Research
Team Members Publish New Article and Operative Video
May 26, 2023
The Department of Neurosurgery is excited to announce that Oluwaseun Omoba, MS, Samon Tavakoli, MD, and Justin Mascitelli, MD, have published a new article in Operative Neurosurgery: “Right Retrosigmoid Craniotomy for Microvascular Decompression and Glioneuronal Hamartoma Resection for Trigeminal Neuralgia: 2-Dimensional Operative Video.” You can read their article and watch their operative video using the […]
Dr. Sayre’s Laboratory Publishes New Manuscript
May 19, 2023
The Department of Neurosurgery is excited to announce the publication of a new manuscript from the laboratory of Naomi Sayre, PhD: “Loss of LRP1 in adult neural stem cells impairs migration to ischemic lesions.” In their study, the authors describe how the lipoprotein receptor family member, LRP1, regulates the expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 to […]

Graduate Research Assistant Nahin Radit Defends Master’s Thesis and Receives Award
May 16, 2023
The Department of Neurosurgery is proud to announce that graduate research assistant Nahin Radit successfully defended her master’s thesis: “A Novel Astrocyte-Targeting Drug, AST-004, as a Potential Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury.” Nahin is actively involved in several organizations and campus-wide committees as an elected student leader, including the organization “Women in Science: Development, Outreach, […]
Dr. Smerin to Present Award-Winning Study at 2023 AANS Meeting
April 21, 2023
Congratulations to Daniel Smerin, MD, Molly Farrell, DO, Margaret Moran, MD, Carlos Garcia, MD, and David Momtaz, MS3! Under the mentorship of Ali Seifi, MD, FACP, FNCS, FCCM, Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurocritical Care, their study, “Association of Traumatic Brain Injury and Seizure development in the United States, during 2016-2020 a Cross-Sectional Study,” was selected […]
UT Health Launches Synergy Initiative to Advance Research Projects
February 23, 2023
The UT Health San Antonio Office of Technology Commercialization and the Office of the Vice President of Research recently launched Synergy, a funding initiative designed to assist promising early stage applied research that has a high chance of impacting the life sciences and patient healthcare. It intends to reward intra-institutional collaboration between disciplines at UTHSA that […]
Dr. Seifi and HiccAway Featured in Future Magazine
November 18, 2022
Dr. Ali Seifi was featured in the latest issue of Future, the official magazine of the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The published story describes the development of Dr. Seifi’s HiccAway device and relays his guidance to other inventors who […]

Welcome, Cerise Cisneros and Nicole Wisniewski!
August 23, 2022
The Department of Neurosurgery is happy to announce that Cerise Cisneros and Nicole Wisniewski have joined our research team. Cerise (right) and Nicole (left) are research assistants who will work on clinical trials and registries. Cerise is a 2021 graduate of St. Mary’s University. Nicole is a 2022 graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

Department Unveils New Study Evaluating CerebroFlo® EVD Catheter
August 19, 2022
The Department of Neurosurgery is rolling out a new nationwide study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the CerebroFlo® EVD catheter during the treatment of intraventricular hemorrhage. Ali Seifi, MD, FNCS, FCCM, is serving as the study’s principal investigator. Our research team members recently enrolled their first and second subjects. They are hoping to […]
New Article Published in Journal of Clinical Neuroscience
August 3, 2022
Faculty and residents from the Department of Neurosurgery recently published an article in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience demonstrating that most ruptured aneurysms are small and have low rupture risk scores. The article’s co-authors include Lee Birnbaum, MD, Justin Mascitelli, MD, Pavel Rodriguez, MD, Victoria Fischer, MD, and Matthew Webb, MD. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35878541/
Dr. Burma Interviewed about Research Concerning Glioblastoma and Senolytic Drugs
June 30, 2022
Ivanhoe Broadcast News recently published a story about the difficulties physicians face when treating glioblastoma. They interviewed Sandeep Burma, PhD, to learn more about the research his team is doing concerning the use of senolytic drugs to prevent the premature aging of healthy brain cells caused by radiation therapy. You can read the story and […]