Think Neuro

Jesús O. Barreto Abrams, PhD, is a clinical neuropsychologist at the Pacific Brain Health Center, Pacific Neuroscience Institute. He evaluates patients in American Sign Language (ASL), Spanish, or English. He mainly works with adult and older adults with cognitive concerns consulting with physician and other allied health professionals in the diagnosis and treatment of neurocognitive disorders due...

Dr. Jian Guan is a fellowship trained neurosurgeon with a special focus on complex spine surgery at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. Dedicated to the care of patients with spine and neck conditions, he practices at PNI-South Bay / Spine Institute at Little Company of Mary in Torrance, California. With over 75 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Guan has a particular clinical and research interest in wa...

This episode comes from the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation’s podcast, Your Daily Dose with Kym Douglas. Pacific Neuroscience Institute experts, Dr. Keith Heinzerling and Dr. Daniel Kelly discuss the Treatment & Research in Psychedelics (TRIP) program at PNI. Dr. Heinzerling, an addiction medicine specialist and TRIP director, and Dr. Kelly, director and one of the four founders of PNI descr...

Dr. Lewis is a board certified audiologist focusing on adult and pediatric patients. An avid clinician, educator, and advocate, she is dedicated to serving the community using a whole patient approach with evidenced-based and compassionate care.

Sandra Narayanan, MD, FAHA, FANA, FSVIN, FAAN, is board-certified in neurology and vascular neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and CAST (Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training)-certified in neuroendovascular surgery. She is a vascular neurologist and neurointerventional surgeon at Pacific Stroke & Neurovascular Center, Pacific Neuroscience Institute. She is director o...

Treating Brain Tumors with Dr. Daniel F. Kelly On "From Cancer A to Z" with Dr. Rosalyn Morrell | Guest Podcast  Brain tumors don't get the same amount of attention as the other types of cancers. But they are still very important to talk about. Dr. Daniel F. Kelly is a neurosurgeon and founder of Pacific Neuroscience Institute.  Listen in to learn about Daniel's non-linear path to becoming a neuro...

Dr. Garni Barkhoudarian, Neurosurgeon at Pacific Neuroscience Institute and Assistant Professor of Neuroscience & Neurosurgery at the Saint John's Cancer institute, discusses his perspectives of the future of brain tumor surgery in this episode.

Tatiana lives with a brain tumor that causes pain like the very worst migraine. Van Nessa had a sarcoma in her cheekbone and has had eight surgeries. Ben has an inoperable brainstem glioma that is kept in check with a new drug. Do you have someone in your life who is living with cancer? Tatiana, Van Nessa and Ben have some thoughts on how to help them. For Ben, the best thing was when a friend jus...

When it comes to cancer, the focus is most often on the patient. But the best treatment happens when their care partners are cared for, too. The first step is knowing what it’s like to be the partner, son, daughter or friend of a cancer sufferer. Elaine Lipworth is a writer who lost her husband Stephen to a brain stem tumor. Ari Nowain, MD, is a gastroenterologist whose father is living with a gli...

Courtney Voelker, MD, PhD (DPhil Oxon), is a Rhodes Scholar and board certified neurotologist. She is Director of Otology/Neurotology-Lateral Skull Base Surgery; and Director of the Adult & Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. She is an otolaryngology – head & neck surgeon who takes care of adult and pediatric patients seeing a wide range of inner ear and skull bas...

Evan Walgama, MD is a board-certified Otolaryngologist – Head & Neck / ENT Surgeon at the Pacific Eye, Ear & Skull Base Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute, Santa Monica. His particular area of expertise is in the treatment of patients with benign and malignant tumors of the head and neck. Dr. Walgama is a dual-fellowship trained surgeon. He completed his Sinus and Skull Base fellowship at St...

Vikki was walking her dog and listening to NPR in Santa Monica one day, when she heard an advertisement for an unusual medical trial. Pacific Neuroscience Institute was studying whether psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, could help alcoholics kick their habit. Vikki, 60, was a steady drinker and had been since she was 18. She never got terribly drunk, but nor did cocktail hour eve...

