Christopher Young, MD PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery with joint appointments at UTMB and UT MD Anderson. He specializes in conditions affecting blood vessels in the brain and spine. These include management of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, cerebral aneurysms, vascular malformations and carotid disease.

Dr Young obtained his medical degree from the University of Cape Town and a PhD from the University of Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He completed neurosurgery residency at the University of Washington and postgraduate fellowship in endovascular neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. A dual-trained cerebrovascular neurosurgeon, he offers both open surgical approaches and minimally invasive endovascular techniques to treat a variety of cerebrovascular disorders.

As a surgeon-scientist, Dr Young has active research projects which investigate the molecular regulation of endothelial cells in response to inflammatory and hemodynamic stress and how they may contribute to the development of brain aneurysms. He also has an interest in the emerging role of endovascular therapy in brain tumor patients.

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Dr. Aaron Mohanty was born and raised in Cuttack, India He completed his medical and academic training at SCB Medical College, Cuttack, India. He continued on with neurosurgical training from 1986-1991 at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), one of the unique institutions of its kind in south-east Asia promoted by the Government of India to promote the disciplines of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry in a comprehensive manner. During his residency, Dr. Mohanty submitted a dissertation on “Cognitive outcome and Quality of Life in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients” to the University. Upon completion of the program, he was awarded the MCh degree by Bangalore University under the auspices of Medical Council of India, which oversees the residency training in India. Subsequently he joined as Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery at NIMHANS in 1993, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1997 and continued as Additional Professor in 2003. In the meantime, Dr. Mohanty completed a 2-year pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at University of Arizona and Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix. In 2004, he relocated to Houston and joined as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston and then joined University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in December 2007.

Apart from Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Dr Mohanty has keen interest in developing and mastering the techniques of endoscopic neurosurgery. Dr. Mohanty has performed over 500 endoscopic procedures for pediatric and adult patients for various conditions like hydrocephalus, arachnoid cysts, colloid cysts, intraventricular tumors and isolated and compartmentalized hydrocephalus. During his tenure in India, Dr. Mohanty organized two very successful hands on endoscopic workshops in conjunction with Prof. Michael R Gaab, Greifswald, Germany who is considered as the pioneer of endoscopic neurosurgery. He has several publications in the field of endoscopic neurosurgery, which are widely referenced in the endoscopic literature. He is actively involved in popularizing this subspecialty and have several presentations in national and international meetings in the recent past. Dr. Mohanty was invited to participate in the Symposium “Masters of Neuroendoscopy” which was held during the XIV world Congress of Neurological Surgeons meeting at Boston, 2009. He has also been a guest speaker at several conferences in India over the years; such as, Neurological Society of India, Neurosurgical Spine Society of India, and the Indian Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery.

Apart from popularizing endoscopic neurosurgery, his interest has been in the management of   hydrocephalus. Dr. Mohanty is keenly involved in management of various subtypes of hydrocephalus like normal pressure hydrocephalus, a condition seen in elderly population and benign external hydrocephalus seen in the infantile period. Dr. Mohanty has authored a book called: “A patient and parent education guide: 100 Questions and Answers in Hydrocephalus”, which is published by Jones and Bartlett, Boston. This book has been a great help for patients and families of patients who have hydrocephalus.

Dr. Rishi Lall was born in Minneapolis, MN and grew up in northern Wisconsin. He completed his undergraduate education at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL with a degree in biological sciences. He obtained his MD from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. During medical school Dr. Lall was selected for membership in the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society and won numerous awards including the Lewis E. and Edith Phillips Scholarship awarded to the top five students in each medical school class. During medical school, Dr. Lall developed a passion for the neurosciences and neurosurgery and was awarded the Mark Gichert Memorial Award for Scholarship in Neurosurgery.

Dr. Lall completed his internship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL and completed his neurosurgery residency training and Chief Residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch. During this time, he received the Thayer Award for Excellence in Teaching, awarded by the UTMB School of Medicine. He currently serves as a full-time faculty Neurosurgeon at UTMB. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Texas Association of Neurological Surgeons and serves as a delegate for Texas to the national Council of State Neurosurgical Societies. He is also an active member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

Dr. Lall is a board certified neurosurgeon and a Diplomate of the American Board of Neurological surgery. Dr. Lall serves as the Director of Neurosurgery Spine for UTMB Hospital. His clinical interests include complex and minimally invasive spine surgery for degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis, scoliosis and spinal deformity surgery, brain tumor and skull base surgery and cerebral aneurysm surgery. He is passionate about using cutting edge and minimally invasive techniques to maximize patient outcomes, decrease postoperative pain, and improve recovery. He is actively involved in research on the effects of spine surgery on chronic pain and his research has been presented at the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting as well as at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

In his personal time, Dr. Lall enjoys traveling, playing tennis and golf, and spending time with his wife, who is also a physician at UTMB in the department of Family Medicine. He is proud to be a member of the UTMB community and looks forward to making a difference.

Dr. Pratt attended the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK for his undergraduate education earning Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and Bachelor of Science in zoology. He went on to complete a Masters of Science in ecology and evolutionary biology at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. He received his Medical Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, OK. During medical school Dr. Pratt was selected for the Alpha Omega Alpha honors society and earned the Lewis J. Moorman Valedictorian Scholarship awarded to the medical student with the highest academic performance in each graduating class.

Dr. Pratt completed his residency training at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, MD. He completed fellowship training in complex and minimally invasive spine surgery at Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, WA. He is a member of AO spine North America and member of the scientific planning committee for joint spine section.

Dr. Pratt serves as faculty at UTMB with a focus in complex and minimally invasive spine surgery. HIs clinical interests include minimally invasive spine surgery, complex and revision surgery for adult degenerative spinal disease, spinal tumors, and spinal deformity. He brings a multimodal approach to spinal surgery to reduce invasiveness of the operative procedure and improve patient outcomes and recovery.

In his personal time, Dr. Pratt enjoys spending time with his wife and son, hiking, and traveling.

Rudy P. Briner, MD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). He is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery with over 30 years of experience as a neurosurgeon.

Dr. Briner earned both his Master of Science in Biochemistry (1978) and his Doctor of Medicine (1982) at UTMB. He remained at UTMB to complete his general surgery internship and neurosurgery residency from 1982-1988.

Upon completing his resident training, Dr. Briner went into private practice for several decades in the Bryan-College Station, Texas, area. During his career in private practice, Dr. Briner worked at various practices, including the Spinal and Neurological Surgery Associates (1995-2005) and the St. Joseph Physician Associates (2005-2016). He is a founding member of the Texas Brain & Spine Institute that opened in 2006 and is currently owner of Harvey Neurosurgery (since 2009) and partner at Clinical Neuroscience Services (since 2011). Dr. Briner joined UTMB in 2018.

Dr. Briner is a member of several regional, state, and national professional medical organizations, including the American Association of Neurological Surgery, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Medical Association.