Fall, Winter, and Spring Sessions. Four- or Eight-Week Session

Rotation Coordinator:
John Heiss, MD

Rotation Description
Clinical investigators in the Surgical Neurology Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Intramural Research Program conduct research on the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and surgical treatment of diseases of the nervous system and pituitary gland. Students participate in inpatient and outpatient evaluation of patients, learn about the conduct of clinical research trials, observe surgical procedures, and attend clinical care and research conferences.

Students will see patients affected by Cushing's disease, von Hippel-Lindau disease, neurofibromatosis (type 2), syringomyelia, Chiari I malformation, central nervous system neoplasms, medically intractable epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and other diseases. They will be exposed to clinical care of these conditions and to clinical and basic science research that is being conducted.

Major clinical research interests are:

• Natural history of patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease and central nervous system (CNS) hemangioblastomas
• Natural history of patients with neurofibromatosis, type 2
• Evaluation and treatment of patients with pituitary tumors
• Pathophysiology of syringomyelia
• Standard and experimental treatments for medically intractable epilepsy
• Genetic analysis of Chiari I malformation

Selection of Applicants
This elective is designed primarily for students who have completed a basic neurology or neurosurgery clerkship. It will not replace such a clerkship in the medical school curriculum. The elective affords the student an opportunity to gain a basic understanding of the techniques of clinical research and the evaluation and surgical treatment of patients with diseases of the CNS and pituitary gland.

Staff

• Ashok Asthagiri, MD
• John Heiss, MD
• John Park, MD, PhD
• Kareem Zaghloul, MD, PhD
• Russell Lonser, MD