Neurosurgery Current Residents

Benjamin Johnston, MD, PhD

Benjamin Johnston, MD, PhD

Chief Resident, PGY-7

Undergrad: Hamilton College
MD: Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
MS/PhD: Joint Program – UT Arlington & UT Southwestern Medical Center

Hometown: Boston, MA

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Reconstructive neurosurgery
  • Nociception gene & cell therapies
  • Peripheral nerve
  • Spinal cord injury

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Ari Kappel, MD

Ari Kappel, MD

Chief Resident, PGY-7

Undergrad: University of California, San Diego
MD: Stony Brook University School of Medicine

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Cerebrovascular and skull base neurosurgery
  • Endovascular
  • Aneurysms
  • AVMs
  • Neurocritical care
  • Pediatric cerebrovascular disease

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Genaro Villa, MD, PhD

Genaro Villa, MD, PhD

Chief Resident, PGY-7

Undergrad: University of California, Los Angeles
MD/PhD: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Hometown: Camarillo, CA

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Cancer genetics, signal transduction, and metabolism
  • Glioblastoma/glioma
  • Long non-coding RNA
  • Immunotherapy
  • Molecular-guided clinical trials for CNS malignancies

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Joshua Bernstock, MD, PhD

Joshua Bernstock, MD, PhD

Senior Resident, PGY-6

Undergrad: Brandeis University
MD: University of Alabama, Birmingham
PhD: University of Cambridge, UK

Hometown: Yonkers, NY

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Stem cells
  • Glioblastoma
  • Experimental therapeutics
  • Experimental diagnostics
  • Immunotherapies
  • Ischemia

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Melissa Chua, MD

Melissa Chua, MD

Senior Resident, PGY-6

Undergrad: Boston University
MD: Boston University School of Medicine

Hometown: Singapore

Clinical and Research Interests

  • Focused ultrasound
  • Tractography
  • Movement disorders
  • Epilepsy
  • Neuromodulation

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Saksham Gupta, MD

Saksham Gupta, MD

Senior Resident, PGY-6

Undergrad: Johns Hopkins University
MD: Harvard Medical School

Hometown: Acton, MA

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Open and endoscopic skull base surgery
  • Neuro-oncology
  • Global surgery
  • Improving clinical outcomes
  • Technical innovation

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Marcelle Altshuler, MD

Marcelle Altshuler, MD

Research Resident, PGY-5

Undergrad: University of Florida, Gainesville
MD: Georgetown University School of Medicine

Hometown: Jacksonville, FL

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Skull base
  • Anatomy
  • Neurosurgical education
  • Women in neurosurgery
  • Global neurosurgery

Publications Dr. Altshuler's Profile
Joshua Chalif, MD, PhD

Joshua Chalif, MD, PhD

Research Resident, PGY-5

Undergrad: Dartmouth College
MD/PhD: Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University

Hometown: Huntington, NY

Clinical and Research Interests

  • Spine
  • Locomotion
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Circuits neuroscience

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Jason Chen, MD, PhD

Jason Chen, MD, PhD

Research Resident, PGY-5

Undergrad: Duke University
MD/PhD: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Hometown: Gainesville, FL

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Neurodegenerative diseases
  • Genetics & bioinformatics
  • Medical devices
  • Functional neurosurgery

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Casey Jarvis, MD

Casey Jarvis, MD

Research Resident, PGY-4

Undergrad: Cornell University
MD: Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Neuro-oncology
  • Pediatrics

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Sean Lyne, MD

Sean Lyne, MD

Research Resident, PGY-4

Undergrad: Westminster College
MD: University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine

Hometown: Brandon, Ireland

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Open and endoscopic skull base surgery
  • Neuro-oncology
  • Business in Neurosurgery
  • Medical device innovation

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James Tanner McMahon, MD

James Tanner McMahon, MD

Research Resident, PGY-4

Undergrad: New York University
MD: Emory University School of Medicine

Hometown: Summit, NJ

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Neuro-oncology
  • Cerebrovascular/
    Endovascular
  • Pediatrics
  • Neurocritical care

View Profile Dr. McMahon's Profile
Adam Glaser, MD

Adam Glaser, MD

Junior Resident, PGY-3

Undergrad: Middlebury College
MD: Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine

Hometown: Washington, D.C.

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Epilepsy
  • Focused ultrasound
  • Brain computer interfaces
  • Machine learning

Publications Dr. Glaser's Profile
David Liu, MD

David Liu, MD

Junior Resident, PGY-3

Undergrad: Brown University
MD: Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Hometown: Gainesville, FL

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Epilepsy
  • Psychiatric surgery
  • Cognitive neuroscience and AI
  • Brain mapping
  • Complex spine surgery

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Gabrielle Luiselli, MD

Gabrielle Luiselli, MD

Junior Resident, PGY-3

Undergrad: Tufts University
MD: University of Massachusetts Medical School

Hometown: Carlisle, MA

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Pediatric neurosurgery
  • Hydrocephalus
  • Neuro-oncology

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Eric Chalif, MD

Eric Chalif, MD

Junior Resident, PGY-2

Undergrad: Dartmouth College
MD: George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Hometown: Huntington, NY

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Skull base
  • Neuro-oncology
  • Gene therapy
  • Surgical innovation

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Ron Gadot, MD

Ron Gadot, MD

Junior Resident, PGY-2

Undergrad: Brandeis University
MD: Baylor College of Medicine

Hometown: Houston, TX

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Skull base surgery
  • Epilepsy
  • Neuromodulation
  • Psychiatric surgery
  • Circuit neurotherapeutics

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Chibueze Nwagwu, MD

Chibueze Nwagwu, MD

Junior Resident, PGY-2

Undergrad: Newman University
MD: Emory University School of Medicine

Hometown: Aladinma, Nigeria

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Neuro-oncology
  • Skull base
  • Immunotherapy
  • Intracranial delivery

View Profile Dr. Nwagwu's Profile
Sarah Blitz, MD

Sarah Blitz, MD

First Year Resident, PGY-1

Undergrad: Lafayette College
MD: Harvard Medical School

Hometown: Montville, NJ

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Neuro-oncology
  • Skull base surgery
  • Brain mapping
  • Connectomics

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Alexander Yearley, MD

Alexander Yearley, MD

First Year Resident, PGY-1

Undergrad: Duke University
MD: Harvard Medical School

Hometown: Scarsdale, NY

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Neuro-oncology
  • Spine
  • Functional neurosurgery
  • Machine Learning, Epilepsy

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Eduardo Maury, MD, PhD

Eduardo Maury, MD, PhD

First Year Resident, PGY-1

Undergrad: MIT
MD: Harvard Medical School

Hometown: Holguin, Cuba

Clinical and Research Interests:

  • Pediatric Neurosurgery
  • Somatic mutations in neurosurgical disorders

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