Barrow Concussion & Brain Injury Center

10/17/2025

October is . An , short for , is a tangle of blood vessels that disrupts normal blood flow.

AVMs can occur anywhere in the body, and an estimated 300,000 Americans are affected by AVMs of the and . While some AVMs may never produce symptoms, others may rupture and bleed into surrounding tissues. When this occurs in the brain, it causes a hemorrhagic .

Our vascular and endovascular at have decades of collective experience in treating AVMs and have seen some of the most complex cases from around the globe. Barrow is also home to the Aneurysm and Center, which is dedicated to advancing our understanding of the genetics, formation, and rupture of vascular malformations.

To learn more about AVMs and how we can help, visit BarrowNeuro.org/Cerebrovascular.

(🎨: Hannah Koffman, Barrow Publications)

10/16/2025

Congratulations to Briana Ondatje, a fourth-year in the Arizona State University-Barrow Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, on being awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA, F31)! This is a prestigious and highly competitive predoctoral fellowship awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Under the mentorship of Rita Sattler, PhD, MSc, the David and Weezie Reese Chair for Research at , Briana has focused her thesis project on the cellular and molecular mechanisms in (ALS) and (FTD).

Specifically, Briana’s research in the Sattler Laboratory is dedicated to uncovering the neuroimmune response in -associated / , with an emphasis on two key brain cell types: microglia and astrocytes. By leveraging patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, she models these cell-specific interactions to explore how glia communicate and regulate one another in disease.

Through this work, Briana aims to identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets that could improve both diagnosis and treatment strategies for patients.

10/15/2025

Interested in learning the latest about disorders? Join us for this month's " in the News" webinar!

This webinar series is free and open to the public, offering you the chance to pick the brains of world-renowned experts without sifting through research articles. This month, you'll hear from Kerry Knievel, DO, the director of the at , and Allison Crain, MD, a family medicine physician specializing in headache at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center.

📆: Friday, Oct. 24, 2025
⏰: Noon to 1 p.m. (PDT/ time)
💻: Virtual via Zoom

Registration is required. Sign up at https://bar.rw/inthenews or by contacting Tania Gomez Morales at (602) 406-2792 or Tania.GomezMorales@CommonSpirit.org.

10/14/2025

It's obvious that the ability to stay calm under pressure is crucial in , but it may come as a surprise that this skill can actually be acquired—through practices like observation, preparation, and visualization.

"Equanimity is learned ... because it defies what's happening inside your body," said President and CEO Michael T. Lawton, MD.

On today's episode of Barrow Neurosurgery Base Camp, Dr. Lawton, the Barrow neurosurgery trainees, and special guests Dr. Francisco Ponce of Barrow and Dr. Jacques Morcos of UTHealth Houston discuss how to develop the third "trait of greatness" and how it contributes to positive outcomes for patients.

Watch the full episode, and previous episodes, at BarrowNeuro.org/BaseCamp.

10/13/2025

In a new paper published in the Cell Press journal "Molecular Therapy," Barrow researcher Fredric Manfredsson, PhD, and his co-authors report promising and unprecedented evidence supporting the use of to turn off Cav1.3 calcium channels in .

These ion channels, which are found in many types of cells, become dysfunctional in disease and thus have drawn significant interest as therapeutic targets. However, given their prevalence throughout the body (e.g., the heart), they cannot be targeted with conventional pharmaceuticals.

In this preclinical study, the researchers used an (AAV) to deliver an artificial RNA molecule into cells to silence these ion channels. The AAV therapy was developed by Dr. Manfredsson, whose laboratory at focuses on creating such novel .

The results showed significant progressive reversal of functional deficits, with some deficits even returning to normal/pre-parkinsonian baseline. This work lays an important foundation for future clinical trials of this gene therapy.

Read the full paper at https://bar.rw/cav13.

10/10/2025

We're accepting applications for our International Sonntag Fellowship for the 2026-27 academic year!

This funded, one-year fellowship is designed for and from low- and middle-income countries. Participants in this fellowship work under the direction of Brian P. Kelly, PhD, a researcher in the at , primarily investigating implantable devices and surgical spinal procedures.

Applications are due Oct. 31, and the is expected to begin in July 2026.

Learn more and apply at https://bar.rw/sonntagfellow2026.

10/09/2025

Congratulations to Juan Uribe, MD, Chief of the Division of Spinal Disorders at , and his team in the Virtual Reality Laboratory on receiving a research grant from the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS).

The $20,000 grant will provide support for their project, "Immersive Training for : A Scalable Solution to Advance Minimally Invasive Education."

