…we cover the exciting work being done in the

Neurospinal Disorders Program at the UCSF

Department of Neurological Surgery and introduce

several new faculty members. We also announce the

receipt of a generous grant provided to the Department

by the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United

States to fund research on the treatment and biology of

pediatric brain tumors.

Neurospinal Disorders Program . . . . . . . . . 1

Looking to the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Nursing Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Focus on Faculty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Pediatric Neurosurgery News. . . . . . . . . . . 5

Neurosurgery Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Resident Gazette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Selected Recent Publications . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Spinal Care at the University of California, SanFrancisco Department of Neurological Surgery

The spine surgeons at the Neurospinal Disorders Program at theUniversity of California, San Francisco (UCSF) use the most recent technological advances and an interdisciplinary approach to patient care totreat every aspect of spinal diseases and disorders. At the UCSF SpineCenter, patients can receive opinions from a variety of specialists including neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and radiation oncologists.Complex tumor cases referred to the Spine Center are now reviewed within 48 hours, making the tertiary referral center much more accessibleand valuable to neighboring physicians. Recently, a spine tumor board wasfounded by Christopher Ames MD, co-director of the NeurospinalDisorders Program and the Spine Center, Serena Hu MD, professor andvice chair of Orthopedic Surgery, and David Larson MD, PhD, FACR, professor of neurological surgery and radiation oncology. The spine tumorboard invites breast, colorectal, thoracic, and surgical oncologists to evaluate difficult and unusual cases, such as complex spinal tumors, foroptimum management.

Intraspinal tumors of the anterior midline cervical and cervical thoracic region pose a significant surgical challenge and high surgical riskbecause of the severe neurological damage that can result when manipulating the spinal cord. Ames has developed a surgical technique tooperate on these tumors, called a lateral transpedicular approach (seeimages). “It is basically skull base surgery for the spine,” says Ames. “Itinvolves radical bone resection, effectively removing the entire spine onone side to provide direct access to the tumor while avoiding manipulationof neural elements.” A case series of 15 patients treated with the

technique which was present-ed at the recent AANS-CNSJoint Section Spine meeting inOrlando, showed the patientsto have no neurological deficitfollowing surgery. Because ofthe need for extensive boneremoval, Ames and his colleagues modified standardreconstructive surgery using ascrew-rod construct that runsthe continuous length of threecolumns, stabilizing all levelsand reconstructing the cervical

A C A D E M I C A N D R E S E A R C H N E W S V O L U M E 8 N U M B E R 1

IN THIS ISSUE . . .

C O N T E N T S

The lateral transpedicular approach with corpectomy essentially “delivers” tumor out from underneath the spinalcord without any spinal cord retraction.

Continued on page 2

Over 80% of the population is expected to suffer from a spinal disorder in their lifetime, whether it is severe back pain caused by disc degeneration, a congenital deformity, or a central nervous system tumor.Historically, spinal disease has been an exceedingly complicated clinical problem.The delicate nature of spinal anatomy and the proximity of diseased areas to neural structures and nerve roots can severely limit treatment options and manypatients are given no recourse for their symptoms. However, recent technologicaladvances that allow neurosurgeons to repair the spine without damaging neuralcomponents have significantly improved the management of spinal disorders.

Notably, a new surgical approach to treating cervical and cervical thoracicspinal tumors has been developed by Christopher Ames MD, assistant professor of neurological surgery and co-director of the Neurospinal DisordersProgram. The procedure allows patients who were not previously candidates forsurgery to undergo resection of their tumors (page 1). There are approximately18,000 individuals who are diagnosed with new spinal metastases each year inNorth America, and advances such as these are giving new hope to patients withpoor prognoses.

In addition to refining open surgical techniques, the Department ofNeurological Surgery is beginning a new initiative for minimally invasive surgery that focuses on outpatient and short-stay spinal surgery. To lead this initiative, we are pleased to announce that Praveen Mummaneni MD hasjoined the Department as director of minimally invasive spine surgery and associate professor of neurological surgery. He also succeeds Philip Weinstein MD, professor of neurological surgery, as co-director of theNeurospinal Disorders Program. Mummaneni has completed fellowship training in complex spine surgery and has received advanced subspecialty training in adult spinal deformity surgery and in minimally invasivespine surgery. He completed his neurosurgical residency at the University ofCalifornia, San Francisco (UCSF), and has been an assistant professor of neuro-surgery and orthopedics at Emory University.

