First Symposium on Chronic Neurological Diseases: Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis and Neuropediatrics

CHAIRS

NELSON MALDONADO

Organizer and annual Chair of the Neurocritical Care and Clinical Research Symposium.

He is currently Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Neurocritical Care at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, leader of the Neurology Service at the Hospital de Especialidades Eugenio Espejo in Quito, Ecuador. He studied medicine at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, then specialized in Neurology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit Michigan and culminated his studies with a fellowship in Neurocritical Care at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His areas of clinical and research interest include vascular neurology, and neurological vascular pathologies in the Ecuadorian population. He has been co-investigator of important clinical research on intracerebral hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage among others. He has been ad-hoc reviewer of journals such as Neurocritical Care, Stroke, Neurology among others. Author of the manuscript, Update in the management of acute ischemic stroke published in Critical Care Clinics in 2014. He is the principal investigator locally of the HANAK (High Altitude Neurophysiology Assessment and Knowledge) project. He is working on the creation of the postgraduate course in Clinical Neurology with USFQ. He is the organizer and annual chair of the Neurocritical Care and Clinical Research Symposium since its inception.

DANIEL ONTANEDA, MD, MSC
 

Daniel Ontaneda, MD, MSc, is an assistant professor of Neurology/Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and a staff member at the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute’s Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis.

Dr. Ontaneda is the lead principal investigator for a large international multicenter study examining early highly effective versus escalation approaches in multiple sclerosis (DELIVER-MS).He is also the Principal investigator for the Central vein Study in MS , a multi-center trial examining the role of central vein in the diagnosis of MS. He is also a member of the Executive Steering Committee for the North American Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis Cooperative. . Dr. Ontaneda is a member of the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite Task Force. Dr. Ontaneda’s research is funded by National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Institutes of Health, Race to Erase Foundation, and Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Dr. Ontaneda was the recipient of a Sylvia Lawry NMSS clinical Fellowship Award, NIH KL2 Cleveland CTSA career transition award. He was elected Teacher of the Year in the Neurology Department at Cleveland Clinic in 2017. Dr. Ontaneda is a reviewer for several medical journals, including Neurology, International Journal of Multiple Sclerosis Care, Lancet Neurology, Lancet, and Multiple Sclerosis Journal.

Dr. Ontaneda received his doctor of medicine from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador and his master of science from Case Western Reserve University. He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He then completed his neurology residency and a neuroimmunology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

DAVID BURDETTE, MD

David Burdette, MD is board-certified in neurology, epilepsy, and clinical neurophysiology. Dr. Burdette serves as the section chief for epilepsy at Spectrum Health Medical Group. He earned his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed his neurology residency at Boston University Hospitals. Dr. Burdette completed clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy fellowships at Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. Dr. Burdette’s clinical interests include neurotelemetry, treatment of refractory epilepsy, treatment of status epileptics, and electroencephalography (EEG). His research interests include investigational antiepileptic drugs and neuromodulation via neurostimulation in the treatment of epilepsy.

CARIDAD DÁVALOS

Graduated from USQF with a degree in Medicine and Human Nutrition. She completed her specialty in general pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Michigan / Wayne State University and sub-specialty in Pediatric Intensive Care at Texas Children's Hospital /Baylor College of Medicine.

Currently working in Quito, founder of QuiDs Centro de Especialidades Pediatrics.
Professor USFQ.

speakers

ANDREW ZILLGITT

Andrew Zillgitt is the section head of the Beaumont Health Adult Epilepsy Program. He obtained his medical degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a neurology residency at Garden City Hospital as part of MSU-COM Statewide Campus System. He then completed a clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital. In addition, he has an added certification through the American Clinical Magnetoencephalography Society (ACMEGS) for clinical magnetoencephalography. He sits on the board of directors for ACMEGS and is also an associate professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. His clinical interests include providing comprehensive epilepsy care for people with epilepsy. His research interests include magnetoencephalography, neuroimaging, and epilepsy treatments (both medical and surgical).

ANGEL W. HERNANDEZ, MD

Angel W. Hernandez, MD currently serves as the Chief of the Division of Neurosciences at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids Michigan, he’s also Professor of Pediatrics and Human Development College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University.

Before joining Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Dr. Hernandez previously led the Division of Neurology, he was Medical Director of the Magnetoencephalography Center and Director of The Jane and John Justin Neurosciences Center Cook Children’s Health Care System Fort Worth, Texas.

He received his medical degree from the Ponce School of Medicine in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Dr. Hernandez completed his pediatric residency from Michigan State University. He continued on for his fellowships in Child Neurology, and then fellowship in Pediatric Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Dr. Hernandez is board certified by the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry (ABPN) with special qualifications in child neurology, ABPN with special qualifications in clinical neurophysiology and ABPN with special qualifications in epilepsy.

Dr. Hernandez is a member of numerous committees and professional societies, including member of the National Epilepsy Foundation Professional Advisory Board where he is now chair, and chair of the nominating committee. He also serves in the executive, and advocacy committees. He is also former Board Member of the National Epilepsy Foundation Board of Directors, and member and former Chair of the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas Dallas/Fort Worth Professional Advisory Board. He is the current Chair of the Digital Advisory Committee and former Chair of Resource and Information Committee of the American Epilepsy Society. He is a former member of the Finance Committee of the Child Neurology Society. Dr. Hernandez currently serves as reviewer for the journal Epilepsia, the journal of Pediatric Neurology and reviewer of the journal American Family Physician.