This project is the brainchild of Barrow PGY-6 Steve Cho, MD, who spent six months in Korea intensively learning the nuances of endoscopic . This minimally invasive approach is the future of many procedures, but it has a steep learning curve—requiring at least 30-50 cases to achieve proficiency, according to a recent systematic review and meta-analysis. This milestone can be difficult for trainees to reach in residency, particularly in programs where endoscopic procedures are not yet routinely performed.

Upon his return to Barrow from Korea, Dr. Cho approached the Institute's Lab about creating a proof-of-concept prototype of a VR simulation for endoscopic spine surgery, with a specific focus on helping neurosurgery trainees better understand indirect visualization in these procedures.

Drawing upon their existing library of spine models and interactive procedure simulations, as well as a surgical instrument 3D model from Barrow Publications' animators, the VR Lab was able to quickly develop this prototype.

With the SMISS grant, under the leadership of Dr. Uribe, the VR team plans to fully develop its VR module and validate it with a pilot study involving Barrow neurosurgery trainees.

10/08/2025

When we face something new, we draw on what we’ve learned before to decide what to do next, generalizing from past experiences and spotting similarities. This occurs through a process known as . But how do the networks of neurons in our brains work together to give rise to this ability, which we often take for granted?

That's what Barrow Director Andrew Yang, MD, MS, and his collaborators hope to better understand with the support of a new R61 grant from National Institutes of Health (NIH). The three-year grant will provide $3 million of funding for a multi-institutional study led by Ueli Rutihauser, PhD (Cedars-Sinai/ Caltech), along with Adam Mamelak, MD; Jie Zheng, PhD (UC Davis); and Stefano Fusi, PhD (Columbia University).

The team will record the activity of individual neurons through the voluntary participation of patients being treated for their at , Cedars-Sinai, and UC Davis. Study participation occurs while patients are admitted to the epilepsy monitoring units (EMU) for seizure monitoring with , which allows their physicians to provide personalized, tailored recommendations for epilepsy surgery. Research with similar recordings has led to many fundamental discoveries of the human brain and mind, which would not be possible without the selfless contributions of participants to further scientific understanding.

Barrow is an ideal institution to gather this rare and valuable data. Our Epilepsy Center has received the highest-tier designation from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC) as a Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, which recognizes our expertise in providing the highest level of medical and surgical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy.

Learn more about the project at https://bar.rw/abstraction.

10/07/2025

We're thrilled to announce that we've expanded and upgraded the (EMU) at Barrow, positioning our unit as one of the largest and most technologically advanced EMUs in the country.

Now housing 16 dedicated beds, the adult EMU at is the largest in the state of . Additionally, thanks to our new and unparalleled video wall, we can now monitor up to 48 patients simultaneously. This extends our epilepsy-monitoring services beyond the walls of our EMU, not only to patients across our hospital but virtually anywhere—equipping us to offer tele-EEG services to hospitals without their own EMUs.

Speaking of —a technology that measures the electrical activity of the brain—we've upgraded that to brand-new, state-of-the-art equipment.

We've also outfitted the rooms in our EMU with dual cameras that can zoom in and out, enabling our team to capture every detail necessary to make the most accurate diagnoses for patients staying on the unit. And thanks the installation of more practical furniture and an alarm-relay system, our nurses can address patients' needs more promptly and seamlessly.

Our physicians and staff are also enjoying a new EEG-reading room with sit-stand desks, monitors of various sizes, and a meeting space.

We're immensely proud of these upgrades, as they strengthen our role as a Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. This designation from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers recognizes our ability to offer the highest level of medical and surgical evaluation and treatment of people with complex .

To learn more about the Barrow Epilepsy Center, please visit BarrowNeuro.org/Epilepsy.

10/06/2025

"Barrow residency is deeply intertwined into the trifold mission of —and that's providing high-quality, cutting-edge patient care; training future generations; and advancing in academic and clinical research." - Daniel Gonzalez, MD, Barrow Program Director

Watch the video to learn more about what makes our neurology training experience unique, and visit BarrowNeuro.org/NeurologyResidency to apply.

10/06/2025

10/03/2025

A pioneering study by researchers at Barrow suggests a potential link between ambient (TCE) and nationwide.

The study, published October 1 in Neurology Journal, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), also found a potentially greater risk of disease in individuals who live near certain facilities that emit TCE compared to those whose homes are farther away.

TCE is a chlorinated solvent used in a wide variety of industrial processes and products. Previous studies have associated exposure to Parkinson’s disease, and have found that when inhaled or ingested, TCE readily crosses the blood-brain barrier and causes dopaminergic . This study was one of the first to identify a national association between ambient TCE and Parkinson’s disease risk.

The study was led by Brittany Krzyzanowski, PhD, an assistant professor in the Barrow Department of Neurology's Research Program, which is directed by Barrow Chair of Brad Racette, MD.

Read the press release and the paper at https://bar.rw/tce.