Minimally invasive surgeries have the potential to reduce surgical risk, pain,blood loss, and time to recovery; however, there have been relatively few trialscomparing them to open surgical techniques. Specializing in the treatment ofcomplex spinal disorders, Dean Chou MD, assistant professor of neurological surgery, uses minimally invasive thoracoscopic techniques to treat disorders of the thoracic spine and is currently leading studies on the use of minimally invasive techniques compared to other treatment modalities by analyzing the outcomes of patients.

While surgery is the mainstay of treatment for debilitating spinal disorders,the Department of Neurological Surgery focuses on a multidisciplinary strategy formanaging patients. By collaborating with other departments at the UCSF SpineCenter to form diagnoses and treatment plans, patients benefit from the expertiseof a variety of specialists. With new faculty and less invasive surgeries, we continue to enhance a comprehensive program to treat all aspects ofspinal disorders from the skull base to the sacrum.

Mitchel S. Berger MDKathleen M. Plant Distinguished Professor & Chairman

Spinal Care in the Department ofNeurological Surgery

Continued from page 1

2

The bone removal, vertebral artery mobilization and table tilt of the new approach transformthe poor tumor visualization achieved with traditional approaches into a wide access corridor with easy visualization and ample, safe working space.

pedicle. UCSF has been the only center where the surgery isavailable, but other institutions are becoming quick to adopt the procedure and Ames has served as visiting professor at Cedars-Sinai where he taught surgeons how to perform the technique.

The Neurospinal Disorders Program also specializes inspinal deformities that often result in acute instability andpain, including scoliosis, lordosis, kyphosis, and flat-backsyndrome. A wide variety of surgical techniques are used totreat these conditions, including osteotomy and vertebralcolumn resection. If progressive deformity or substantialdegeneration is present, surgeons are often able to fuse vertebral segments of the spine together to repair abnormalcurvature. While spinal fusions have become a fairly routinesurgery, members of the Neurospinal Disorders Program areinterested in the possibility of minimally invasive fusions fordeformity producing better outcomes for patients.

Dean Chou MD, assistant professor of neurological surgery, is leading clinical trials to examine the efficacy ofminimally invasive procedures — weighing the potential of asuperior therapy against the drawbacks of a steep learningcurve and expensive instrumentation. “Whether or not thereis a significant difference is a matter of debate,” says Chou.“Theoretically, less invasive procedures will result in lessblood loss, less pain, smaller risk of infection, and fasterrecovery, but there have not been many studies that showwhether patients who receive minimally invasive surgeriesbenefit more than those who receive open surgeries.”

Chou, who specializes in the treatment of complexspinal tumors, is also developing techniques that incorporate robotic surgery and minimally invasive surgery.Thoracic spinal tumors are usually treated through eitheran open thoracotomy or through a destabilizing posteriorspinal approach. Thoracoscopic spine surgery uses three to

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

3

Anna Frankfurt RN graduatedfrom the Hospital of the Universityof Pennsylvania School of Nursingwith a diploma in nursing in 1970,and attended the BSN program atthe University of Pennsylvania forone year prior to moving toCalifornia. She completed herbachelor’s degree in HealthSciences at Chapman College.Frankfurt began work at UCSF atthe Moffitt Hospital in 1983 andtransferred to the neuro intensive

care unit (NICU) several months later. She worked as staffnurse in NICU then became assistant manager of the NICU – a position she held for nine years. In 1995, she received theHelen Ripple Neuroscience Award, and in 2000 she was a co-investigator on the nursing research project “Gastric vs.Duodenal Tube Feedings.” While serving as assistant manager inthe NICU, she helped open the 8 South Neuro CloseObservation Room (NCOR) unit (named for its location on the8th floor of Moffitt Hospital’s south wing). In January of 2002,Frankfurt transferred to the Department of NeurologicalSurgery. What she enjoys most about her current position is see-ing the advances in the management of adult brain tumors both

surgically and medically. She especially enjoys the contact withpatients and families before and after surgery, which she did notexperience while working in the ICU.

