Dr. Peter Kan is the Professor and Robert L. Moody Sr. Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Kan pursued neurosurgical training at the University of Utah where he also completed a Masters of Public Health. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada prior to starting his endovascular fellowship at the University at Buffalo. Upon the completion of his fellowship, he joined the faculty at the University of South Florida and served as the director of cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery. He was subsequently recruited to Baylor College of Medicine as an associate professor and the director of cerebrovascular surgery. His research interests include clinical trials for new neuroendovascular devices, intravascular imaging, neuroprotection for acute ischemic stroke, and intra-arterial cell-based therapy for malignant brain tumors.

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Shanna Thompson, RN, MSN, FNP-C, is a certified Nurse Practitioner (NP) in Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). She also serves as an Adjunct Clinical Instructor in the UTMB School of Nursing and as a NP in UTMB Urgent Care in League City, Texas.

Ms. Thompson earned both her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (2011) and her Master of Science in Nursing-Family Nurse Practitioner with honors (2015) at UTMB. Prior to her current position, she worked as a NP at various medical practices as well as a Nurse Clinician at UTMB.

Ms. Thompson is also a member of several regional and national medical societies, including the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Galveston Coalition of Advanced Practice Nurses.

Patrick Karas was born in Cleveland, OH. He completed his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH with degrees in mathematics and chemistry. He then obtained his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, NY. Dr. Karas completed his neurosurgery residency at Baylor College of Medicine. During his residency he was awarded an NIH R25 grant to study multisensory integration using human intracranial recordings. His training also included over a year of time dedicated to brain tumor surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center. After completing residency, he continued his study of epilepsy surgery techniques at the Charles Shor Epilepsy Center at the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Karas’s clinical interests include epilepsy surgery, brain and skull base tumor surgery, and functional neurosurgery. He performs the full range of modern techniques for epilepsy surgery, including robotic sEEG placement, open resection, minimally invasive laser ablation, and neuromodulation techniques (responsive neurostimulation and deep brain stimulation). He also offers awake surgery and advanced brain mapping techniques for difficult to remove brain tumors. Additional clinical interests include deep brain stimulator insertion for movement disorders, as well as percutaneous and open techniques for the treatment of facial pain.

Dr. Karas also runs a lab studying human electrophysiology. Current projects focus on using intracranial brain recordings to understand how auditory and visual signals are combined in multisensory regions of the brain.

Dr. Karas currently serves as a full-time faculty Neurosurgeon at UTMB, operating at both Galveston and Clear Lake campuses. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgeons, Texas Association of Neurosurgeons, and the American Epilepsy Society.

Pablo Valdes, MD, PhD has won national awards in brain tumor mapping and imaging technology. He has been invited to speak on these technologies at the national and international level. He is passionate about caring for patients with brain tumors by providing the latest imaging and surgical technologies to achieve the best neurosurgical outcomes for his patients. His clinical expertise includes:

• Surgical treatment of primary tumors (e.g., glioblastoma, low-grade glioma, high-grade glioma) and metastatic tumors with a focus in treating tumors in difficult to treat areas important for movement, speech, and cognitive processes
• Surgical treatment of extra-axial intracranial tumors including meningiomas
• Surgical treatment of skull base tumors including vestibular schwannomas (acoustic neuromas) and pituitary adenomas

Dr. Valdes received his MD and PhD from Dartmouth Medical School and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. He completed his neurosurgery residency at Harvard Medical School, training with internationally recognized experts in his field, specifically treating complex brain tumors at three top Harvard hospitals including Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Harvard/Dana Farber Cancer Center. He furthered his training with the world’s expert in brain mapping, the neurosurgeon Hugues Duffau, MD, PhD, where he acquired unique skills to successfully remove brain tumors in areas that are most critical for movement, speech, and the cognitive processes that “make us human” to ensure the best quality of life for his patients.

Dr. Valdes’ PhD in biomedical engineering from Dartmouth uniquely equips him as a neurosurgeon and scientist. He continued his research in novel brain tumor imaging technologies at Harvard Medical School and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As such, Dr. Valdes leads a neuroengineering and advanced imaging laboratory at UTMB with multiple collaborations across the USA including Houston, Boston, and Oregon as well as international collaborations in Canada, Germany and France, in addition to his surgical practice dedicated to treating complex brain and intracranial tumors. He has over 15 years of research experience in developing new technologies to better understand, diagnose, and treat brain tumors.

His clinical training and cutting edge research allow him to provide his patients the latest brain tumor treatment as he pioneers the development of next generation technologies to improve their diagnosis and treatment. He has authored articles in top journals of the field including Nature Communications, Cell, Neuro-Oncology, Journal of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, Journal of Neuro-oncology, Journal of Neuropathology Experiment Neurology, Optics Letters, Journal of Biomedical Optics, Biomedical Optics Express. He has intellectual property from Dartmouth, Harvard and MIT including patents or patent applications. The impact of his research can be seen by over 3800 citations and over 50 articles and book chapters.

Dr. Valdes was born and raised in Latin America. He moved to the United States when he was 18 years old to pursue his dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon and a scientist. As a native of Latin America, he is fluent in both English and Spanish.

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.

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.

Allison Rathmann was born in North Tonawanda, NY and was raised in Ashland, KY. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Kentucky with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. She then relocated to Long Island, NY and attended medical school at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, earning her DO. She also completed a mini fellowship in Endoscopy at Cornell University in NYC, and a Pediatric Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. She spent the first 8 years after training working in northern New Jersey in a very busy practice, taking care of both pediatric and adult patients. She made her way to Texas in 2021, and opened her own practice, Texas Neurosurgicare. She recently joined UTMB as clinical assistant professor in the Neurosurgery department.

Dr Rathmann specializes in pediatric neurosurgical problems but also takes care of adult neurosurgical patients. This includes such disorders as craniosynostosis, hydrocephalus, brain tumors, spinal dysraphism, and trauma. She looks forward to bringing her knowledge and expertise in pediatrics to the UTMB community.

She is a member of the AOA, ACOS, a fellow of the CNS, the pediatric section of the AANS, and the TANS Amongst others. She maintains a medical license in Texas, NJ, and Florida.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her daughter, travelling, and is an avid Kentucky Wildcats fan.