Speakers

Rany T. Abdallah, MBA MD PhD Medical Director, Southern Delaware

I have been in practice since July 2016. I have a diverse practice that includes acute and chronic pain management as well as anesthesia in the operating room. Clinical Interests: Anesthesiology, Adult and pediatric chronic pain, Cancer pain, Complex regional pain syndrome, Facial pain and headaches, Abdominal pain, Implantable pain device therapies. Research Interests: Pathophysiology and treatment of cancer pain, Pathophysiology and treatment of neuropathic pain, Advancing implantable pain device therapies, Medical Cannabis.

Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD MPH FSAMedical Director, UW Pain Services

Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, MPH. Medical Director, UW pain services-Medical director, UW pain clinic, Division Chief, chronic pain management. I have been in practicing since 2009. Neuromodulation is my area of expertise, I perform all forms of spinal cord simulators and intrathecal pumps.

Daniel J. Abrams, MD MD

Dr. Abrams is the Chief Executive Officer and a Member of the Board of Directors of Cerebral Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Abrams has practiced as a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist and served as head of the Department of Neurosurgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver. Dr. Abrams' expertise with implantable CNS infusion pumps, experience in cerebrospinal fluid drug delivery and in the use and development of CNS pharmaceutics makes him well suited to lead Cerebral Therapeutics development of implantable infusion systemic medications for patients with severe medically refractory epilepsy.

Ellen L. Air, MD PhD Residency Program Director

Fellowship-trained expert in Functional, Stereotactic and Epilepsy Neurosurgery.

Rushna P. Ali, MD Clinical Instructor Neurosurgery

Dr. Rushna Ali earned her medical degree from Aga Khan University Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan. She completed neurosurgery residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and her Stereotactic, Functional and Epilepsy surgery fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Her clinical interests include stereotactic and functional neurosurgery including DBS, epilepsy surgery, microvascular decompression for pain, radiofrequency lesioning, brain tumors and advance surgical treatments to treat chronic and cancer-related pain.

Dave Anderson, BS MBA President, Neuromodulation

Dave is the President of the Neuromodulation Business at Medtronic, treating diseases including chronic pain, movement disorders and epilepsy with therapies including spinal cord stimulation, deep brain stimulation, ablation and interventional pain therapies. He is committed to delivering high-quality, evidence-based, innovative products and solutions that improve patient lives in debilitating and under-treated diseases. He has held key leadership roles across the medical device industry for the past 25+ years, including the Enabling Technologies business for Medtronic and for multiple innovative companies in healthcare and medical devices

Magdalena M. Anitescu, MD PhD Professor

Magdalena Anitescu, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesia and critical care, is the program director for the multidisciplinary pain medicine fellowship and the section chief of pain management services at the University of Chicago Medicine. She completed a surgical internship at the University of Iowa and an anesthesia residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Following a pain medicine fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, she joined the faculty at the University of Chicago. She is an accomplished national and international educator, author of numerous textbook chapters and scientific papers, and a member of many professional organizations and scientific committees that review the academic curriculum for various pain medicine meetings. As program director of pain medicine at the University of Chicago, Dr. Anitescu created novel educational experiences for the curriculum by organizing and hosting interdisciplinary and multi-institutional and regional meetings. Among them are the annual Chicago Pain Summit, the bi-annual Regional Collaborative Case Pain Medicine Conference, and multi-disciplinary rounds. The aim is to give pain fellows access to the practices at other institutions, to exchange ideas, or to present scholarly work or clinically challenging cases. As the president of the Association of Pain Medicine program directors, Dr. Anitescu’s efforts were directed to the pain medicine match and to the development of educational materials for pain fellows nationwide. Dr. Anitescu focuses research on improving the quality of life of patients with acute, chronic, or cancer pain through multi-modal, multi-faceted interventions. She is currently engaged in several studies that evaluate the effects of neuromodulation on several common pain conditions. She is also the chair of Subspecialty Program Directors in the Association of Academic Anesthesiologists and is a member-at large for the International Neuromodulation Society Board of Directors. Dr Anitescu is significantly involved in advancing the field of neuromodulation and serves as the chair for the Women in Neuromodulation. She is committed to fellows education in this field and in the general field of pain management with special interest in cancer pain and neuromodulation applications in this area.

