Think Neuro

Addiction and depression are two of the most widespread conditions in all of medicine. After decades of research, doctors are still looking for alternatives for when medication and cognitive training don’t work, which is all too often. Dr. Dan Kelly, one of the founders of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, thinks there is a game-changer in our midst: psilocybin. Better known as the active ingred...

Dr. Daniel F. Kelly, neurosurgeon, director, and founder at Pacific Neuroscience Institute explains the concept of keyhole surgery for the treatment of brain, skull base, and pituitary tumors. For more information: pacificneuro.org | (310) 582-7640

Samuel Hou, MD, Ph. D., is a neuro-interventional surgeon (interventional neuroradiologist) at the Pacific Stroke and Neurovascular Center, serving the Providence Health System in Southern California. Dr. Hou’s surgical techniques specialize in the endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke, brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, and arteriovenous fistulas of the brain and spine. He is...

Barbara S. Giesser, MD, FAAN, FANA, is an internationally recognized clinician and award-winning educator who has specialized in the care of persons with Multiple Sclerosis since 1982. Her approach to the diagnosis and management of persons with MS combines advanced diagnostics and a personalized medication plan for each patient with an emphasis on integrating lifestyle and wellness strategies int...

Ever heard of a disease called Trigeminal Neuralgia? It's called the "Suicide Disease" because it causes unbearable pain in the face and temples. It's often triggered by everyday things like brushing teeth, shaving, or putting on makeup. In many cases, the culprit is an out-of-place blood vessel that rubs against the trigeminal nerve in the side of the face. Other causes include tumors, infections...

Dr. Walavan Sivakumar is a fellowship-trained neurosurgeon with a focus on skull base and minimally invasive and endoscopic neurosurgery. Selected as a multiple-year recipient of the SuperDoctor Rising Stars Edition, Dr. Sivakumar has a particular interest and expertise in brain tumors, skull base tumors, pituitary/parasellar tumors, and intraventricular brain tumors, and he applies the keyhole co...

Dr. David M. Butler is board certified both by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology. Affiliated with Providence Saint John's Health Center throughout his career, Dr. Butler has been providing compassionate, expert care to his patients since 1988. In 2019, he transitioned over to Pacific Eye, Ear & Skull Base Center at Pacific Neur...

Dr. Carrillo is a board-certified neurologist and neuro-oncologist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of primary and secondary brain tumors, including glioblastoma multiforme, primary CNS lymphoma, meningioma, and brain metastases, as well as the neurologic complications of cancer. In addition, Dr. Carrillo is involved in the enrollment of patients into several clinical trials. For more i...

Dystonia is a mysterious condition that causes muscles to contract involuntarily. It can strike many parts of the body, making the head turn, the eyelids close, or the hand twist. We don’t know what causes dystonia. It can arise after head trauma or a stroke, and it often appears in conjunction with Parkinson’s disease. There is no cure, but experts like Dr. Natalie Diaz, a neurologist at PNI, can...

Dr. Scott Kaiser is a rare breed, and he shouldn’t be. He’s a geriatrician. There are only 7,000 of them in the U.S., even though 10,000 Americans are turning 65 every day. Part of the reason: Gerontology typically doesn’t pay as well as other specialties, so it often attracts people who are purely committed to the practice, like Dr. Kaiser. He loves his work because there is so much he can do for...

Dr. William Buxton is Director, Neuromuscular & Neurodiagnostic Medicine, and Fall Prevention, Brain Health Center; Adult Neurology. He is a board certified in Adult Neurology with Subspecialty Certification in Clinical Neurophysiology through the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with additional certification in Electrodiagnostic Medicine through the American Board of Electrodiagnostic M...

David A. Merrill, MD, Ph. D., is an adult and geriatric psychiatrist with double-board certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is the director of the Pacific Brain Health Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Merrill has worked for several decades with patients suffering from the behavioral health sequelae of age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzhe...

In 1993, the rock band Bon Jovi recorded a song called I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead. We’ve learned a lot since then, namely, that sleep is just as important as food and water. Sleep is like a shower for the brain, according to PNI neurologist Dr. Natalie Diaz. It washes away toxic compounds, some of which may be associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. It also helps us preserve important m...

When patients ask him what he does in brain and pituitary surgeries, Dr. Chester Griffiths tells them that he “opens the curtains for the main event.” Dr. Griffiths is a head and neck surgeon, and it’s his job to get brain surgeons where they need to go. For the minimally invasive brain and pituitary surgery done at PNI, that means creating the pathway through the nose and sinuses and into the bas...

Dr. Heinzerling is the Director, Pacific Treatment & Research In Psychedelics Program; Internal Medicine – Addiction Medicine, Brain Health Center. He practices internal medicine and is an addiction medicine specialist at the Pacific Brain Health Center, Pacific Neuroscience Institute. His research and clinical focuses are on the discovery, development, and dissemination of anti-addiction medicati...

Kian Karimi, MD, FACS, is a double-board certified facial plastic surgeon/head and neck surgeon at the Pacific Eye, Ear & Skull Base Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. He has a particular interest in rhinoplasty, minimally invasive facial rejuvenation, and ethics. At Pacific Neuroscience Institute, Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Dr. Karimi specializes in surgical treatments of nasal...

Santosh Kesari, MD, Ph. D., is a world-renowned neuro-oncologist at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, CA. He treats patients with brain tumors including glioblastoma, glioma, meningioma, metastatic brain tumors, chordoma, and many more difficult brain cancers. He believes that in order to cure patients with brain tumors we first need to gain a better molecular and biological understa...

Dr. Katherine Araque is a board-certified endocrinologist at Pacific Pituitary Disorders Center. As Director of Endocrinology at Pacific Neuroscience Institute, she oversees clinical trials and the clinical care of patients with endocrine conditions. Dr. Araque provides special expertise in clinical and research projects in the diagnosis and treatment of pituitary hormone deficiency in adults, Cus...

Exercise doesn’t just give you bigger muscles. It gives you a bigger brain. Scientists have measured brain volume in people who exercise and those who don’t. The exercisers had more. Why? Because movement challenges our minds. It keeps us sharp, especially as we age. And different activities strengthen different parts of our grey matter. Just like a healthy diet, a healthy exercise regimen is vari...

Dr. Daniel Kelly, a board certified neurosurgeon, is Director of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute and Professor of Neurosurgery at the John Wayne Cancer Institute. Considered to be one of the best neurosurgeons in the US and a multiple recipients of the Patients' Choice Award, Dr. Kelly is internationally recognized in the field of minimally invasive keyhole surgery for brain, pituitary, and sku...

Before he became a surgeon in Santa Monica, Dr. Howard Krauss worked as an aerospace engineer for Hughes Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. In making the switch, he traded one kind of orbit for another. He came out of earth’s orbit and into the human ones: the two sockets in the skull that hold the eyes and all their accompanying structures. He is one of a few surgical neuro-ophthalmologi...

A diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease today doesn’t mean the same as it did even just a few years ago. There have been nine new medications for Parkinson’s disease and its related symptoms in the past five years, and we are understanding the importance of lifestyle now more than ever. People with Parkinson’s disease can make lifestyle changes that can slow the disease, and even improve their conditio...

For more information: pacificneuro.org | pacificbraintumor.org | (310) 829-8265

In this podcast, Dr. Kelly talks about how he was drawn to neurosurgery, his fascination with the pituitary gland, the nuances of minimally invasive pituitary and brain tumor surgery, as well as a brief history of PNI, its focus on innovation and clinical trials and its 8 centers of excellence. For more information: pacificneuro.org | pacificbraintumor.org | (310) 829-8265