Frankfurt has served as president of the Bay Area Chapter ofNeuroscience Nurses for two years. She has also participated inseveral community stroke education projects in conjunctionwith the neurovascular service and coordinated an informalstroke awareness survey with the Quality Improvement Groupof the NICU and 8 South NCOR, which was presented as aposter at the UCSF/Stanford Research day in 2000.

Lisa T. Hannegan RN, MS, Clinical Nurse Specialist is both asupervisor and clinical nurse specialist within the Departmentof Neurological Surgery, as well as an assistant clinical professorat the UCSF School of Nursing. She received her nursing degreefrom Montana State University and her MS in NeuroscienceNursing from UCSF. In her 25-year nursing career, Hanneganhas worked directly with thousands of neurosurgical patientswith tumors, and more recently with vascular diseases. She iscurrently a co-leader of the San Francisco Brain Aneurysm andVascular Malformation Support Group and co-president of theAneurysm and AVM Foundation. Hannegan has also worked as a study coordinator for several NIH-funded clinical trialsdealing with aneurysms, strokes, and cerebrovascular drugs.

In this issue, we feature part three of the Nursing Spotlight. Like the faculty, the nurses of the Department of Neurological Surgeryhave unique subspecialties, interests, and backgrounds. They have all developed specialized practices within the field of neurosurgerynursing, enabling them to provide expert care for patients who come to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

NURSING SPOTLIGHT

four small incisions through which the tumor can be removed. A voice-activated robotic arm aids in this surgery by following commands and helping to position the thoracoscopic camera for visualization. The melding of thoracoscopy and robotic surgery treats tumors less invasively and allows patients torecover more quickly.

Chou and his colleagues are also performing research to provide spine surgeons with an improved method for recommending surgery that maximizes thepotential for improving quality of life for patients with metastatic cancer.Neurosurgical resident John Chi MD, MPH, together with Ames, Chou, and PhilipWeinstein MD, professor of neurological surgery, has designed a prospectiveobservational study of patients with spine tumors that compares preoperative radiographic imaging with tissue correlates. The lack of well understood presurgical predictors of functional recovery has prevented most surgeons from being able to select patients based on the chances of actual clinical benefit and improvement in quality of life.This study may help predict the nature and degree of functional benefit for patients undergoing surgery for spinal cancer.

Reconstruction is achieved with a technique developed byChristopher Ames, MD called “artificial pedicle screws,” whichallows complete restabilization of the spine after the extensivebone removal.

4

F A C U L T YF A C U L T YF O C U S O N

Christopher Ames MD is anassistant professor of neurologicalsurgery at the University ofCalifornia, San Francisco (UCSF),co-director of the NeurospinalDisorders program, and co-director of the UCSF Spine Center.He received his medical degreefrom the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles and completed his neurosurgical residency at theUniversity of California San Diego,as well as a spine fellowship at

Barrow Neurological Institute. At UCSF, Ames’ clinical practicefocuses on complex spinal reconstructive surgery for tumorresection and correction of adult spinal deformity, and he is currently the principal investigator of five randomized prospec-tive clinical trials evaluating novel mechanisms of spinal reconstruction in neoplastic and degenerative disease. His workon spinal tumors includes the development of the transpedicu-lar approach for previously unresectable cervical and cervicalthoracic tumors (see page 1), as well as the first multilevel enbloc spondylectomy on the lumbar region of the spine.Although multilevel en bloc spondylectomy has been shown toeffectively cure some spinal metastases, it requires a high levelof technical expertise and has not previously been reported out-side of the thoracic spine. The results of that surgery will bepublished in an upcoming issue of the Journal of ClinicalNeuroscience, and Ames has been invited to speak to theAustralian Neurosurgery Society about the technique. In 2005,he received the prestigious International Society for Study of theLumbar Spine research award for his work on spinal fusion intumor reconstructions requiring radiation therapy. Radiationtherapy is a common therapeutic strategy for spinal metastases,but often severely inhibits bone-healing, making it difficult orimpossible to perform spinal decompression or vertebral reconstruction. Ames and his colleagues showed that the use ofthe recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 in a rabbit model significantly improved the fusion rate after radiation therapy.