Markus A. Bendel, MD Physician

Dr. Bendel is a board certified physician in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine practicing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. His training includes a general surgery internship, anesthesiology residency and pain medicine fellowship, all at the Mayo Clinic. He is the former Director of Neuromodulation and current Clinical Practice Chair for the pain medicine division.

Helen M. Blake, MD Interventional Pain Physician

Helen Blake is an experienced Anesthesiologist and Interventional Pain Physician in private practice in Saint Louis, MO. Her fellowship training at the Cornell atrium-Institute Pain Fellowship provided sound foundation on her practice that spans neurostimulation, regenerative therapies, and other interventional techniques.

Carol Blyzniuk, RN Clinical Coordinator Department of Neurosurgery

I have worked at Thomas Jefferson University hospital in department of Neurosurgery for 24 years, first in the hospital setting for three years then moved to the Neurosurgery outpatient office. I have have been working specifically in Functional Neurosurgery for the last 21 years.

Keith Boettiger President, Abbott Neuromodulation

Keith Boettiger joined Abbott in 2017 in his current role as President, Abbott Neuromodulation. He is an accomplished executive who has over 20 years of experience leading and growing medical device and healthcare businesses. Previously, he served as St. Jude Medical’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Neuromodulation where he held commercial responsibility for the global Chronic Pain Therapy and Movement Disorder franchises. Keith began his medical device career at Johnson and Johnson in their Ethicon Endo-Surgery franchise. Prior to his tenure in medical device, Keith worked as a volunteer in the US Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa. Keith attended Macalester College and has a Bachelor of Arts degree. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Nicholas Bremer, MD Medical Director Amelia Island

Dr. Bremer trained in Interventional Pain Medicine at Columbia University and in Anesthesiology at NYU. Dr. Bremer incorporates academics, education, and clinical investigation in private practice at Jax Spine and Pain and affiliation with the University of Florida. He was elected to the Executive Board of the Southeast Society of Pain Intervention. He is currently an implanter on spinal cord stimulation system trials, peripheral nerve stimulation trials, and an investigator on interventional spine procedures aimed at spinal decompression. He trains fellows and advanced implanters at national courses around the country. He is honored to be chosen as a NANS pre-conference faculty member to teach spinal cord stimulation, dorsal root ganglion stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation techniques, and intrathecal therapies.

Aure Bruneau Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Bruneau brings over 25 years of medical device experience, with a specific focus on new technology development, commercial and business leadership as well as international management. Prior to his current position as CEO of Stimwave Technologies, Mr. Bruneau held the role of Group President overseeing the Robotic, CMF, Thoracic, and Spine businesses of Zimmer Biomet. During his Zimmer Biomet career, Mr. Bruneau led high- technology robotics development and commercialization, achieved first-in-class FDA approvals across multiple surgical applications, created fast-growth innovations in surgery and new MIS procedures, built world-class teams, and business processes. Prior to joining Zimmer Biomet, Mr. Bruneau held numerous leadership positions within Medtronic and Sofamor Danek.

James Cavuoto, BS Editor and Publisher

James Cavuoto is editor and publisher at Neurotech Reports, a publishing and market intelligence firm specializing in the neuromodulation device industry. He is the coauthor of Bionic Pioneers (Neurotech Press, 2014) and a contributor to the textbook Neuromodulation (Krames, Peckham, Rezai, eds). He is also the coauthor of the market research report, The Market for Neurotechnology. James is a biomedical engineering graduate of Case Western Reserve University, where he served as editor of the Engineering and Science Review. James was previously an adjunct professor in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology and the founder and publisher of Micro Publishing Press.

Krishnan V. Chakravarthy, MD PhD Assistant Professor

Krishnan Chakravarthy, MD, PhD is an assistant clinical professor who specializes in multi-modal pain management. As a pain management specialist, he evaluates, diagnoses and treats all forms of pain. Dr. Chakravarthy completed sub-specialty fellowship training in pain management at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and residency training in anesthesiology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. He interned in general medicine at Griffin Hospital (Yale Affiliate) in Derby, Connecticut. He earned his MD, PhD degrees at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Chakravarthy’s research interests in pain medicine include incorporating new technology into advancing pain care. He is currently focusing on using nanotechnology as an novel system to develop new drug delivery and point of care device platforms to manage chronic pain. Prior to joining UCSD, he has served as a contractor at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where he researched host immunity to influenza virus as a way of developing novel therapeutic and vaccine strategies. His research work has been published in top journals including Anesthesiology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Pain Medicine. His research work has been also featured in Times of India, International Business Times, Futurity, NewsMedical and other national and international venues. Dr. Chakravarthy is also a founder of several biotechnology startup companies in the nanotechnology space, and new drug development focusing on commercializing paradigm-shifting technology in the field of chronic pain. He is an active entrepreneur and believes industry plays a critical role in seeing translational science make it to patients. Dr. Chakravarthy currently serves on the editorial board of several national and international peer reviewed journals, and committees on organizations such as the International Neuromodulation Society. He is also the recipient of several national awards including the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience Young Innovator Award.

