2026 Conference Speakers
2026 Conference Speakers
We are thrilled to welcome an outstanding lineup of speakers to the 2026 ASAP Annual Conference. This year’s presenters represent a dynamic cross-section of thought leaders, innovators, and practitioners from across the field, each bringing unique perspectives, expertise, and insights to our shared mission. As we gather to explore new challenges, celebrate progress, and envision the future, these distinguished speakers will help guide the conversation and inspire meaningful action.
Watch for more interesting topics and speakers.
2026 Conference Speakers
Synopsis: Pending.
About Dr Bolognese: Dr. Paolo Bolognese graduated from the Medical School of the University of Turin where he completed his neurosurgical training in 1990. A native of Torino, Italy, D.r Bolognese graduated from the Medical School of the University of Turin. He trained twice in Neurosurgery, under Prof. Fasano (Turin, Italy) and under Dr. Milhorat (Brooklyn, NY). In 2001, Dr. Bolognese joined Dr. Thomas Milhorat and then co-founded The Chiari Institute. In 2014, he started the Chiari EDS Center at Mount Sinai South Nassau, along with Dr. Roger W. Kula. His Neurosurgical interests span from Chiari I Malformation to Craniocervical Instability, Tethered Cord, Styloid Hypertrophy, Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, and Intracranial Hypotension.
Synopsis: Pending.
About Dr Dlouhy: Dr. Brian Dlouhy is a pediatric and adult neurosurgeon at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and University of Iowa Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa. He completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of Iowa working extensively under Dr. Arnold Menezes. He now works side by side with Dr. Arnold Menezes treating all disorders of the craniovertebral junction (CVJ) in children and adults. He also has an active research program studying the pathophysiology of Chiari I malformation and other conditions of the CVJ.
Synopsis: Pending.
About Dr Grant:
Dr. Gerald A. Grant, is a neurosurgeon, scientist, and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Duke University. Clinically, Grant specializes in treating brain tumors, medically refractory epilepsy, Chiari malformation, and concussion. He treats pediatric patients and young adults. His research focuses on innovative ways to open the bloodbrain barrier to improve the delivery of novel drugs and immunotherapy to target brain tumors.
Dr. Grant is an investigator on several initiatives funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) relating to brain tumors, focused ultrasound, brain tumor immunotherapy and concussion. He is an author on 326 peer reviewed journal articles, holds several leadership positions nationally, and serves on multiple editorial boards in neurosurgery.
Grant received his undergraduate degree in neurosciences at Duke University and his medical degree from Stanford University. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Washington in Seattle and fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
After residency, Grant fulfilled his commitment to the United States Air Force. He was chief of neurosurgery at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and the USAF Neurosurgical Consultant for Aerospace Medicine from 2003-2006. He deployed to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and Balad Air Base in Iraq as Chief of Neurosurgery, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal prior to his separation.
In 2006, Grant joined Duke’s faculty as an associate professor in the Department of Surgery. In 2013 he was recruited to Stanford as Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery and Vice Chair of Neurosurgery. He served as Associate Dean of academic affairs at Stanford from 2021-2022. In April 2022, Grant was recruited back to Duke as Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery.
Synopsis: Pending.
About Dr Heiss: Dr John D. Heiss, is a Senior Clinician, the Head of the Clinical Unit of the Surgical Neurology Branch, and Program Director of the Neurological Surgery Residency Training Program at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. He is actively involved in clinical and translational research to improve the understanding and treatment of Chiari I malformation, syringomyelia, pain, brain tumors, and Parkinson’s disease. He is board-certified in neurological surgery and an expert in supervising and conducting clinical trials for CNS disorders. Dr. Heiss received his B.S. in Biomedical Sciences and M.D. from the University of Michigan. In addition, he completed his surgical internship and residency in neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Before joining NINDS, Dr. Heiss was Co-Director of the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at the University of Cincinnati.
Synopsis: Pending.
