The Brain Surgeon's Take

EJ Manuel, a former first-round NFL Draft pick, joined ACC Network in 2019 and is a studio analyst on The Huddle, ACCN’s signature football show that airs Saturday mornings throughout the fall. He also co-hosts ACCN’s In Play with Kelsey Riggs and is a regular each week on ESPN’s College Football Live. Along with is his ESPN duties, Manuel co-hosts College Sports Today on SiriusXM with Brock Huard.

One of the most productive quarterbacks in Florida State history, Manuel led the Seminoles to a 25-6 record as a starter during the 2009-12 seasons, and the fourth-most wins in program history. The Virginia Beach, Virginia, native also helped Florida State to notable victories including the 2013 Discover Orange Bowl, 2012 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game and 2009 Gator Bowl – the final game of legendary coach Bobby Bowden’s career. He is the second quarterback in FBS history to win four straight bowl games, and also went 15-3 in his career against ACC opponents. Manuel is FSU’s all-time leader in completion percentage (66.9), which is tied for third in ACC history, and ranks among the top five Seminole quarterbacks all-time for passing yards (7,736, 4th), total offense (8,563, 3rd), completions (600, 3rd) and attempts (897, 5th), despite only two seasons as the full-time starter. He earned second team All-ACC honors for the 2012 season and was named the 2013 Senior Bowl MVP.

Following his career at FSU, Manuel was a first-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2013.

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Dr. Schwartz received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. After completing his residency and chief residency in Neurosurgery at The Neurological Institute of NewYork at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Dr. Schwartz spent a year at Yale-New Haven Medical Center receiving advanced fellowship training. Dr. Schwartz specializes in the surgical treatment of brain tumors, pituitary tumors, and epilepsy using the latest techniques in computer-guided surgical navigation, minimally invasive endoscopy, and microsurgery. Dr. Schwartz was recently named David and Ursel Barnes Professor in Minimally Invasive Surgery, the first endowed professorship in the department.

Dr. Schwartz has provided commentary for numerous television shows on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Larry King, in addition to national radio shows. His expertise has been sought through interviews, quoted and published, in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, and Crain’s New York Business; he is asked to lecture throughout the country and world. Dr. Schwartz has published many scholarly articles for the Journal of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, Epilepsia, Clinical Neurosurgery the Journal of Neuro-Oncology, Nature Medicine, NeuroImage and the Journal of Neuroscience.

Dr. Schwartz has been named one of New York’s Super Doctors, Best Doctors in New York Magazine, America’s Top Surgeons, America’s Best Doctors and America’s Best Doctors for Cancer. He is the co-author of two books on endoscopic skull base surgery and endoscopic pituitary surgery.

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Dr. LJ Maxfield is an Instagram star and dermatologist known for creating content about conditions that affect the skin, hair and nails. His posts include facts about acne, wrinkles and retinoids. He has published in various medical journals. He has amassed more than 170,000 followers on his dr.ljmaxfield Instagram account. Outside of social media, Dr. Maxfield is a North Carolina coastal-based dermatologist known for integrating medical dermatology and skincare into an active lifestyle. Dr. Maxfield has published extensively and worked for years in medical education teaching, building curriculum, and tutoring medical students and resident physicians. He believes that knowledge empowers and is passionate about sharing this through social media. 

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Dr. Jeffrey A. Engel is founding director of the Center for Presidential History at SMU and Professor in the Department of History.  A Senior Fellow of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies, he graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University.  He additionally studied at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in American history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, before holding a John M. Olin Postdoctoral Fellow in International Security Studies at Yale University. In 2012 the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations named him their Bernath Prize lecturer, while at SMU the students voted him their Professor of the Year.

Engel has authored or edited twelve books on American foreign policy. A frequent media contributor on international and political affairs on venues including MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, National Public Radio, and the BBC, his scholarly and popular articles have appeared in such journals as Diplomatic History; Diplomacy & Statecraft; American Interest; USAToday; The Los Angeles Times; International Journal; The Dallas Morning News; The Houston Chronicle; Air & Space Magazine; and The Washington Post.

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Dr. Michael Collins is the Director and Chief Neuropsychologist at The Clinical Neuropsychology Center (CNC). Dr. Collins is a licensed psychologist in Florida and Rhode Island that has testified 100’s times as an expert witness and court appointed or retained for over 2000 psychological evaluations (Civil and Criminal). Prior to founding CNC, Dr. Collins was the Director of Psychology at South University and has since that time developed the Broward County Post Arrest Diversion program. Dr. Collins earned his PHD in Clinical Neuropsychology from Nova Southeastern University and completed supervised training in forensic and neuropsychology. Dr. Collins is a medical vendor with the Justice Administration Commission in all 20 judicial circuits throughout the state of Florida.

