John D. Heiss, M.D. is the Head of the Surgical Neurology Branch and Program Director of the Neurological Surgery Residency Training Program in the NINDS. Dr. Heiss received both his B.S. in Biomedical Sciences and M.D. degree from the University of Michigan. He completed his surgical internship and his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Prior to joining NINDS, Dr. Heiss was co-director of the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at the University of Cincinnati and a neurosurgeon in the Mayfield Neurological Institute. He completed a fellowship in neurosurgery research in the Surgical Neurology Branch before joining the senior staff of the Surgical Neurology Branch.
Dr. Heiss is board certified in neurological surgery and is expert in the supervision and conduct of clinical trials for CNS disorders. He is Vice-Chair of the Combined Neurosciences Institutional Review Board at the NIH and has served on numerous grant review panels.
Dr. Heiss is actively involved in clinical and translational research to improve the treatment of degenerative brain diseases, brain tumors, cancer pain, Chiari I malformation, and syringomyelia.
Dr. Heiss has clinical interest and expertise in the treatment of patients with Chiari I malformation, syringomyelia, peripheral nerve tumors, and brain tumors. His research interests include intracerebral drug delivery, gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease, treatment of severe, unremitting cancer pain with resiniferatoxin (RTX), and the natural history and surgical outcome of patients with Chiari I malformation and syringomyelia.
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The Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) was founded in 2004 to break boundaries in healthcare. The society promotes policies that support rapid, safe, and cost-effective translation of new technology into medicine.