Our Team

The Upstate Neurological Institute brings together multidisciplinary teams of experts dedicated to your diagnosis and management of all neurological conditions.

Your team may include neurologists, neurosurgeons, endovascular neurosurgeons, interventional radiologists, neuropathologists and rehabilitation therapists each specializing in your condition and treatment options. Together, we offer comprehensive adult and pediatric care for the Central New York Community and surrounding region.

Neurology Team
Neurosurgery Team

Department Chair: Luis Mejico, MD

Cerebrovascular/Critical Care

Division Chief: Julius Gene Latorre, MD, MPH
Professor
Devin Burke, MD
Assistant Professor
Hesham Masoud, MD
Associate Professor
Fadar Otite, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Aravind Reddy, MD
Assistant Professor
Elena Schmidt, MD
Assistant Professor
Claribel Wee, MD
Assistant Professor

Cognitive Neurology

Tinatin Chabrashvili, MD, PhD
Professor

Epilepsy

Robert Beach, MD, PhD
Professor
Sherif Elwan, MD
Assistant Professor
Shahram Izadyar, MD
Associate Professor
Carlos Muniz, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor
Victoria Titoff, DO
Assistant Professor
Xiangping Zhou, MD, PhD
Associate Professor

General Neurology

Sara Ali, MD
Assistant Professor
Anuradha Duleep, MD
Associate Professor
Puneet Kapur, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Laura Simionescu, MD
Associate Professor
Rohit Swarnkar, MD
Assistant Professor
Michael Vertino, MD
Associate Professor

Headache

Rosamma Joseph, MD
Clinical Associate Professor
Ioana Medrea, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor

Movement Disorders

Tinatin Chabrashvili, MD, PhD
Professor
Dragos Mihaila, MD
Clinical Associate Professor

Multiple Sclerosis/Neuro-Immunology

Kimberly Laxton, MD
Assistant Professor
Paul Massa, PhD
Professor
Corey McGraw, MD
Associate Professor
Cornelia Mihai, MD
Clinical Associate Professor

Neuro-Ophthalmology

Luis Mejico, MD
Professor and Chair

Neuromuscular

Deborah Bradshaw, MD
Professor
Jenny Meyer, MD
Assistant Professor
Eufrosina Young, MD
Associate Professor

Pediatric Neurology

Arayamparambil Anilkumar, MD
Professor
Nicole Brescia, MD
Assistant Professor
Bhagwan Moorjani, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Steven Rothman, MD
Clinical Professor
Ai Sakonju, MD
Associate Professor
Katherine Wojcicki, DO
Assistant Professor

Sleep Medicine

Antonio Culebras, MD
Professor

Joint Faculty

Professor

Yahia M Lodi, MD, FAHA (Clinical Campus - Neurology)
Amar S Swarnkar, MD (Radiology)
Zulma Tovar Spinoza, MD (Neurosurgery)

Assistant Professor

Timothy M Beutler, MD, FAANS (Neurosurgery)
Dana M Mihaila, MD, PhD (Cell and Developmental Biology)

Providers

Harish Babu, MD/PhD
315 492-3172
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Epilepsy and Epilepsy Surgery; Neuro Oncology; Functional Neurosurgery; Complex Brain Tumors; Gamma Knife; Skull Base Tumors; more
Education: Calicut Medical College, Kerala, India

Research Interests:

Human Neurophysiology research lab

Our goal is to understand how the human brain functions at a single neuron level and how this translates to higher cognitive behaviors. We are studying this by recording the activity of single neurons in awake human subjects engaged in various behavioral tasks. We use a combination of intracranial EEG, in vivo single-neuron electrophysiology, behavioral studies and computational neuroscience approaches to gain insight into the mechanisms that give rise to complex human behaviors such as learning and memory, attention, and decision making. Using this information, we hope to develop techniques for diagnosing some of the most devastating neurological diseases and treat them by designing future Brain-Machine interfaces devices.

