Elad I. Levy | |
---|---|
Born | Tiberias, Israel | August 29, 1972
Nationality | American and Israeli |
Citizenship | USA and Israel |
Education | Dartmouth College (1993), George Washington University School of Medicine(1997), Northeastern University (2013) |
Known for | Endovascular neurology, stroke intervention |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Neurosurgery |
Institutions | State University of New York at Buffalo |
Website | www.ubns.com |
Elad I. Levy is an American neurosurgeon, researcher, and innovator who played a major role in the development and testing of thrombectomy, [1] which improved quality of life and survival of stroke patients. He has focused his career and research on developing evidence based medicine and literature showing the benefits of thrombectomy for the treatment of stroke. He is currently Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiology, and the L. Nelson Hopkins, MD Professor Endowed Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY). [2] [3]
In 2011 Levy founded and is currently the president for the Program for Understanding Childhood Concussion & Stroke (PUCCS), to date this organization has raised over $750,000 which is aimed towards promoting research and preventing concussions in all sports. [4] In addition Levy is co-chair of CycleNation for the American Heart Association raising over $500,000 geared towards prevention and education of stroke and heart disease. [5] In 2013 he became the unaffiliated National Football League (NFL) Neurotrauma consultant for the Buffalo Bills. [6] In 2017 he was appointed as one of 12 National Directors to the American Board of Neurological Surgeons. [7] In 2018 he was appointed Secretary to the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Executive Committee [8] and also appointed to the Ethics Committee for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. [9]
He is also the Director of Stroke Research and Director of Endovascular Stroke Treatment and Research at the Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY at Buffalo, co-director of Kaleida Health Stroke Center at the Gates Vascular Institute, and co-director of Cerebrovascular Surgery at the Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY at Buffalo. [10] In 2020 Levy received his appointment as Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo due to his prolific contributions to research, innovation, leadership and academia. [11] Dr. Levy served as the president for the Congress of Neurological Surgeons annual scientific meeting in September 2023, he led a recording breaking scientific meeting in terms of attendance, scientific abstracts, and industry support. [12] Dr. Levy also served as the neurosurgery consultant for season 2 and season 3 of popular TV show Grey's Anatomy.[ citation needed ]
Levy was born in Tiberias, Israel in 1972 where he lived with his parents and grandparents. His father went to medical school in Italy, where Dr. Levy learned to speak Italian, in addition to English in school and Hebrew at home. At the age of seven, he immigrated to the United States. After his father's residency training in obstetrics and gynecology in New York City, his family settled in rural northern upstate New York close to Montreal, where his dad joined a solo Obstetrics and gynecology practice. Growing up, Levy spent his summers with his father's family in Israel. Dr. Levy went onto attend local schools before his last two years of High School, which he spent at Choate Rosemary Hall, a private boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut. [13]
Levy went to Dartmouth College to study molecular biology and biochemistry. He began medical school in 1993 at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., [10] where he became interested in Orthopedic Surgery. However, when he did not secure the summer orthopedic internship after his freshman year, he chose to do a summer research project with Dr. Laligam Sekhar, the Chairman of Neurosurgery at George Washington University at the time, since then neurosurgery became his focus. [14]
Following graduation in 1997, Levy began his surgical internships and training in neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh . Following in the footsteps of Dr. Peter Jannetta, the "father of microvascular decompression," and Dr. Dade Lunsford, who introduced Gamma-knife radiosurgery to the University of Pittsburgh, Levy pursued minimally invasive endovascular neurosurgery by spending 2 years of his residency in Buffalo, as a fellow under Dr. L. Nelson Hopkins, the "father of neurointerventional surgery". [14] He completed his fellowship training in 2003 and returned to Pittsburgh to finish his residency training in 2004. [15]
In later years, Levy also completed his Master of Business Administration at Northeastern University and graduated magna cum laude in 2013. [10]
Levy started his academic and professional career as an associate professor of neurosurgery and radiology at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo in 2004. The following year in 2005, he became the Director for Stroke Research, and co-director of Cerebrovascular Surgery at the Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY at Buffalo. He was also appointed as co-director of Kaleida Health Stroke Center and the Director of Endovascular Stroke Treatment and Research in 2006. He also served as the Endovascular Fellowship Program Director for the Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY at Buffalo from 2006 to 2013.