Ames also specializes in treating disorders that disrupt thenatural curve of the spine. He performs trans-pedicular osteotomy for restoration of the lumbar lordosis, as well verte-bral column resection to treat severe rigid deformity. He was thefirst surgeon in the state of California to perform the TRANS1 percutaneous minimally invasive fusion procedure, whichallows access to the L5-S1 vertebral bodies of the spine toenable lumbar fusion. Recently Ames’ work in complex deformity was featured on a special edition of the NBC primetime show Three Wishes.

Dean Chou MD is an assistantclinical professor of neurologicalsurgery at UCSF and a member ofthe UCSF Spine Center. Hereceived his medical degree fromUCSF and completed his residencyin the Department of Neurosurgeryat Johns Hopkins University. Hehas also completed a fellowship incomplex spine surgery at BarrowNeurological Institute. Chou is amember of the North AmericanSpine Society, the American

Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the Congress ofNeurological Surgeons (CNS), and the AANS/CNS Section onDisorders of Spine and Peripheral Nerves. He is also an AO fac-ulty member and has been the recipient of several awards,including a Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundationgrant by the AANS.

In his clinical practice as a neurosurgeon, Chou performs surgery for spinal conditions ranging from disc degeneration to spinal tumors. He has particular expertise intreating adult spinal deformities, including severe scoliosis andkyphosis, as well as failed back syndrome. To treat kyphosis,Chou may perform an osteotomy, wedge resection, or vertebralcolumn resection, depending on the type and severity of thedeformity. Management of adult scoliosis ranges from conservative treatment to minimal decompression to full correction. Chou also frequently performs “re-do” operationsand revision surgery. For degenerative conditions, Chou performs minimally invasive surgeries, including use of anendoscope attached to a robotic arm, called AESOP, for thoracoscopic procedures. In his research, Chou focuses onstudying the outcomes of patients in order to evaluate surgicaltechniques and determine optimal management procedures.Currently, he is studying the use of minimally-invasive surgicaltechniques and comparing them to open surgical techniques todetermine which methods result in better outcomes for patients.

Chou's tumor practice focuses on all types of tumors, andhe frequently utilizes the transpedicular corpectomy technique. This technique allows him to perform an anteriorand posterior operation simultaneously, sparing the patient anadditional surgery and the morbidity that can result from ananterior approach. Chou is also involved in a clinical trial studying radiographic correlations with metastatic spine tumorsto determine if there are prognostic markers that might indicatewhether or not a patient will respond well to a given therapy(see page 2).

Continued from page 4

DR. AMES’S SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

P E D I AT R I C N E U R O S U R G E R Y N E W S

5

The Department ofNeurological Surgery hasbeen awarded a researchgrant by the Pediatric BrainTumor Foundation of theU.S. (PBTFUS) — a non-profit organization devotedto finding causes and curesof childhood brain tumors.Contributing and matchingfunds will total close to$200,000 per year and willsupport a research programfocused on pediatric brainstem glioma andmedulloblastoma. The PBT-FUS grant is intended toallow investigators to obtain preliminary data that will serve asthe foundation for a more comprehensive program. Such a program could be funded in the next 2 years, depending onresults of the current studies, and would be a large step towardsthe Department’s objective of expanding its pediatric braintumor research program.

The biology of pediatric brain tumors is not as well understood as that of adult brain tumors, mostly due to the rarityof tissue samples, and as a result new therapies have been slow todevelop. This research program aims to address some of thesechallenges with innovative, biologically-based strategies that

compose five main projectsand two core facilities, ledby principal investigatorMitchel Berger MD.Investigators from theDepartment of NeurologicalSurgery will also collaboratewith other institutions,including the PBTFInstitute at Duke University.

The first three projects include studyingthe origin of brainstemgliomas by examining

central nervous systemdevelopment and neuralstem cells; investigating the

role of the MYCN oncogene in the formation of pediatric medulloblastoma; and using siRNAs to activate genes in pediatric brain tumors that induce an apoptotic response whendown-regulated. To address the need for more effective methods ofdrug delivery, another project will study convection-enhanced andintra-nasal delivery of therapeutic agents into the rodent brain-stem. Finally, a fifth project will develop a xenograft panel ofhuman pediatric brain tumors in nude mice. These xenografts willbe established from a variety of brain tumor types and will create avital resource for the other studies and for the greater neuro-oncology community.