Associations/Memberships: American Epilepsy Society (AES); Society for Neuro-Oncology; American Association of Neurological Surgeons; North American Skull Base Society; Society for Neuroscience (SFN)

Timothy M Beutler, MD, FAANS
315 492-3117
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Neurological Surgery; Neurocritical Care; Bone Infection; Brain Abscess; Brain Aneurysm; Brain Cancer; more

Lawrence S Chin, MD, FAANS, FACS
315 492-3168
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Neurological Surgery; Brachial Plexus Injury; Brain Abscess; Brain Aneurysm; Brain Injury; Brain Tumor; more
Education: University of Michigan Medical School

Grahame Gould, MD, FAANS
315 464-9068
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Neurological Surgery; Endovascular Surgery; Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology; Brain Abscess; Brain Aneurysm; Brain Cancer; more
Education: Yale University
Associations/Memberships: AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section; American Heart Association (AHA)

Walter A Hall, MD, MBA
315 464-8824
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Neurological Surgery; Brain Tumors; Gamma Knife; Pituitary Tumors; Cervical Spine; Trigeminal Neuralgia; more
Education: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

Research Interests:

Brain tumors, targeted toxins, and central nervous system infections

Clinical Interests: Developing new therapeutic modalities for treating brain tumors, including stereotactic radiosurgery, fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, blood-brain barrier disruption chemotherapy and targeted toxin therapy

Ali Hazama, MD
315 492-3168
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders; Minimally Invasive Surgery; Spine Fusion Surgery; Spine Tumors; Neurological Surgery; Brain Injury; more

Satish Krishnamurthy, MD, MCh, FAANS
315 464-4470
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Neurocritical Care; Minimally Invasive Surgery; Pediatric Neurosurgery; Pediatric Neurosurgery; Neurological Surgery; Brain Injury; more
Education: Mysore Medical College, Mysore, India

Research Interests:

Pediatric Neurosurgery; Vascular Neurosurgery

Clinical Interests: Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, Pediatric Neurosurgery; Vascular Neurosurgery

Associations/Memberships: Congress of Neurological Surgeons; American Association of Neurological Surgeons; American Medical Association, Fellow

Satyajit Marawar, MD, MBBS
315 425-4400
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Orthopedic Spine Surgery

Jonathan Miller, MD
315 464-8668
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Neurological Surgery; Brachial Plexus Injury; Brachial plexopathy; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; Chronic Pain; Epilepsy; more
Education: Case Western Reserve University

Research Interests:

My clinical and research interests include movement disorders, epilepsy surgery, and development of novel treatments for a variety of disorders using neuromodulation.

Associations/Memberships: American College of Surgeons (ACS), Fellow; American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Fellow; Congress of Neurological Surgeons; American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery; Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society; Ohio State Neurosurgical Society; Society for Innovative Neuroscience in Neurosurgery; AANS/CNS Peripheral Nerve Task Force; Society of Neurological Surgeons; AANS/CNS Joint section on Pain; Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society; Neurosurgical Cancer Pain Guideline Task Force

Zulma Tovar Spinoza, MD
315 492-3114
Diseases/Specialties/Treatments: Neurological Surgery; Epilepsy and Epilepsy Surgery; Minimally Invasive Surgery; Pediatric Neurosurgery Functional; Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery; Laser Ablation Surgery; more
Education: Universidad de los Andes, Venezuela

Research Interests:

Pediatric brain tumors, Laser ablation surgery, Epilepsy surgery, Minimally invasive brain surgery, tethered cord, pediatric, ,hydrocephalus.

Education Interests:

Neurosurgery, pediatric neurosurgery, international policies and access to neurosurgical teaching, diversity and equity in medicine.

Clinical Interests:

Hydrocephalus, endoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus and brain tumors, minimally invasive surgery, spina bifida, surgical treatment of epilepsy, brain tumors, congenital and developmental malformations of the nervous system, Chiari malformation, pediatric brain trauma, laser ablation surgery., craniosynostosis, surgical treatment of spasticity.

Associations/Memberships: Congress of Neurological Surgeons; American Association of Neurological Surgeons; Women in Neurosurgery; International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN); Women in Medicine; American Epilepsy Society (AES); American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons; AANS/Joint Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care