epilepsy and co-morbid learning disabilities. Dr. Breier is a member of the American Epilepsy Society, International Neuropsychology Society, and the American Psychological Association.

Mark H. McManis, Ph.D. – A child psychologist specializing in emotional development and anxiety disorders, Dr. McManis is a post-doctoral fellow in the department of neurosurgery at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

He has served as an adjunct assistant professor at Rice University and directed that institution's Adolescent Social Context and Healthy Development project at the Baker Institute for Public Policy. The principal investigator of an NIMH grant on children's temperament and emotional reactivity, Dr. McManis is a frequent lecturer and the author or co-author of journal articles.

Gamma Knife

Dennis G. Vollmer, M.D. – Professor and chairman of the department of neurosurgery at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston , and medical director of Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center's Gamma Knife Center, and a diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgery.

Dr. Vollmer has previously held faculty appointments at five medical schools, including The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Washington University, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he served as chief of neurosurgery for seven years. Dr. Vollmer's clinical interests include cerebrovascular neurosurgery and stereotactic radiosurgery.

Amir Malik, M.D. – Assistant professor of neurosurgery, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and board certified in neurosurgery, Dr. Malik is the recipient of a CNS Resident Trauma Award and a Codman Fellowship, and an author of Improved Functional Recovery in a Rat Traumatic Brain Injury Model Using a Novel Dehydroepiandrosterone Analog, accepted for publication by the Journal of Neurotrauma . Dr. Malik also has subspecialty interests in complex and minimally invasive spine surgery.

Mahmood Moradi, M.D. – A diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, Dr. Moradi is an author of The Role of Surgery in Childhood Intervertebral Disc Calicification: A Case Report.

Radiation Oncologists

Clive Shkedy, M.D. – Medical director of radiation oncology at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and a diplomat of the American Board of Radiology, Dr. Shkedy a diplomat of the American Board of Radiology and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Neil Sherman, M.D. – Former assistant professor of radiotherapy at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, a radiation oncologist and a former assistant clinical professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Dr. Sherman is a frequent lecturer and the author and coauthor of eleven published journal articles including, Influence of Surgical Margins in Outcome in Patients with Preoperatively Irradiated Extremity Sarcomas in the journal Cancer , and Radiation Therapy of Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma in Medical and Pediatric Oncology.

Medical Physicist

Otto Zeck, Ph.D. – Chairman of the Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Radiation Safety Committee, he is Texas board-licensed as a professional medical physicist and certified by the American Board of Radiology and the American Board of Physics.

Dr Zeck has completed post-doctoral work at Texas A&M University on the interaction of “hot atoms.” Dr. Zeck is an author of numerous articles, including Treatment of Acoustic Neuromas published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics.

For more information or physician referral, call 713-222-CARE (2273.