Neuro Oncology Molecular Biology Expert Witness

Education/Residency/Fellowship

• Master of Healthcare Administration, University of Southern California, September 2016 to August 2018
• Fellow, CyberKnife Radiosurgery, Stanford Hospital, Stanford, CA, November 2008 to October 2009.
• Fellow, Spinal Cord Injury, Stanford Hospital, Stanford, CA, September 1989 to August 1990.
• Resident, Neurosurgery, Stanford Hospital, Stanford, CA, July 1983 to June 1989.
• Intern, General Surgery, Stanford Hospital, Stanford, CA, June 1982 to June 1983.
• MD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, September 1978 to May 1982.
• BA in Molecular Biology and BSE in Computer Science Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, September 1975 to May 1978.

Practice Experience

Attending Neurosurgeon, Locum Tenens, multiple locations 2021 to present. University of California, San Francisco, Marin Medical Center, Greenbrae, CA (August 2022 to present). University of Pittsburg Medical Center, multiple locations in Central- and Western-Pennsylvania (August 2022 to present). Good Samaritan Hospital, Corvallis, OR (August 2021 to April 2022). Adult and pediatric cranial and spinal neurosurgery. Manages ER call, trauma, inpatient consults, and Transfer Center admissions and consultations (telemedicine). GSR is a residency/teaching hospital.

Attending Neurosurgeon, Mercy General Hospital, Sacramento, CA (September 2017 to April 2021). Adult cranial and spinal neurosurgery. Responsible for ER, in-house and Transfer Center consultations in a busy, 342-bed inner-city hospital. Hired to rebuild the neurosurgery service. Increased neurosurgery transfers from 4 to 40 per month, the cranial case load from 1 to 2 per month to 5 or 10 major cases per month, and the inpatient census from 1 or 2 to 10 to 25.

Attending Neurosurgeon, Locum Tenens, multiple locations, 2012 to December 2018. Provide general, trauma, and spine neurosurgical services at teaching and ACS Level I or II trauma hospitals. In addition to clinical duties, responsibilities have included training medical students and residents; publishing clinical research papers; creating trauma and neurosurgical treatment protocols; supporting local outreach programs; and, helping to establish new business lines including workers’ compensation practices. Assignments include: Highland Hospital/UCSF, Oakland, CA (November 2017 to December 2018); and, Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC (June 2014 to December 2018); Memorial Hospital, South Bend, IN (March 2017 to December 2017); Regional Hospital, Rapid City, SD (November 2016 to December 2017); Enloe Medical Center, Chico, CA (August 2016 to January 2017); Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield, CA (July 2014 to July 2016); Regional Medical Center in San Jose, CA (December 2013 to June 2014); Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, AK (September 2012 to April 2013); St. Joseph’s Hospital in Eureka, CA (April 2012 to September 2012).

Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Stanford Hospital and Clinics and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Stanford, CA, February 2008 to November 2011. Responsible for the day-to-day operation of Stanford’s two CyberKnife radiosurgical systems. Treated over 1,400 patients with benign and malignant lesions of the brain and spine. Responsible for critically ill brain and spine patients at Stanford’s two ACS Level I trauma centers. Specialized in cranial trauma and complex spine surgery. Trained neurosurgery residents and fellows. Supervised and trained radiation oncology house officers. Published or presented 49 scientific treatises. Delivered presentations in the United States, Asia, and Europe.

Attending Neurosurgeon and CEO, Northern California Neurosurgery Medical Group, Inc., Fremont, CA, August 1991 to February 2008. CEO. Built multispecialty brain, spine and pain practice from scratch. Supervised seven to ten attending physicians, 45 to 55 non-physician employees, and 5 to 10 contractors. Served six hospitals and four surgery centers in three counties. Provided over 200 new patient consults per month. Contracted with all major government, commercial, and workers compensation carriers including Kaiser and Sutter. Specialized in complex spinal surgery, cranial neurosurgery, minimally invasive surgery, and interventional pain management. Performed up to 500 surgical procedures annually.

Attending Physician, Kaiser Foundation, Sand Diego, CA, January 1991 to July 1991. Duties also at UCSD Hospital in San Diego. General neurosurgery and resident teaching/supervision.

Attending Physician, Palo Alto VA Hospital and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, CA, October 1989 to July 2004. Stanford affiliate hospitals. Responsible for all aspects of neurosurgical care. Participated in didactic and clinical education for spinal cord injury fellows, neurosurgery residents, and general surgery residents. Participated in ACS trauma accreditation process.

Select Training

Chicago Review Course, February 2020, Chicago, IL. Comprehensive neurosurgery review.

NovoCure Optune Certification, March 2016, Bakersfield, CA. Training and certification for glioblastoma management.

American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Billing and Coding, November 2015, Philadelphia, PA. Brain and spine billing and coding proficiency.