Kenneth B. Chapman, MD Assistant Clinical Professor

Dr. Kenneth Chapman is the director of pain management at Staten Island University Hospital and is an assistant clinical professor at NYU Langone Medical Center and adjunct assistant professor at Hofstra Medical School. He completed his Interventional Pain Management Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio,in 2006 and his Anesthesiology residency at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, New York. Dr. Chapman director of Research and Education at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hostral/Spine and Pain Institute of NY pain management fellowship program and is actively involved in teaching and lecturing both nationally and internationally. Dr. Chapman also frequently serves as a pain management Board Examiner for certification on the Fellowship of Interventional Pain Practice Pain Boards. He has won numerous peer validated awards and was one of the youngest physicians to ever be named as both a NY Times ‘Super Doctor’ and NY Magazine ‘Top Doctor’ when he first received the recognition in 2014. While at the Cleveland Clinic Dr. Chapman also received the “Ethlene R. Smith’s Most Outstanding Fellow” award. He is Vice President of the NYS Interventional Pain Society and on the advisory board to the NYS Worker’s Compensation Board responsible for writing the NYS Worker’s Compensation Guidelines, which all injured workers in the state are treated by. Dr. Chapman’s interests include translational research pertaining to spinal cord stimulation and dorsal root ganglion stimulation mechanism of action in particular, and studies involving the expansion of the indications for DRG-S.

David Charles, MD Professor and Vice-Chairman

Dr. Charles is Professor and Vice-Chair of Neurology and Medical Director, Vanderbilt Telehealth. His research interests include the treatment of spasticity and cervical dystonia and he is currently leading the only clinical trial approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to test deep brain stimulation in people with early stage Parkinson's disease.

Binith Cheeran, FRCP PhD Dr.

Dr. Binith Cheeran (FRCP (Neurology), PhD). I have served as the Medical Director at Abbott Labs for neurological therapies for the past three years. I am focused on improving access to Neuromodulation technologies. Prior to this role, I served as the Movement Disorder Specialist to the Functional Neurosurgery Dept. at the University of Oxford, UK, for 5 years, having completed by Neurology sub-specialist training at the same institution in 2011. I completed my PhD research in variability in response to neuromodulation at University College London in 2008.

Shilpa Chitnis, MD PhD Professor of Neurology

Shilpa Chitnis is Professor of Neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. She has been involved in the care of patients with movement disorders and education in the field for the past 19 years. Dr. Chitnis received her medical degree from Grant Medical College in Bombay, India. She completed her PhD in Pharmacology and Rresidency in Neurology from Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, along with her Neurology residency also from Tulane. She completed a fellowship in movement disorders from Louisiana State University (LSU) Medical Center in New Orleans, LA. She serves as fellowship director for the Movement disorders program and was Associate Program director for the Neurology residency program at UT Southwestern from 2007-2017. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN) and American Neurological Association (FANA) and member of the International Parkinson disease and Movement Disorders Society. She is the medical director of the deep brain stimulation program for movement disorders at UT Southwestern. She has recently authored and co-edited a handbook of movement disorders published by the Oxford American Neurological Library in 2011 and another recent book, “Deep Brain Stimulation, a case-based approach” in July 2020. She is an author of multiple peer reviewed journal publications and ad hoc reviewer for numerous scientific journals including Movement Disorders journal, JAMA Neurology. She is one of the 5 lead facilitators for the MDS-LEAP program, a leadership program for young neurologists to take on leadership roles within MDS and the field of Neurology.

Ashley Comer, MSN APRN FNP-C Nurse Practitioner

Ashley Comer is an AANP Board Certified Nurse Practitioner at The Spine and Nerve Centers of the Virginias. Born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Ashley attended WVSCTC where she obtained her Associate’s Degree in Nursing. Continuing her education, she went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from West Virginia University. Graduating with honors, she completed her Masters of Science in Nursing with Family Nurse Practitioner specialization from Walden University. Ashley’s professional interests include implantable therapies, minimally invasive procedures, and research.