About Dr. Iskandar: Dr. Bermans Iskandar is Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, and Director of the Pediatric Neurosurgery program at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. His clinical interests include neuro-endoscopy, brachial plexus reconstruction, and surgery of congenital CNS malformations, especially hydrocephalus, Chiari malformations, and syringomyelia. Led by Dr. Iskandar, the Wisconsin Hydrocephalus Group (WHP) of engineers, physicists, neurologists, and neurosurgeons aims to determine the etiology of ventricular shunt malfunction and optimize the devices used to treat it. As well, Dr. Iskandar directs a translational research laboratory that has uncovered an important link between folate metabolism, epigenetic influences, and axonal regeneration after central nervous system injury. Dr. Iskandar has recently concluded his service as Chair of the AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery, and Chair of the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery.
Synopsis: Pending.
About Dr Klinge: Dr. Petra Klinge serves as an internationally renowned clinician for diagnosing and neurosurgical treatment of patients with CSF disorders working on the unifying concept of cognitive problems related pathology in Hydrocephalus of aging and pediatric patients. Her practice also includes patients with associated developmental Cerebrospinal fluid disorders, such as spina bifida, Chiari malformation, tethered cord, patients with connective tissue disorders and associated spinal fluid disorders including syringomyelia and occult tethered cord syndrome. Her research focuses on the pathophysiology and diagnosis of tethered cord and on establishing criteria and clinical biomarkers for surgical intervention in tethered cord syndromes (1-5).
In collaboration with neuroradiology in her practice at Rhode Island Hospital and the Carney-Institute and the department of bio-engineering at the Brown Medical School she develops pioneering and novel clinical and in-vivo diagnostics and pathological studies to improve the management and validation of those conditions.
In the past 2 years, Dr. Klinge has also collaborated with the University of Akron Conquer Chiari Research Center, founded by the Department of Psychology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering on the implications of ageing in Chiari as well as identifying cognitive and imaging biomarkers to support the biodynamic concept of the failure of Cerebrospinal fluid regulation at the base of the skull in adult Chiari malformation. Her research has focused on the failure of “Myodural bridges” and defunct collagen that supports the aspects of CSF circulatory failure at the base of the skull in various conditions including Chiari associated with connective tissue disease and she works on the novel concept of a “Spinal cord motion disorder” that might explain and support occult neurosurgical pathologies associated with impaired CSF regulation and tethering of the spinal cord and brain stem. She had been appointed by the National Academy of Sciences and has served in 2022 in a committee to establish disability criteria for the neurological conditions in patients with Ehlers-Danlos-Syndrome and Marfan Syndrome as an nationally acknowledged expert for spinal cord disorders and tethered cord syndrome. Selected Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue and Disability | National Academies.
Synopsis: Pending
About Dr Levy:
Dr. Michael Levy is the Professor and Division Head of the University of California San Diego Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery. Dr. Levy is also Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego and UC San Diego School of Medicine.
In 2002, he was recruited to develop a Pediatric Neurosurgical Center of Excellence at Rady Children’s and a pediatric neurosurgical fellowship at UC San Diego. Currently, Dr. Levy is the director of UC San Diego’s Pediatric Neurosurgical Fellowship Training Program and its pediatric neurosurgical international fellowship.
Dr. Levy’s expertise lies in the treatment of complex pediatric brain tumors and cerebrovascular malformations. He is also involved with the design and utilization of endoscopy and three- dimensional imaging technologies to facilitate surgery.
Along with his clinical expertise, Dr. Levy is actively involved in research and is widely published, with more than 200 papers appearing in peer-reviewed literature, seven books and more than 60 book chapters. Additionally, he is currently on the editorial boards of 16 peer-reviewed journals, including Neurosurgery, Journal of Health Communications, World Neurosurgery, Frontiers in Pediatrics and Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences.
Dr. Levy’s professional memberships include the Society of University Neurosurgeons, the American Academy of Neurological Surgery and the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery, along with Alpha Omega Alpha (Medical Honor Society), the American College of Surgeons, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Joint Section of Pediatric Neurosurgery and the WHO Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care.