In 2010, Levy was promoted to the title of Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiology. [16] Subsequently, in 2013 when Dr. L. Nelson Hopkins retired as the Chair of Neurosurgery, Levy became chairman. [3] Since then he more than doubled the size of the faculty [17]
From 2017 to 2023 Levy served as the director of the American Board of Neurological Surgeons and from 2022 to 2023 he served as the Vice Chair of the American Board of Neurological Surgeons [18] Levy championed the pathway for ABNS board certification for exemplary internationally trained neurosurgeons. [19]
Under Dr Levy's leadership University at Buffalo became the first department to open a complete ANSC in the United States aimed to increase patient satisfaction, resident education and operative efficiency. In 2024 he performed the first outpatient cerebral aneurysm treatment under conscious sedation creating a paradigm shift on how such cases can be approached. [20]
Levy has helped the endovascular treatment modalities for stroke. His research work focuses on neurovascular diseases such as stroke, brain aneurysms and vessel malformations. He has published and lectured extensively on the endovascular techniques for cerebrovascular disorders, [28] publishing over 600 peer-reviewed publications and more than 200 book chapters, including his latest book titled "Video Atlas of Acute Ischemic Stroke Intervention". [29] [30] [31] He has also contributed several live cases for national and international meetings as well as for community education. [32]
He has been involved with research resulting in paradigm shifts in the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, including being the US Interventional Principal Investigator for the SWIFT PRIME trials. [33] Levy is the Principal investigator for the COMMAND trial and in 2023 he became the first surgeon to implant the stentrode, a novel stent in that is used for brain computer interface to help patients with limited mobility to operate technology such as mobile devices and computers using their thoughts helping these patients gain back independence. For his groundbreaking work on the COMMAND trial Levy was awarded the Duke Samson award at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in 2024 [34] [35] . Levy's research contributiuons is in the top two percentile among all academics in the neuroscience space and holds an H-index of 100. [36] [37]
A partial list of articles is provided below:
Dr. Levy has published extensively on neurovascular diseases including this three part series highlighting decision-making and providing video examples of complex neurovascular procedures and stroke intervention techniques
Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system.
An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in any part of the brain but are most commonly found in the arteries of the circle of Willis. The risk of rupture varies with the size and location of the aneurysm, with those in the posterior circulation being more prone to rupture.
Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which vascular diseases involving the arteries, veins, or lymphatic vessels, are managed by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures and surgical reconstruction. The specialty evolved from general and cardiovascular surgery where it refined the management of just the vessels, no longer treating the heart or other organs. Modern vascular surgery includes open surgery techniques, endovascular techniques and medical management of vascular diseases - unlike the parent specialities. The vascular surgeon is trained in the diagnosis and management of diseases affecting all parts of the vascular system excluding the coronaries and intracranial vasculature. Vascular surgeons also are called to assist other physicians to carry out surgery near vessels, or to salvage vascular injuries that include hemorrhage control, dissection, occlusion or simply for safe exposure of vascular structures.
Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the brain. Symptoms may include a severe headache of rapid onset, vomiting, decreased level of consciousness, fever, weakness, numbness, and sometimes seizures. Neck stiffness or neck pain are also relatively common. In about a quarter of people a small bleed with resolving symptoms occurs within a month of a larger bleed.
Mechanical thrombectomy, or simply thrombectomy, is the removal of a blood clot (thrombus) from a blood vessel, often and especially endovascularly as an interventional radiology procedure called endovascular thrombectomy (EVT). It thus contrasts with thrombolysis by thrombolytic medications, as either alternative or complement thereto. It is commonly performed in the cerebral arteries as treatment to reverse the ischemia in some ischemic strokes. Open vascular surgery versions of thrombectomy also exist. The effectiveness of thrombectomy for strokes was confirmed in several randomised clinical trials conducted at various medical centers throughout the United States, as reported in a seminal multistudy report in 2015.
The International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) was a large multicenter, prospective randomised clinical medical trial, comparing the safety and efficacy of endovascular coil treatment and surgical clipping for the treatment of brain aneurysms. The study began in 1994. The first results were published in The Lancet in 2002, and the 10-year data were published again in The Lancet in early September 2005. A total of 2,143 study participants were mostly drawn from U.K. hospitals with the rest drawn from North American and European hospitals.