Principal Investigators of the PBTF grant program. Back, from left: Scott VandenBerg, Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, Mitchel Berger, C. David James, Graeme Hodgson. Front, from left: David Rowitch,William Weiss, Nalin Gupta.

DR. CHOU’S SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Acosta FL Jr, Dowd CF, Chin C, Tihan T, Ames CP, Weinstein PR. Current treatment strate-gies and outcomes in the management of symptomatic vertebral hemangiomas.Neurosurgery 2006;58(2):287-95; discussion 287-95.

Lee J, Parsa AT, Ames CP, McCormick PC. Clinical management of intramedullary spinalependymomas in adults. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2006;17(1):21-7.

Ames CP, Smith JS, Preul MC, Crawford NR, Kim GE, Nottmeier E, Chamberlain R, SpeiserB, Sonntag VK, Dickman CA. Effect of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2in an experimental model of spinal fusion in a radiated area. Spine 2005;30(23):2585-92.

Ames CP, Acosta FL Jr, Chamberlain RH, Larios AE, Crawford NR. Biomechanical analysis of a newly designed bioabsorbable anterior cervical plate. Invited submission fromthe joint section meeting on disorders of the spine and peripheral nerves, March 2005. JNeurosurg Spine 2005;3(6):465-70.

Josephson SA, Pillai DR, Phillips JJ, Chou D. Neurolisteriosis presenting as cervicalmyelitis in an immunocompetent patient. Neurology 2006;66(7):1122-3.

Chou D, Hartl R, Sonntag VK. Conus medullaris syndrome without lower-extremity involvement in L-1 burst fractures: report of four cases. J Neurosurg Spine 2006;4(3):265-9.

Chou D, Larios AE, Chamberlain RH, Fifield MS, Hartl R, Dickman CA, Sonntag VK,Crawford NR. A biomechanical comparison of three anterior thoracolumbar implants aftercorpectomy: are two screws better than one? J Neurosurg Spine 2006;4(3):213-8.

Chi JH, Manley GT, and Chou D. Pregnancy-related vertebral hemangioma: case report,review of the literature, and management algorithm. Neurosurg Focus [serial on theInternet] 2005 [cited 2005 Sep 22];19(3):[7 p.]. Available from: http://www.aans.org/education/journal/neurosurgical/Sep05/19-3-7.pdf.

UCSF RECEIVES RESEARCH GRANT FOR PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMORS

The Department of Neurological Surgery has welcomed five new faculty members. C. David James PhD, professor of neurological surgery, has been named the new associate director of the Brain Tumor Research Center and specializes in the molecular biology of central nervous system cancer. David Rowitch MD, PhD, professor of neurological surgery, specializes incentral nervous system development and tumorigenesis, and retains a joint appointment with the Department of Pediatrics, wherehe now serves as chief of neonatology. Shirley Stiver MD, PhD will be specializing in cerebrovascular and traumatic central nerv-ous system injury at San Francisco General Hospital. Shichun Zheng MD has become assistant adjunct professor in the Division of Epidemiology. His research focuses on genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in brain tumors and the development of newapproaches for molecular epidemiological studies of cancer in different populations. Praveen Mummaneni MD, associate professor of neurological surgery, will serve as co-director of the Neurospinal Disorders Program and director of the Department’snew initiative for minimally invasive spine surgery.

N E U R O S U R G E R Y N O T E S

Christopher Ames MD, assistant professor of neurologicalsurgery, will serve as an investigational device site for a newlumbar disc replacement known as activ L™.

John Chi, resident in the Department of Neurological Surgery, received the Henry Newman Award for excellencein clinical neuroscience from the San FranciscoNeurological Society for his research “Pre-hospital hypoxiapredicts outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury: amulticenter, prospective study.” He has also been awardedthe Congress of Neurological Surgeons/DePuy Spine ClinicalResearch Fellowship for 2006-2007.

Edward Chang MD, resident in the Department of Neurological Surgery, received the Kaiser Research Award fromthe San Francisco Neurological Society for his research thatcharacterized the functional ontogeny of the auditory cortex.