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Dr. Erin Kobetz is Vice Provost for Research and Tenured Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Public Health Sciences, and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Additionally, she is Associate Director of Population Science and Cancer Disparities at UM’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center (SCCC), as well as, the Chief of Population Health and Cancer Disparities for UHealth Oncology Service line. Dr. Kobetz also serves as Program Director for the Community Engagement and Multidisciplinary Team Science Components of UM’s Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSA).
 
She earned a Master's in Public Health from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in 1999, and joined the University of Miami in September of 2004, after completing her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Public Health. Soon after, Dr. Kobetz established Patnè en Aksyon (Partners in Action), Sylvester’s first ever campus community partnership in Little Haiti, the largest enclave of Haitian settlement, and remains committed to integrating diverse stakeholders into the translational research continuum.

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Tricia Cullop is the eighth head coach in program history. Cullop comes to Coral Gables after spending the past 16 seasons as the head coach at the University of Toledo, where she compiled a record of 353-169. The six-time Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year led the Rockets to five MAC regular season championships and 11 postseason berths, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Prior to Toledo, Cullop spent eight seasons as the head coach at the University of Evansville. A respected leader in college basketball coaching circles, Cullop served as the President of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 membership years. In 2022, she received the WBCA Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award, which is awarded to the member coach who best reflects Eckman’s character traits of courage, ethical behavior, honesty, sportsmanship and commitment to the student-athlete. Cullop earned MAC Coach of the Year honors in each of the past three seasons as her Rockets won a total of 85 games and captured three conference regular season crowns. In 2023-24, Toledo posted a 28-6 record, including a 15-1 mark at home, where the Rockets averaged 4,351 fans per game, good for first in the MAC and 33rd nationally. UT advanced to the quarterfinals of the WBIT.

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Eric Schulze, PhD is a professional molecular biologist, genetic engineer, and former federal biotechnology regulator. He is currently Founder and CEO of GOODHUMANS STRATEGY & DESIGN AGENCY, a full-service food innovation consultancy for a climate-changing world. Previously, Dr. Schulze has served as Vice President of Global Regulatory and Public Policy at UPSIDE FOODS, the world’s first cultivated meat company. At UPSIDE, he led the company’s regulatory-, policy-, and government affairs. Dr. Schulze and his team developed the policy and processes that brought the first-ever cultivated meat product to market in the US in 2023. Dr. Schulze also served in a company spokesperson capacity and launched the first-ever cultivated meat FSQA program, first regulatory affairs program, food product development program, and cell line development program.  

Before the private sector, he served as a U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulator, handling a portfolio of novel food and drug biotechnology products. As a civil servant, Dr. Schulze also served as a federal STEM education policy capacity within the National Science Foundation and currently works with the National Academy of Sciences on undergraduate STEM education transformation. He holds an interdisciplinary doctorate in genetic, cellular, and molecular biology with a specialty in embryonic stem cell engineering from the University of Southern California (2010), a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Loyola University New Orleans (2005), and is trained in broadcast communication, speechwriting, and risk assessment.

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Rohan Marley is the founder of Marley Coffee and son of legendary musician and visionary Bob Marley. Rohan was born in Jamaica in 1972 and later moved to the United States, going on to study sociology at the University of Miami and starring as a linebacker for the U of M Hurricanes. He would later go on to play professionally for the Canadian Football League's Ottawa Rough Riders, but throughout his football career, Rohan knew deep in his heart that he would one day return to his family roots like his father, whose dream was to eventually become a farmer.  In 1999, Rohan's dream began taking shape when he found and bought 52 acres of land atop Jamaica's Blue Mountains, one of the world's most prized coffee-producing regions. In 2007, Rohan founded the Marley Coffee brand, finally fulfilling his ancestors' deep-rooted love for farming. Rohan is a passionate entrepreneur and visionary, like his father, combining his creativity and business acumen to create a self-sustainable and certified organic coffee farm which aims to help preserve Earth's natural balance. Marley Coffee has seen rapid growth in the gourmet marketplace, thanks to the rich, bold flavors of their coffee beans, and to Rohan's unwavering support of sustainable, organic, and Fair Trade farming practices. Rohan has also carried on Bob's legacy by establishing the Tuff Gong Clothing Company, named after his father's music label, Tuff Gong International. "The clothes are for everyone," says Rohan. "They're for the people - just like my father's music."

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Join us this Friday as we welcome Owner/Publisher of Miami Community Newspapers and nationally recognized journalist, Grant Miller: Why American Media is Corrupt.

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