Synopsis: Pending.
About Dr Ravindra: Dr. Vijay Ravindra is a board certified adult and pediatric neurosurgeon and active duty Naval Officer currently stationed at Naval Medical Center San Diego and affiliated with Rady Children’s Hospital. He completed his neurosurgery training at the University of Utah where he worked closely with Dr. Douglas Brockmeyer. He completed his pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Texas Children’s Hospital – Baylor College of Medicine. His clinical interests include disorders of the pediatric spinal column, in particular the craniocervical junction and scoliosis. He is actively studying tissue properties of the CCJ in children with Chiari malformations.
Synopsis: Pending
About Dr Ruhoy:
Ilene S. Ruhoy, MD, PhD is a board-certified neurologist in private practice in Seattle, WA and the medical director for the Chiari EDS Center at Mt. Sinai South Nassau Hospital. Originally from New York City, she received her MD at the University of Pittsburgh and trained in both pediatric and adult neurology at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital with fellowship training in neuromuscular medicine and a focus on mitochondrial disease. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Fellowship. Her PhD is in Environmental Toxicology from the University of Nevada. Dr. Ruhoy is the co-editor of Integrative Neurology, published by Oxford Press in July 2020 and the co-editor of Preventative Neurology issue of Seminar in Neurology to be published by Thieme Medical in November 2022.
Synopsis: Pending
About Dr Veznedaroglu:
Erol Veznedaroglu, MD, FACS, FAANS, FAHA, or Dr. Vez, is one of the nation’s most innovative and experienced vascular, dual-trained neurosurgeons. He is director of the Drexel Neurosciences Institute and holds the Robert A. Groff Chair in Neurosurgery. Dr. Vez is also chair of Global Neurosciences Institute, LLC (GNI) leading a team of some of the nation’s most experienced neurosurgeons specializing in comprehensive care including vascular, tumor, spine and functional neurosurgery, as well as a consortium of neuroscience physicians providing subspecialty neurology and comprehensive pain management clinical services. He is board certified in neurological surgery, and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), the American Association of Neurologic Surgeons (FAANS) and the American Heart and Stroke Association (FAHA).
Synopsis: Pending
About Dr Yang:
A board-certified radiologist/neuroradiologist, Dr. Carina Yang is an Associate Professor of Radiology, and has served as the Director of Pediatric Neuroradiology at the University of Chicago Medicine since 2013, with a focus on diagnosing and characterizing the full scope of head, brain, spine and neck conditions. Dr. Yang is an expert in interpretation of neuroradiological computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) examinations, and promotes techniques for pediatric patients to minimize radiation exposure and performing testing without the need for extended sedation. She also serves as the Vice Chair of Diversity & Inclusion for her department, and is the Faculty Director for Fellowship Accreditation with the Office of Graduate Medical Education.
Dr. Yang was previously a team member for the Margaret Hackett Family Program at the University of Chicago, which aims to collaborate with physicians who advocate for the education and the advancement of knowledge pertaining to the care of patients. She is an elected member of the American Syringomyelia & Chiari Alliance Project Board. Dr. Yang is also a collaborating researcher with other pediatric neuroscience clinicians in evaluating topics including noninvasive MR of meningeal lymphatics in patients with craniosynostosis, and the potential relationship of retinopathy of prematurity to posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in premature infants.
She was selected as a Senior Faculty Scholar in the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence, as well as recently inducted as a Fellow of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators. She also has great interest in promoting neuroradiology education to trainees and practicing clinicians on a global arena, with past invited visiting professorships to locations such as Newfoundland, Canada; Trinidad; Hong Kong; as well as Gwalior and New Delhi, India, in part with funding from two University of Chicago Provost’s Global Faculty Awards. She was selected as the 2019 Anne G. Osborn American Society of North America International Outreach Professor to Ethiopia, and most recently traveled to Armenia for additional volunteer pediatric neuroradiology teaching. She hopes to continue to further her worldwide educational endeavors at new upcoming sites.