Daniel Lim, resident in the Department of NeurologicalSurgery, received the Edwin Boldrey Award in basic neuroscience from the San Francisco Neurological Societyfor the research paper “In vivo transcriptional profile analysis reveals RNA splicing and chromatin remodeling asprominent processes for adult neurogenesis,” published inMolecular and Cellular Neurosciences.

Geoffrey Manley MD, PhD, associate professor of neurological surgery, was nominated for a Heroes & HeartsAward, sponsored by the San Francisco General HospitalFoundation, for saving the life of a San Francisco policeman.The Heroes & Hearts Award is given to salute communityheroes who have demonstrated exceptional and inspira-tional behavior. Visit http://sfghf.net/heroes.php.

Manley will also be hosting the 13th InternationalSymposium on Intracranial Pressure and Brain Monitoringon July 20-26, 2007 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Michael McDermott MD, professor of neurological surgery,was invited to give the lecture “Meningiomas of the Orbit:Surgical Approaches and Outcomes” to the American Societyof Opthalamic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in 2005.

Ken Monson, assistant researcher in the Department of Neurological Surgery, has received a Mentored Quantitative

Research Development Award (K25) from the NationalInstitutes of Health for his project “Vascular mechanotrans-duction in traumatic brain injury,” which explores thehypothesis that mechanical trauma instigates changes in thebiological activity of the cerebral blood vessels.

Scott Panter PhD, assistant professor of neurological surgery, has recently been awarded a three-year grant by theVeteran’s Affairs Hospital for his project “Direct delivery ofneurotoxins to the brain by an intranasal route.” He will alsobegin testing an experimental device in swine that is intended to reduce tissue edema following traumatic braininjury. This work is part of a two-year contract with TwinStar Medical, Inc.

Victor Perry MD, assistant professor of neurological surgery, has been honored by Support for Families ofChildren with Disabilities – an organization dedicated toensuring that families of children with any kind of disability or special health care need have the knowledgeand assistance they need to make informed choices that support their child’s health, education, and development.Each year the organization honors professionals whodemonstrate a true understanding of children with disabilities and their families. The families nominated Perrynoted that “he is a physician who treats each of his patients– no matter what their disability – as an individual worthyof respect and care.”

Rene Sanchez-Mejia MD, resident in the Department ofNeurological Surgery, has received the Kaiser Award for clinical research from the San Francisco NeurologicalSociety for the research “Retreatment of medically refractory trigeminal neuralgia.”

Philip Star MD, associate professor of neurological surgery,has been appointed the Dolores Cakebread Chair inNeurological Surgery.

UCSF's neurosurgery service ranked in the top ten of U.S.News and World Report's 2006 roster of the best neuro-surgery and neurology services in the United States.

6

R E S I D E N T

Rose Du MD, PhD received her bachelor’s degree in Physics summa cum laude from Harvard Universityin 1993. She then completed the MD/PhD program at Harvard Medical School in 2000 and was a studentin the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Health Sciences and Technology Program(HST). She obtained her PhD in Physics at MIT in 1999. After an internship at the University ofCalifornia San Francisco (UCSF), she began her residency in the Department of Neurological Surgery atUCSF in 2001.

Du’s interest in research began in high school where she studied the theoretical properties of opticalfibers with Fares Mattar, PhD at New York University, a project which was a finalist in the WestinghouseScience Talent Search. As an undergraduate, she continued to be actively involved in physics research proj-ects, including a study on highly ionizing particles with Kay Kinoshita, PhD and on the fractal properties ofcrystal trees with Howard Stone, PhD. In graduate school, she studied the theoretical basis of the kineticsand thermodynamics of protein folding with Toyoichi Tanaka, PhD and Alexander Yu. Grosberg, PhD, whilefunded by the Medical Scientist Training Program, Forum, and Whitaker Health Sciences Fund Fellowships.

At UCSF, she was introduced to research techniques in the biological sciences in the laboratory of Gabriele Bergers PhD where shestudied the role of matrix metalloproteinases on angiogenesis and invasion in a mouse glioma model. Clinically, Du has an avid interest in cerebrovascular surgery. In addition to numerous clinical studies with Michael Lawton MD on cerebrovascular diseases, particularly arteriovenous malformations, she investigated the expression of angiogenic factors in a rat model of arteriovenous fistulaswith Lawton, Guo-yuan Yang MD, PhD, and William Young MD. Last year, Du received the Nafziger Resident Award from theDepartment of Neurological Surgery at UCSF. She is now pursuing a career in academic neurosurgery with an emphasis on cerebrovascular diseases. She completed her residency in June 2006, and has begun a fellowship in cerebrovascular surgery with ArthurDay at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School.