North American Spine Society Interventional Pain Management, February 2013, Phoenix, AZ. Pain management procedural certification.

American College of Surgeons, Advanced Trauma Life Support, November 2012, Anchorage, AK. Proficiency training and certification in trauma management.

CyberKnife Society, Radiosurgery Summit and Proficiency Training, May 2011, San Francisco, CA. Training and re-certification.

Select Hospital Committees/Appointments

Organ and Tissue Committee member, February 2008 to February 2009. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, CA. Strategic planning and policy implementation for organ and tissue procurement.

Bioethics Committee member, February 2008 to February 2009. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, CA. Participated in patient bioethics consultations and teaching rounds.

Vice Chief of Surgery, July 2003 to June 2006. ValleyCare Medical Center Pleasanton, CA. Involved with the oversight of the surgical staff. Performed departmental quality assurance functions, including review of medical care to assess standard of care issues. Supervised morbidity and mortality conferences.

Medical Executive Committee, July 1998 to June 2006. TriValley Surgery Center Pleasanton, CA. Responsible for all aspects of surgery center business and clinical management.

Chair, Bioethics Committee, ValleyCare Medical Center Pleasanton, CA. July 2001 to June 2004. Built a cohesive, multispecialty team. Rewrote hospital policy for end of life care and the use of non-traditional specialties. Oversaw all patient bioethics consultations.

Chair, Investigational Review Board, ValleyCare Medical Center Pleasanton, CA. July 2001 to June 2004. Developed a structured approach for the rapid review of low risk research protocols. Assisted research teams develop and implement protocols.

Chair, Pain Improvement Committee, ValleyCare Medical Center Pleasanton, CA. July 2001 to June 2004. Developed JCAHO compliant policies and procedures for hospital based pain services.

Governor’s Select Committee, California State QME Test Development Committee member, Sacramento, CA. May 2000. Subject matter expert in medical practice guidelines and workers compensation legal issues. Helped create state-wide test for medical practitioners.

Consulting

World Class Health Care, San Jose, CA, December 2015 to September 2022. Advisor. Developing and deploying a new telehealth and medical tourism model for developing nations including China. Working with a major San Jose hospital system to export medical expertise and services.

BeckerSmith Medical and Ludwig Medical, Irvine, CA, August 2014 to July 2016. Advisor. Development and marketing of neurosurgical devices including the FlowSafeTM system and the S.I.S.T.E.R.TM retractor.

Best-Medical, Inc. and PainUniversity.com, San Jose, CA, March 2012 to December 2015. Advisor. Developing a new and unique navigation engine and patient centric medical record system. Marketing web site design, implementation and content.

BTO Solutions/AgileMD.net, Austin, TX, March 2013 to December 2015. Advisor and Director, Healthcare Consulting Practice. Developed and marketed a tele-health and single-sign-on EMR solution.

Retained Consultant, Lumetra, Allmed, ProPeer, Imedics, PIMSCO, January 2004 to September 2022. Perform quality assurance and standard of care reviews and utilization reviews for non-governmental agencies. Provide quality improvement advice and advice on the adherence of medical practitioners to the standard of care. Recommend implementation of sanctions. Review charts and perform forensic medical-legal examinations.

Independent Medical-Legal and Utilization Review, July 1991 to present. Perform chart reviews and physical examinations to render opinions regarding quality of care, appropriateness of care, utilization, billing, and coding accuracy. Review standard of care and practitioner competence for hospitals, medical staff organizations, and health care systems.

Associations

Fellow, American College of Surgeons
Fellow, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
Diplomat, American Board of Neurosurgery
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
North American Spine Society
Hanbery Society

Honors
USC Chapter of Upsilon Phi Delta, Health Administration Honor Society
University of Pennsylvania Chapter, Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society

Licenses

NPI Number, 9/20/2006-present.
DEA Numbers, (6/18/1984-3/21/2023), (8/30/2021-3/31/2024)
Alaska License, 6/3/2013-12/31/2018.
California Medical License, 5/14/1984-9/30/2025.
CA Radiology and Fluoroscopy, 10/1/1991-4/30/2026.
District of Columbia 8/9/2012-12/31/2022, renewal pending.
District of Columbia Prescription Certificate, 8/17/2012-12/31/2022.
Florida License, 10/9/2014-12/31/2022.
Indiana License, 8/29/2016-10/31/2018.
IN Controlled Substance Registration, 2/16/2017-10/31/2018.
Maryland, application pending.
New Mexico License, 1/22/2008-7/1/2008 and 7/10/2020-7/1/2023.
North Dakota License, 3/30/2017-9/6/2018.
Oregon License, 7/28/2021-12/31/2023.
Pennsylvania License, 12/29/2017-12/31/2018 and 5/6/2022 to 12/31/2024.
South Dakota License, 12/22/2016-3/1/2019.
Virginia License, 4/14/2017-9/30/2018.

Publications and Presentations

Available upon request.