Steven P. Cohen, MD Chief, Pain Medicine and Professor

Dr. Steven P. Cohen is Professor of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, Neurology, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He is also Chief of Pain Medicine and Director of Pain Operations at Johns Hopkins and Director of Pain Research at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Dr. Cohen has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in journals such as Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, CMAJ, Anesthesiology, Pain and New England Journal of Medicine. Among his major contributions are the development of an FDA-approved denervation technique for treating sacroiliac joint pain, helping set up the first pain clinic in a war zone, inventing the IV ketamine test, performing the first studies evaluating the epidural administration of biological agents for pain and serving as Senior Investigator on the congressionally-mandated study evaluating compounded topical creams for chronic pain. He has served as Chair on international committees developing guidelines on ketamine for acute and chronic pain management, lumbar facet joint guidelines, pain management during COVID best practices, and currently the cervical facet guidelines. His work was instrumental in the passage of the 2008 Military P, serving as Committee Chair for the 2018 ketamine guidelines for pain management and lumbar facet interventions, and conducting research on facet arthropathy and epidural steroid injections that has changed the way the conditions is treated. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Cohen is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army.

Tammy L. Dann, DO MPH Physician

Tammy Dann, DO, MPH is a Dayton, Ohio based interventional pain physician who is board certified in both anesthesiology and pain management. She completed her pain fellowship at the University of Iowa in 2013 and has been in private practice in both West Virginia and Ohio since that time. She has served as a speaker for a wide variety of meetings throughout the US and takes an active role in teaching residents and medical students as well. Her passion is the use of intrathecal pumps in the management of chronic pain, as well as targeted spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation.

Timothy R. Deer, MD President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Deer received his medical degree from the West Virginia University School of Medicine, and received his training in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at The University of Virginia. Dr. Deer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Spine and Nerve Center of the Virginias in Charleston, West Virginia. The Center focuses on pivotal research and the algorithmic application of Neuromodulation therapies to improve pain and function. Dr. Deer is the founder and Chairman of the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience and Immediate Past President of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS) and is President Emeritus of the West Virginia Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. Dr Deer is a past Chairman of the Pain Committee of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, several book chapters and several widely used text books. Dr. Deer has taught interventional techniques throughout North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe. He continues to focus on landmark research to advance the field of Neuromodulation. His latest book, Deer's Treatment of Pain is currently being used as an anchor of pain treatment information throughout the world.

Teresita Devera, MSN CRNP ANP-BC Nurse Practitioner

Teresita DeVera is a nurse practitioner in the department of neurosurgery at Jefferson University Hospital and has recently transitioned into the role of Lead Advanced Practice Provider for the Neuroscience Enterprise. She has 20 years of experience in both spinal and functional neurosurgery, working directly with both Dr. Ashwini Sharan and Dr. Chengyuan Wu. She collaborates with her physicians, managing and educating patients with chronic pain, epilepsy, and movement disorders. One of her goals as a nurse practitioner is to promote the advancement of other APPs, maximizing their roles in the field of neuromodulation and neuroscience as well share her knowledge and experience in order to improve patient outcomes at all points of the healthcare spectrum.

Myrdalis Diaz-Ramirez, MD Physician

Dr. Myrdalis Diaz-Ramirez is a board-certified interventional pain physician in anesthesiology and pain medicine in private practice in Sarasota, Fl. She is a clinical professor at Florida State University College of Medicine and has co-authored and edited multiple book chapters related to anesthesiology and pain medicine. Dr. Diaz-Ramirez serves in the NANS Diversity and Outreach Committee and represented NANS at the 2020 Latino Medical Student Association yearly meeting, introducing students to the world of pain management and neuromodulation.

She graduated from medical school and finished her Internship in Anesthesiology at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. Then, she completed her Residency in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine Fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University, where she was Chief Resident and, later, faculty. She has lead in the design of multiple pain programs and worked as medical director of the Comprehensive Pain Program for Sarasota Memorial Hospital and her clinic, the Comprehensive Pain Center of Sarasota, which is now part of the Sarasota Pain Relief Centers. Dr. Diaz-Ramirez has focused her practice on a comprehensive approach to her patients' care and led her private clinic to receive the honor of Centers of Excellence from the American Pain Society.

