2009-2010 CNS Domestic Fellows
 Eric C. Chang, MD
CNS Wilder Penfield Fellowship
Dr. Eric C. Chang is a neurosurgery resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He received his undergraduate
degree in biology with minors in chemistry and biomedical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and his medical
degree from the Health Science and Technology program at Harvard Medical School. Eric’s prior research interests include applying
lithographic micro-patterning techniques towards studying cell migration. Now, with the support of the CNS Wilder Penfield Fellowship and the
under the tutelage of Dr. A. Gregory Sorensen at the MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Eric will be using high resolution diffusion
tensor imaging to study and predict glioblastoma recurrence.
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 Marie-Noëlle Hébert-Blouin, MD
CNS Cushing Fellowship
Dr. Marie-Noëlle Hébert-Blouin completed her medical degree and neurosurgery residency at McGill University. She is
presently undergoing a fellowship with Dr. Robert J Spinner at the Mayo Clinic in peripheral nerve surgery and completing her
master’s degree in neurological sciences on the use of tissue-engineering techniques for the design of alternatives to
autologous nerve graft. The Cushing fellowship will allow her to extend her clinical and research training in peripheral nerve
surgery for another six months. During the award period, her focus will be on the study of new imaging techniques in various
peripheral nerve pathologies. She plans to return to McGill where she will join Dr. Line Jacques performing peripheral nerve surgery.
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 Gabriel Zada, MD
CNS Dandy Fellowship
Dr. Gabriel Zada is currently a senior resident at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. After completing his
undergraduate degree in neurobiology at UC Berkeley, he attended UC San Francisco School of Medicine. During residency, Dr. Zada
developed a keen interest in skull base and pituitary tumor surgery, and was responsible for developing a new skull base/endoscopy microsurgical
laboratory at USC.
Dr. Zada will work under the guidance of Dr. Edward Laws as the pituitary/anterior skull base fellow at the Brigham and
Women’s Hospital in Boston. His research will focus on the biology of pituitary adenomas and correlations of tumor invasion to
molecular and neuroradiological markers. Following this, he will spend several months learning skull base endoscopic surgery with
Dr. Paolo Cappabianca in Naples, Italy.
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 Azadeh Farin, MD
CNS/Medtronic Spine Fellowship
Dr. Azadeh (Azzie) Farin graduated with Honors from Yale in 3 years, majoring in Molecular Biophysics/ Biochemistry and Economics.
Subsequently, Azzie worked at McKinsey as a management consultant, optimizing strategy for international corporations.
Azzie earned her MD from UCSD, publishing several TBI manuscripts with Dr. Larry Marshall, and presenting research at CNS as a student.
At UCSD, she won the prestigious Whipple Endowed Scholarship. After a year at Bartoli Tumor Laboratory of Dr. Bruce at Columbia,
she first authored a cover-featured manuscript, the first dynamic analysis of glioma infiltration in the brain.
Azzie then began residency at USC. She completed an infolded spine fellowship under Dr. Christopher Ames (UCSF) studying spinal
deformity/tumors and with Dr. Carl Lauryssen studying nonfusion alternatives. She has presented research internationally and nationally.
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 David W. Cadotte MD
CNS/Synthes Spine Fellowship
Dr. David W. Cadotte graduated from medical school and entered the Neurosurgical Residency training program at the
University of Toronto. He is currently a fourth year surgical resident and undertaking his PhD in translational research with a
focus on functional MRI of the spinal cord. The aim is to achieve a better understanding of the pathophysiology of spinal cord
injury while demonstrating the feasibility of functional imaging of the spinal cord. In addition, he has a fond interest in International
Surgery and is currently involved with a collaborative partnership between the University of Toronto and Addis Ababa University in
order to improve Neurosurgical care in Ethiopia. Lastly, he is President of Aqua Vitae, a small Scotch club based in Toronto.
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 Ali K. Ozturk, MD
CNS/Boston Scientific Fellowship
Dr. Ali K. Ozturk is currently a 4th year neurosurgery resident at Yale University Department of Neurosurgery.
He received his BA degree from Johns Hopkins University, and his MD degree from Yale University School of Medicine. Under the
mentorship of Dr. Murat Gunel, M.D., he has focused his research on the genetic foundation of vascular diseases of the brain,
specifically intracranial aneurysms and cavernous malformations. He is pleased to be the recipient of the CNS/Boston Scientific
Fellowship in Cerebrovascular Research for 2009-2010.
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 Angel N. Boev, MD
CNS/MicroVention Vascular Fellowship
Dr. Angel N. Boev is currently a fifth year resident in neurosurgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Following completion of his undergraduate studies in biology and chemistry at Valdosta State University, he attended Mercer University
school of medicine in Macon, Georgia.
Once enrolled in residency training, Dr. Boev became interested in cerebrovascular neurosurgery, and the
treatment of vasospasm following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. As the CNS/MicroVention Vascular fellow, he will study the effects of SAH on the microcirculation, and how these effects can
be ameliorated by different therapeutic agents.
His studies will be conducted under the guidance of Dr. Edward Vates MD, PhD, in the Center for Translational
Neuromedicine at the Department of Neurosurgery.
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 Jared Knopman, MD
CNS/Micrus Endovascular Neurosurgery Fellowship
Dr. Jared Knopman was a Weinberg Scholar at Northwestern University, where he was awarded the Erwin Macey Scholarship for
Independent Research. He graduated cum laude and with Departmental Honors in Neurobiology in 2001. He then entered Mount
Sinai School of Medicine, where he was awarded the AHA Scholarship in Cerebrovascular disease to study acute microvascular changes after subarachnoid
hemorrhage. He was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and graduated in 2005. He began his neurosurgery residency at
Weill Cornell Medical College in 2005 and is currently working in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Kaplitt to study the roles of
gene therapy in the treatment of vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. He plans to complete an inter-residency fellowship in
endovascular neurosurgery.
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 Nirav J. Patel, MD
CNS/Codman Fellowship
Dr. Nirav J. Patel is a senior neurosurgery resident at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. He received his
undergraduate degree in biochemistry at the University of Chicago, and MS and MD degrees at Georgetown University. While at the University
of Wisconsin, he developed an interest in epigenetics, and in particular the possible role of DNA methylation in CNS repair and recovery. Under
the mentorship of Dr. Iskandar, Dr. Patel will use the Codman/CNS fellowship to continue his detailed analysis of this relationship and how it
relates to folate-induced CNS repair, using a series of molecular, biochemical and surgical approaches. He hopes that his efforts will get us
closer to understanding fundamental mechanisms of CNS repair while providing a novel and low-risk treatment modality.
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 Kristopher T. Kahle, MD, PhD
CNS/Eisai Fellowship in Tumor Research
Dr. Kristopher T. Kahle, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a neurosurgery resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago. At Yale Medical School, he did his Ph.D. training with Dr.
Richard Lifton, where he cloned a novel human gene required for blood pressure regulation. Under the current mentorship of principal
investigator Dr. Stephen Elledge at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Harvard Medical School, and as co-PI Dr. Clark Chen at The
Dana Farber Cancer Institute, he is performing a genome-wide shRNAi screen to identify genes that are selectively lethal to glioblastoma
cells, with the hope of identifying novel pharmacotherapeutic targets. Dr. Kahle has clinical and research interests in pediatric neurosurgery and
neuro-oncology.
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