Peter Lin is an American vascular surgeon, medical researcher, specializing in minimally invasive endovascular treatment of vascular disease. He has published extensively in the area of vascular surgery and endovascular surgery.
Joshua B. Bederson is an American neurosurgeon, Leonard I. Malis, MD/Corinne and Joseph Graber Professor of Neurosurgery, and System Chair of Neurosurgery at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and an attending neurosurgeon at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
Robert F. Spetzler is a neurosurgeon and the J.N. Harber Chairman Emeritus of Neurological Surgery and director emeritus of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. He retired as an active neurosurgeon in July 2017. He is also Professor of Surgery, Section of Neurosurgery, at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, Arizona.
Michael Kerin Morgan is an Australian neurosurgeon. Morgan is Emeritus Professor at Macquarie University. Morgan is a retired cerebrovascular surgeon at Macquarie University Hospital, Sydney.
Endovascular coiling is an endovascular treatment for intracranial aneurysms and bleeding throughout the body. The procedure reduces blood circulation to the aneurysm through the use of microsurgical detachable platinum wires, with the clinician inserting one or more into the aneurysm until it is determined that blood flow is no longer occurring within the space. It is one of two main treatments for cerebral aneurysms, the other being surgical clipping. Clipping is an alternative to stenting for bleeding.
Y. Pierre Gobin is a French-born American physician who specializes in interventional neuroradiology and endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms. He is one of the inventors of the Concentric MERCI Retriever, a device for removing blood clots in the brain that cause stroke.
The Mischer Neuroscience Institute is a combined research and education effort between the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Neurology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Hospital. Located in Houston, the Institute draws patients from around the world for specialized treatment of diseases of the brain and spine. It was the first center in Texas and one of only a few institutions in the country to fully integrate neurology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, neuro-oncology, spine surgery, pain medicine and neurorehabilitation.
Interventional neuroradiology (INR) also known as neurointerventional surgery (NIS), endovascular therapy (EVT), endovascular neurosurgery, and interventional neurology is a medical subspecialty of neurosurgery, neuroradiology, intervention radiology and neurology specializing in minimally invasive image-based technologies and procedures used in diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the head, neck, and spine.
Camilo Ramiro Gomez, is an American neurologist, medical educator, and researcher. He is one of the first 100 vascular neurologists certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Also, he is one of the founders of the subspecialty of interventional neurology in the United States and one of the first 50 to be certified in this field by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties
A flow diverter is an endovascular prosthesis used to treat intracranial aneurysms. It is placed in the aneurysm's parent artery, covering the neck, in order to divert blood flow and determine a progressive thrombosis of the sac. Flow diverting stents consist of structural Cobalt-chrome or Nitinol alloy wires and often a set of radiopaque wires woven together in a flexible braid.
Demetrius Klee Lopes is a cerebrovascular neurosurgeon specializing in neuroendovascular therapy. At Advocate Health, he serves as medical director of the cerebrovascular and neuroendovascular program and is co-director of their stroke program.
Alexander Coon is an American neurosurgeon who is the director of endovascular and cerebrovascular neurosurgery at the Carondelet Neurological Institute of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Hospitals in Tucson, Arizona. He was previously the director of endovascular neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and an assistant professor of neurosurgery, neurology, and radiology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is known for his work in cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery and his research in neuroendovascular devices and clinical outcomes in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and AVMs.
Thomas J. Oxley is the chief executive officer of Synchron and neurointerventionist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Trained as a vascular and interventional neurologist, he established the Vascular Bionics laboratory at the University of Melbourne and is currently co-head of this lab. Oxley is best known for founding Synchron, a company building next-generation brain computer interface solutions that has recently announced the first clinical data on a novel stent electrode (Stentrode) neural interface that is inserted through blood vessels. The company was initiated sometime after his cold-call to DARPA for funding, and has received substantial funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Australian government to research this minimally-invasive neural interface technology.
Luca Paolo Eugenio Regli is a neurosurgeon and full professor and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery of the University Hospital of Zürich since October 2012. He is the son of Franco Regli, a Swiss professor of neurology and founder of the Foundation Franco Regli for the Research in the Field of Neurodegenerative Diseases.