Dr. Diaz-Ramirez has an entrepreneurial spirit, most recently focusing on helping students in all stages to design fruitful and successful careers as physicians. As a sign of peer recognition, she is for many years included in the lists of Top Doctors in Sarasota, FL. She also enjoys helping her community. Has been recognized at the Unity Awards – Hurricane Heroes Awarded by Sarasota Magazine and received a Physician Advocate Award for the Drug-Free Sarasota Initiative.

Marisa DiMarzio, PhD Research Associate

Marisa is a recent PhD graduate of Albany Medical College. She worked in the lab of Dr. Julie Pilitsis researching the effects of deep brain stimulation on brain networks in Parkinson’s disease. Marisa is currently a research associate in Dr. Pilitsis' lab.

Mark Domyahn, MBA Partner

Mark has committed his 25+ year career entirely in the health care industry with the vast majority focused on medical technology, provider reimbursement and health economics. Prior to joining JD Lymon, Mark founded Pursuance Consulting, a reimbursement and health economics consulting practice. As a consultant with JD Lymon and Pursuance Consulting, Mark has developed reimbursement strategies and executed implementation plans for numerous products for medical device and pharmaceutical companies ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Direct results of Mark’s efforts include establishing payment levels for technologies prior to FDA approval, securing multiple new technology payments from Medicare, creating new CPT and HCPCS codes and engaging CMS, physician societies and other interested stakeholders to support overall reimbursement for a variety of technologies. Mark has also served in reimbursement related leadership positions at medical device companies, including Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Restore Medical, CardioMEMS, and Zimmer. In those roles, he had success in formulating and executing reimbursement and health economic strategies for multiple therapy areas including heart failure, cardiology, neuromodulation, orthopedics, and sleep disorders. In these roles, Mark successfully integrated reimbursement and health economics into overall business strategies to accelerate market access and increase product adoption. Mark holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Minnesota State University, Moorhead. He is a frequent presenter regarding reimbursement and health economic strategy and implications across the United States.

Shravani Durbhakula, M.D. Assistant Professor

Shravani Durbhakula, M.D., is a board-certified interventional pain physician and anesthesiologist. She joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2017 where she currently directs School of Medicine's Pain Course, and previously served as the Program Director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Medicine Fellowship. Her clinical focus is in neuromodulation implantable devices and opioid management. She is known nationally for creating and producing the innovative digital neuromodulation curriculum called 'Pain Rounds', which can be found at PainRounds.org. Her curriculum has been adopted by the majority of accredited pain fellowships across the country, and she was also recently featured on National Public Radio for her educational innovation at the medical school level. Dr. Durbhakula is also passionate about strategic innovation in healthcare systems and public health policy. Currently, she is a fellow of the National Institutes of Health and she is a recipient of a prestigious NIH fellowship and is pursuing an MPH-MBA through the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Carey Business School to explore the intersection of medicine, public health, strategy, and operations. Her long-term goal is to engender change at the population level by serving in a federal health policy leadership role.

Brian Durkin, DO Medical Director

I'm the current medical director of the Pain Institute of Long Island which is the largest pain practice on Long Island with 8 physicians covering the the entire island. I am the former director of the Stony Brook University Pain Center and am a voluntary Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesiology.

Steven M. Falowski, MD Functional Neurosurgeon

Board Certified Functional Neurosurgeon; Board of Directors, International Neuromodulation Society; Senior Advisor Board, North American Neuromodulation Society; Secretary/Treasurer-Executive Pain Committee, Congress Neurological Surgeons/American Association Neurological Surgeons

Lee Fisher, PhD Assistant Professor

Lee Fisher, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He completed his doctoral studies in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in 2012. His PhD work focused on the use of multi-contact stimulating electrodes to restore standing function after spinal cord injury. Dr. Fisher’s research interests involve the development of neuroprostheses to restore sensory and motor function after neural damage or disease, as well as exploration of the role of somatosensation in maintaining balance control during standing.

Michael A. Fishman, MD MBA Pain Management Physician

Michael Fishman, MD is a board-certified interventional pain management physician with a comprehensive practice including neuromodulation, ablative techniques, and interventions targeting a myriad of painful conditions. Dr. Fishman is actively involved in clinical research, serving as principal investigator on a number of studies. His NANS responsibilities include serving on the Board of Directors, as Co-Director of Preconference Workshops, and on various committees. Dr. Fishman is a champion for Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) and is a co-founder of Celeri Health's Real World Outcomes platform.