My academic career at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences began in the fall of 2013. This transition back into academic surgery came after a period of reflection during my time in employed, non-academic practice, resulting in the realization that work focused solely on clinical productivity in the pursuit of increasing profitability was not an adequate measure of success from my point-of-view.  This change in the focus of my career led to a refocusing of my clinical interests onto neurosurgical-oncology and the desire to move back into an academic practice environment.  It has been my privilege to work at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences – initially as Assistant Professor and currently as Associate Professor - and to pursue a balanced academic practice focused on the education of students and residents, the clinical practice of neurosurgical oncology, the pursuit of new knowledge through research and scholarship, and the opportunity for service to our University and College of Medicine.

Education:

Since my faculty appointment at UTCOMLS, I have been continuously engaged in the education of medical students and residents. Initially as an Assistant Professor, I participated in the clinical education of medical students and residents as they rotated on the clinical neurosurgery service.  I improved the educational experience for both medical students and residents on the neurosurgery service by restructuring their clinical commitments and by revising their curricular goals for learning.  During my tenure, the opportunities for learning about neurosurgery have increased for students as evidenced by the increase in number of students who rotate onto the neurosurgery service. 

Continuing in my time as Associate Professor and with the expansion of students on service, I have sought to give each student equal opportunity for educational experience and to integrate the different students fully into the functioning of the service.  Students from different backgrounds contribute to the education of one another and to the quality of care provided to patients on the neurosurgery service. 

I have further contributed to student and resident education through formal didactic teaching. My educational contributions in this realm span from facilitating small group sessions for the ethics and clinical decision making in medicine courses (during my first years at UTCOMLS), to teaching the entire medical school class in a large lecture hall format.  I was an active participant in the redesign of the pre-clinical medical school curriculum for Thread II, and I personally developed the objectives, lecture materials and assessment materials for the neurosurgery related topics within the NIHD/MSK portion of the medical student curriculum.  Additionally, I provide multiple lectures per year to supplement the education of residents in a variety of the UT residency programs (neurology, emergency medicine, and general surgery) as well as for graduate students in the neurosciences program.

Clinical Activity:

At the start of my career at UTMC, I joined the Department of Surgery and the Division of Neurosurgery as the newest of three neurosurgical faculty members. In the intervening years the division has changed in size – going first from three to two surgeons and then later diminishing further to the point that I was the only neurosurgeon practicing at UTMC – this was concurrent with my continued obligations to help provide clinical service at Promedica Toledo Hospital as part of the Academic Affiliation.  Ultimately in 2022 I was able to successfully recruit Dr. Alistair Hoyt to the University of Toledo and UTP to help provide coverage at UTMC and to bring functional neurosurgery (including both DBS surgery for movement disorders) and formal epilepsy surgery to Toledo, OH.

Despite focusing my clinical practice on neurosurgical oncology, I have always worked to support the other activities of UTCOMLS, UTMC and Promedica Toledo Hospital through the affiliation.  I actively take call – including call for Level II trauma at UTMC at and Level I trauma at Promedica TTH, call to support stroke services at both UTMC and TTH, and pediatric neurosurgery call at TTH.  I have continued to support the Dana Cancer Center at UTMC – including its cranial and spinal radiosurgery programs with radiation oncology – as well as supporting the activities of the joint Neurosciences Center on Promedica’s campus.  I also provide neurosurgical support to the general tumor board at DCC and the neuro-oncology tumor board at Promedica.  I have produced a significant increase in clinical work every year, while at the same time increasing my service contributions to UTMC, UTCOMLS, UTP and the University in general. 

Working to further expand the influence of UTP and UTCOMLS in the region, I have consistently provided outreach educational opportunities with invited grand rounds presentations at surrounding community hospitals, delivered a tie-one-on community cancer education opportunity at the DCC, and assisted in the development and delivery of educational content for stroke and neurosciences for both the UTMC and ProMedica Health Systems. 

Research:

I have developed a multi-pronged research enterprise during my time on the clinical faculty at UTCOMLS. From a clinical standpoint, I have supported the opening of clinical trials and the accrual of patients onto trials related to cancers affecting the central nervous system.  These trials have included multiple trials conducted by the Department of Radiation Oncology but also multiple multi-institutional trials for patients with recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme (brain cancer) for which I am the Principal Investigator at our clinical site.  I have helped to support multiple trials for experimental medications in the treatment of recurrent GBM and was also part of a multi-institutional trial evaluating a novel platform for determining tumor susceptibility to various known chemotherapeutics (the ChemoID study). 

In addition to my clinical trial participation, I have also developed a research group of medical students with multiple ongoing IRB approved research projects touching on a variety of subjects related to neurosurgery. Under my mentorship, this group of students has helped to produce at least a dozen abstracts which have been presented at national and international meetings since 2019.  Additionally, with these research students, I have served as the senior clinical/neurosurgical author for almost a dozen new peer-reviewed papers in since 2019.  This research activity helps to support the education of our UTMC medical students with regard to the conduct of research and also helps to elevate the stature of UTCOMLS and UT through the presentation of new knowledge at local, national and international scientific conferences and symposia. 

Bridging the gap between bedside clinical research and basic science research, I have worked in collaboration with Dr. Kathryn Eisenmann in the Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology in helping to support the development of Kathryn Becker PhD (soon to be MD/PhD). Our collaborative research focuses on the evaluation of novel cancer fighting agents in the treatment of primary brain cancers.  The cancer cell lines used for this IRB approved research are derived from patient samples taken at surgery from local patients (principally my patients treated at both UTMC and ProMedica Toledo Hospital).  The development of technology for rapidly isolating patient tumor cells from specimens, and subsequently testing their susceptibility to anti-cancer medications, sets the foundation for ultimately developing true bench-to-bedside personalized treatments for patients with this devastating diagnosis. 

Service:

While developing my clinical and research practice over nearly the past decade, I have also become increasingly engaged in service work that supports the University of Toledo, UTP and UTCOMLS (at both UTMC and Promedica TTH). I have actively sought out service work to support the many missions of each of these institutions.  I have been the chair of multiple committees which support UTMC and I am or have been a member of multiple other committees and task forces which support clinical care, education for the college of medicine and education at the university as a whole.  For three years I served as the vice-chief of staff at UTMC and for about eighteen months I served as the Interim Chair of the Department of Surgery. 

Additionally with the advent of the academic affiliation between UTCOMLS and ProMedica Toledo Hospital, I have worked to support that affiliation by continuously increasing my clinical presence at TTH. I have worked cooperatively with the neurosurgeons from the ProMedica Physicians Group and other UT departments (Emergency Medicine, Orthopedics and Neurology) to develop learning opportunities bridging their home department specialties and neurosurgery.  I have helped to support the transition of medical education to TTH by working with medical students and residents at TTH as a core faculty member of the Department of Surgery.

It is an honor to be considered for promotion to the rank of Professor with tenure at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences. I have been privileged to work in this environment since 2013 and I hope to continue to develop all aspects of my practice here in the years to come.  I sincerely appreciate your consideration regarding my application for promotion.