Dr. Sehati is a board-certified neurosurgeon who specializes the treatment of a wide variety of brain, spine and spinal cord disorders at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. His expertise is in surgical and nonsurgical management of degenerative, traumatic and neoplastic (tumor) diseases of the brain and spine with a focus on minimally invasive techniques. His practice is based primarily at Providence...

Meet Dr. Christopher M. Putman, a board-certified interventional neuroradiologist with over 20 years of experience. He treats a variety of complex intracranial, head and neck, and spine vascular conditions including acute stroke, cervical and intracranial stenosis, vascular malformations, cerebral aneurysm, and venous occlusive diseases.

Dr. Nouzhan Sehati is a board-certified neurosurgeon who specializes in the treatment of brain, spine, and spinal cord disorders at Pacific Neuroscience Institute with a focus on minimally invasive techniques. Dr. Sehati emphasizes the importance of clinical excellence and comprehensive care for his patients. In this video, Dr. Sehati shares a patient story that reaffirmed his passion for his work...

The Pacific Brain Tumor Center and Pacific Pituitary Disorders Center offers a 1-year neurosurgery fellowship in minimally invasive surgery for brain, pituitary and skull base tumors. Our clinical training program is focused on endoscopic endonasal and keyhole surgical approaches, neuro-endoscopy, pituitary tumor management and multimodality neuro-oncology treatments. The fellowship emphasizes ope...

Dr. Amit Kochhar is an otolaryngologist. That means he specializes in surgery in the head and neck. Among the conditions that he treats is something called synkinesis: unintentional contractions of the face muscles. A patient’s eye may close when smiling. The corner of their mouth might pull when they blink. There are many causes, including onset due to Bell’s palsy and Lyme disease. Most cases re...

Jean-Philippe Langevin, MD, is a board-certified and fellowship-trained neurosurgeon with a special interest in the surgical treatment of complex spine conditions and movement disorders. Selected as a multiple year recipient of the SuperDoctor Rising Stars Edition, he has extensive experience using advanced surgical techniques to treat his patients with compassion and care. He practices at PNI-Sou...

Akanksha Sharma, MD, is board certified in neurology, neuro-oncology and palliative medicine. She is experienced in and provides unique perspective on the treatment of primary/metastatic brain tumors, neurological complications of cancer, and disease-related burden and symptoms. Her clinical and research interests lie in helping patients maximize their time and quality of life. She aims to align t...

Hearing loss can have a profound impact on brain health. Studies have shown that when the brain is deprived of auditory input, it can lead to changes that may increase the risk of cognitive decline. Courtney Voelker, MD, PhD is a Rhodes Scholar and board certified neurotologist. She is Director of the Adult & Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. She is also an otol...

Dr. Melita Petrossian is a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders. When most people hear that term, they think of Parkinson’s disease. But Dr. Petrossian sees a number of patients with what’s known as essential tremor, a condition that’s often mistaken for Parkinson’s. It affects eight million Americans, far more than suffer from Parkinson’s. The brain has “tremor generators” that help...

Dr. Barbara Giesser is the Multiple Sclerosis Neurologist at the Pacific Brain Health Center. Dr. Giesser’s approach to the diagnosis and management of persons with MS combines state-of-the-art diagnostics and a personalized medication plan for each patient with an emphasis on integrating lifestyle and wellness strategies into the neurologic treatment plan. For more information: https://www.pacifi...

Jean-Philippe Langevin, MD, is a neurosurgeon specializing in the surgical treatment of movement disorders, epilepsy, and psychiatric conditions. Dr. Langevin is the Director of the Restorative Neurosurgery and Deep Brain Stimulation Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica and Torrance. He is also Director of Neuro-Spine Surgery at the Spine Institute at Little Company of Mary, w...

With almost thirty years of experience in memory education, Dr. Karen Miller joined PNI in August 2022 as Senior Director, Brain Wellness & Lifestyle at the Pacific Brain Health Center. The Lifestyle Program is an innovative mix of memory training, exercise and nutrition-based curricula focused on improving short-term memory, attention, and executive skills in older adults. Karen Miller, PhD, a le...

Claudia Wong is a family nurse practitioner specializing in memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. A few years ago, she trained to teach restorative yoga. After that, she went traveling, and the trip turned into a two-year journey into the contemplative arts. She did more yoga training in Bali, learned about healing with Tibetan singing bowls in India, and practiced meditati...