Dr. Hernandez was elected by the International League Against Epilepsy as visiting professor of epileptology to Central and South America and has been able to do work to educate neurologists, neurosurgeons and child neurologists in the diagnosis and management of epilepsy, and improve the quality of life of children and adults suffering from epilepsy in many Latin American countries. Dr. Hernandez clinical and research interests are in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with medically intractable epilepsy and magnetoencephalography. His research and publications have focused on improving the diagnosis and management of children with intractable epilepsy. He has been honored as one of the Top Doctors in the US.

DANIELA DI CAPUA

Neurologist of the Hospital de Especialidades Eugenio Espejo and Hospital de los Valles.
Associate Professor of Neurology, Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
5 years of experience in the epilepsy unit and video monitoring of the Hospital Universitarios Clínico San Carlos de Madrid.
Doctorate in Neurosciences (PhD) from the Complutense University of Madrid. Cum Lauden
2 years of experience as Neurologist in the brain damage unit of the Beata Mariana Hospital in Madrid.
Specialist in Neurology at the Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos de Madrid.
Doctor in Surgery and General Medicine by the PUCE.
Experience in clinical research.

GUILCA CONTRERAS CAICEDO

Surgeon, Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Specialty in Pediatrics and child care, Hospital Miguel Perez Carreño, Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Specialty in Child Neurology. Children's Hospital J.JM de los Ríos, Caracas - Venezuela.

Specialty in Electroencephalography and Epilepsy, University Hospital of Caracas, Central University of Venezuela.

Experience in the integral management of patients with epilepsy, children and adolescents, since 2002. Evaluation of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy for epilepsy surgery and other treatments.

JEFFREY COHEN

Dr. Cohen is Professor of Medicine (Neurology) in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He received a BA from Connecticut College in 1976 and MD from the University of Chicago School of Medicine in 1980. He completed a Neurology Residency in 1984 then a Post-doctoral Research Fellowship in Neuroimmunology in 1987, both at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cohen has worked at the Mellen MS Center at the Cleveland Clinic since 1994 and was Director 2014-2017. He currently is Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program, the Clinical Neuroimmunology Fellowship, and the MS Academic Coordinating Center. Dr. Cohen has published extensively on clinical, immunologic, and imaging aspects of MS. He has had a leadership role in a large number of clinical trials of potential therapies for MS, translational studies, studies to validate outcome measures, and observational studies.

JONATHAN BURDETTE

Jonathan Burdette is a Professor of Neuroradiology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, where he is the Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Radiology. Following graduation with a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, he received his MD degree from The University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis and did his radiology residency at The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His neuroradiology fellowship was at Wake Forest University where he has been ever since. He has published 94 peer-reviewed manuscripts. His current research focuses on using advanced MR imaging techniques to study the brain as a complex network. He is a founding member of the Laboratory for Complex Brain Networks (LCBN), an interdisciplinary group of scientists dedicated to using functional MRI (fMRI) to study the brain using network theory approaches. The LCBN studies how exercise, nutritional habits, beet root juice, and meditation affect the functioning brain in the elderly. Additional research interests include the effects of music on the brain, the effects of pesticide exposure on brain development in children of Latino farmworkers, and identifying a brain network phenotype that is characteristic of vulnerability to alcohol use disorder. When he is not working, Dr. Burdette enjoys performing with the local opera company and watching his three daughters perform as the bluegrass/Celtic band The Dan River Girls.

LUIS CARLOS MAYOR R

Luis Carlos Mayor R is board certified in neurophysiology with added competence in epilepsy monitoring. Dr. Mayor earned his medical degree from the Universidad del Rosario School of Medicine in Bogota, Colombia. Dr. Mayor completed clinical neurophysiology fellowships at Case Western Reserve University Hospital in Cleveland Ohio, and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit Michigan. He currently serves as the head of the Neurology Department and Director of the Epilepsy Clinic at the Hospital Universitario Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota in Bogota, Colombia.

MARIANNA V. SPANAKI

Marianna V. Spanaki, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A. was born in Crete, Greece. She completed her Neurology residency in Athens, Greece and a research Fellowship in Epilepsy at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT where she conducted her PH.D. research in collaboration with Athens University.. She completed an Epilepsy Fellowship at the NINDS, at the National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD.

After her fellowship, she joined the Epilepsy Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin for 5 years, before joining Henry Ford Medical Group in 2005.

In 2008 she received her executive M.B.A from University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN

Dr. Spanaki is currently the Division Head of the Henry Ford Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, Detroit MI and Associate Professor of Neurology at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.

Dr. Spanaki has published more than 40 peer reviewed journal articles, 8 book chapters, and more than 40 abstracts in scientific meetings.

MARISA MCGINLEY

Marisa McGinley is an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Neurology) in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and a staff member at the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute’s Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis. She received her BA from The College of Wooster in 2008 and DO from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2012. She completed a neurology residency at Loyola Medical Center in Chicago in 2016. She then completed a Neuroimmunology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in 2017 and Masters in Clinical Research at Case Western Reserve University in 2018. She was the recipient of a Sylvia Lawry NMSS fellowship award and an NIH KL2 Cleveland CTSA career transition award. Her current research focuses on incorporation of technology to facilitate distance health and the utilization of real-time data streams to better inform clinical trials and routine clinical care.