Auguste KI, Gupta N. Pediatric intramedullary spinal cordtumors. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2006;17(1):51-61.

Aryan HE, Meltzer HS, Lu DC, Ozgur BM, Levy ML, Bruce DA.Management of pilocytic astrocytoma with diffuse leptomeningeal spread: two cases and review of the literature.Childs Nerv Syst 2005;21(6):477-81.

Quinones-Hinojosa A, Sanai N, Soriano-Navarro M, Gonzalez-Perez O, Mirzadeh Z, Gil-Perotin S, Romero-Rodriguez R, BergerMS, Garcia-Verdugo JM, Alvarez-Buylla A. Cellular compositionand cytoarchitecture of the adult human subventricular zone: aniche of neural stem cells. J Comp Neurol 2006;494(3):415-34.

Sanchez-Mejia RO, Pham DN, Prados M, Tihan T, Cha S, El-Sayed I, McDermott MW. Management of a SporadicMalignant Subfrontal Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor. JNeurooncol 2006;76(2):165-9.

Waldron JS, Cha S. Radiographic features of intramedullaryspinal cord tumors. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2006;17(1):13-9.

Wang VY, Chang EF, Barbaro NM. Focal cortical dysplasia: areview of pathological features, genetics, and surgical outcome. Neurosurg Focus [serial on the Internet]. 2006 [cited 2006 Mar 1]; 20(1):[7 p.]. Available from: http://www.aans.org/education/journal/neurosurgical/jan06/20-1-7.pdf.

R E S I D E N T S ’ P U B L I C AT I O N S

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S E L E C T E D P U B L I C A T I O N SZhu Y, Lee C, Shen F, Du R, Young WL, Yang GY. Angiopoietin-2 facilitates vascular endothelial growth factor-induced angiogenesis in the mature mouse brain. Stroke 2005;36(7):1533-7.

Du R, Dowd CF, Johnston SC, Young WL, Lawton MT.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16239878&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsumInterobserver variability in grading of brain arteriovenous

malformations using the Spetzler-Martin system. Neurosurgery 2005;57(4):668-75; discussion 668-75.

Quinones-Hinojosa A, Du R, Lawton MT. Revascularizationwith saphenous vein bypasses for complex intracranialaneurysms. Skull Base 2005;15(2):119-32.

Du R, McDermott MW, Dowd CF, Young WL, Lawton MT.Neurosurgery at the crossroads: integrated multidisciplinarymanagement of 449 patients with brain arteriovenous malformations. Clin Neurosurg 2005;52:100-3.

Acosta FL Jr, Aryan HE, Ames CP. Emerging directions in motionpreservation spinal surgery [Review]. Neurosurg Clin N Am2005;16(4):665-9.

Calcagnotto ME, Paredes MF, Tihan T, Barbaro NM, Baraban SC.Dysfunction of synaptic inhibition in epilepsy associated withfocal cortical dysplasia. J Neurosci 2005;25(42):9649-57.

Chi JH, Parsa AT. Intramedullary spinal cord metastasis: clinicalmanagement and surgical considerations. Neurosurg Clin NAm 2006;17(1):45-50.

Daley JT, Turner RS, Freeman A, Bliwise DL, Rye DB. Prolongedassessment of sleep and daytime sleepiness in unrestrainedMacaca mulatta. Sleep 2006;29(2):221-31.

Hong C, Maunakea A, Jun P, Bollen AW, Hodgson JG,Goldenberg DD, Weiss WA, Costello JF. Shared epigenetic mechanisms in human and mouse gliomas inactivate expressionof the growth suppressor SLC5A8. Cancer Res2005;65(9):3617-23.

Manley GT, Rosenthal G, Lam M, Morabito D, Yan D, Derugin N,Bollen A, Knudson MM, Panter SS. Controlled cortical impact inSwine: pathophysiology and biomechanics.J Neurotrauma 2006;23(2):128-39.

