Think Neuro

Alexander M. Solomon, MD, is a neuro-ophthalmologist and strabismus surgeon at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica and Torrance, CA. Dr. Solomon’s personal philosophy is that each patient is an individual and that diagnosis and optimal management of any disease is best carried out in conjunction with patient and family education, and understanding.

His skillset includes visual field analysis and optical coherence tomography interpretation, as well as advanced adult strabismus diagnosis and treatment including thyroid eye disease, cranial nerve palsies, and orbital disease.

Jesús O. Barreto Abrams, PhD, is a clinical neuropsychologist at the Pacific Brain Health Center, Pacific Neuroscience Institute. He evaluates patients in American Sign Language (ASL), Spanish, or English. He mainly works with adult and older adults with cognitive concerns consulting with physician and other allied health professionals in the diagnosis and treatment of neurocognitive disorders due to neurological conditions (e.g., dementias, strokes, traumatic brain injuries) and other medical illnesses (e.g., COVID-19, cancer). Dr. Barreto Abrams also occasionally holds a pediatric neuropsychological clinic specialized in working with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children with neuropsychological concerns. Further, he serves as a neuropsychologist liaison to the cochlear implant (CI) team at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute assisting with candidacy evaluations for children and adults who may have neuropsychological concerns.

Dr. Jian Guan is a fellowship trained neurosurgeon with a special focus on complex spine surgery at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. Dedicated to the care of patients with spine and neck conditions, he practices at PNI-South Bay / Spine Institute at Little Company of Mary in Torrance, California. With over 75 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Guan has a particular clinical and research interest in ways of maximizing benefit to patients following neurosurgical procedures.

This episode comes from the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation’s podcast, Your Daily Dose with Kym Douglas. Pacific Neuroscience Institute experts, Dr. Keith Heinzerling and Dr. Daniel Kelly discuss the Treatment & Research in Psychedelics (TRIP) program at PNI. Dr. Heinzerling, an addiction medicine specialist and TRIP director, and Dr. Kelly, director and one of the four founders of PNI describe how psychedelic-assisted therapy with compounds such as psilocybin from “magic mushrooms” in clinical trials can help treat conditions such as alcohol use disorder, anxiety, and depression. Listen to this episode to learn how these doctors envision psychedelic-assisted therapy transforming the current model of mental health care.

Dr. Lewis is a board certified audiologist focusing on adult and pediatric patients. An avid clinician, educator, and advocate, she is dedicated to serving the community using a whole patient approach with evidenced-based and compassionate care.

Sandra Narayanan, MD, FAHA, FANA, FSVIN, FAAN, is board-certified in neurology and vascular neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and CAST (Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training)-certified in neuroendovascular surgery. She is a vascular neurologist and neurointerventional surgeon at Pacific Stroke & Neurovascular Center, Pacific Neuroscience Institute. She is director of the neurointerventional program and co-director of the stroke program at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

Treating Brain Tumors with Dr. Daniel F. Kelly On "From Cancer A to Z" with Dr. Rosalyn Morrell | Guest Podcast 

Brain tumors don't get the same amount of attention as the other types of cancers. But they are still very important to talk about. Dr. Daniel F. Kelly is a neurosurgeon and founder of Pacific Neuroscience Institute. 

Listen in to learn about Daniel's non-linear path to becoming a neurosurgeon. You'll also hear how the Pacific Neuroscience Institute uses keyhole surgery to reduce the amount of time patients need to stay in the hospital.

Dr. Garni Barkhoudarian, Neurosurgeon at Pacific Neuroscience Institute and Assistant Professor of Neuroscience & Neurosurgery at the Saint John's Cancer institute, discusses his perspectives of the future of brain tumor surgery in this episode.

Tatiana lives with a brain tumor that causes pain like the very worst migraine. Van Nessa had a sarcoma in her cheekbone and has had eight surgeries. Ben has an inoperable brainstem glioma that is kept in check with a new drug. Do you have someone in your life who is living with cancer? Tatiana, Van Nessa and Ben have some thoughts on how to help them. For Ben, the best thing was when a friend just left dinner on the porch and didn’t even ring the doorbell. Tatiana likes it when friends check in, if not with her, with her mother, who is “in it with her everyday.” Dr. Akanksha Sharma, a neuro-oncologist at Pacific Neuroscience Institute has helped hundreds of patients who live with brain cancer. She joins me in moderating this discussion on what helps and what doesn’t when someone is facing the toughest diagnoses.

When it comes to cancer, the focus is most often on the patient. But the best treatment happens when their care partners are cared for, too. The first step is knowing what it’s like to be the partner, son, daughter or friend of a cancer sufferer. Elaine Lipworth is a writer who lost her husband Stephen to a brain stem tumor. Ari Nowain, MD, is a gastroenterologist whose father is living with a glioblastoma. Emmaline Mauritson is a physician’s assistant at the Pacific Brain Tumor Center who works with patients and their families in the neuro-oncology clinic and infusion center on their cancer journey. We talked about what’s hard, what’s surprising, and what’s rewarding about being a cancer care partner. Listen to this podcast to learn about one of the toughest roles we’re called upon to play in this life, and what we might learn from it.