Martin AJ, Larson PS, Ostrem JL, Keith Sootsman W, Talke P,Weber OM, Levesque N, Myers J, Starr PA. Placement of deepbrain stimulator electrodes using real-time high-field interventional magnetic resonance imaging. Magn Reson Med2005;54(5):1107-14.

Misra A, Pellarin M, Hu L, Kunwar S, Perhouse M, Lamborn KR,Deen DF, Feuerstein BG. Chromosome transfer experiments linkregions on chromosome 7 to radiation resistance in humanglioblastoma multiforme. Genes Chromosomes Cancer2006;45(1):20-30.

Mishra KK, Puri DR, Missett BT, Lamborn KR, Prados MD, BergerMS, Banerjee A, Gupta N, Wara WM, Haas-Kogan DA. The role ofup-front radiation therapy for incompletely resected pediatricWHO grade II low-grade gliomas. Neuro-oncol 2006; [Epubahead of print].

Noble CO, Krauze MT, Drummond DC, Yamashita Y, Saito R,Berger MS, Kirpotin DB, Bankiewicz KS, Park JW. Novel nanoliposomal CPT-11 infused by convection-enhanced deliveryin intracranial tumors: pharmacology and efficacy. Cancer Res2006;66(5):2801-6.

V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E

http://neurosurgery.medschool.ucsf.edu

This Newsletter is published by the UCSFDepartment of Neurological Surgery.

EditorIlona Garner

(garneri@neurosurg.ucsf.edu)

PhotographyJohn BranscombeJorge Marquardt

Design & Layout byAqua Design Studio

Original design elements byDesign Site, Berkeley

Original children’s art by Ben and Noah

Printed September 2006

Ozawa T, Britz GW, Kinder DH, Spence AM, VandenBerg S,Lamborn KR, Deen DF, Berger MS. Bromophenol blue staining oftumors in a rat glioma model. Neurosurgery 2005;57(5):1041-7; discussion 1041-7.

Prados MD, Lamborn KR, Chang S, Burton E, Butowski N, MalecM, Kapadia A, Rabbitt J, Page MS, Fedoroff A, Xie D, Kelley SK.Phase 1 study of erlotinib HCl alone and combined with temo-zolomide in patients with stable or recurrent malignant glioma.Neuro-oncol 2006;8(1):67-78.

Panner A, Parsa AT, Pieper RO. Translational regulation of TRAIL sensitivity. Cell Cycle 2006;5(2):147-50.

Sanai N, Quiñones-Hinojosa A, Gupta NM, Perry V, Sun PP,Wilson CB, Lawton MT. Pediatric intracranial aneurysms: durability of treatment following microsurgical and endovascularmanagement. J Neurosurg 2006;104(2 Suppl Pediatrics):82-89.

Smith JS, Cha S, Mayo MC, McDermott MW, Parsa AT, ChangSM, Dillon WP, Berger MS. Serial diffusion-weighted magneticresonance imaging in cases of glioma: distinguishing tumorrecurrence from postresection injury. J Neurosurg2005;103(3):428-38.

Tung PP, Olmsted E, Kopelnik A, Banki NM, Drew BJ, Ko N,Lawton MT, Smith W, Foster E, Young WL, Zaroff JG. Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide levels are associated with early cardiacdysfunction after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Stroke2005;36(7):1567-9.

Turner RS, Anderson ME. Context-dependent modulation ofmovement-related discharge in the primate globus pallidus. J Neurosci 2005;25(11):2965-76.

Vates GE, Hashimoto T, Young WL, Lawton MT. Angiogenesis inthe brain during development: the effects of vascular endothelialgrowth factor and angiopoietin-2 in an animal model. J Neurosurg 2005;103(1):136-45.

Wrensch M, Wiencke JK, Wiemels J, Miike R, Patoka J,Moghadassi M, McMillan A, Kelsey KT, Aldape K, Lamborn KR,Parsa AT, Sison JD, Prados MD. Serum IgE, tumor epidermalgrowth factor receptor expression, and inherited polymorphismsassociated with glioma survival. Cancer Res 2006;66(8):4531-41.

– Selected Recent Publications from the Department of Neurological Surgery –

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