This on-demand webinar is for patients and providers to learn about new treatments for movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor, including incisionless focused ultrasound and deep brain stimulation. Drs. Umer Akbar and Wael Asaad, experts in both the medical and surgical approaches, present and answer patient questions.
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Department of Neurosurgery
Wael F. Assad, MD, PhD
Sidney A. Fox and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Professor of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience, Vice-Chair, Research, Director, Functional and Epilepsy Neurosurgery Program, Director, Laboratory for Neurophysiology and Neuromodulation, Assistant Director, Neurosurgery Residency Training Program, Director, Fellowship in Functional & Epilepsy Neurosurgery
LPG Neurosurgery
593 Eddy Street, APC6
Providence, RI 02903
Phone: (401) 793-9166
Fax: (401) 444-2788
593 Eddy Street, APC6
Providence, RI 02903
Phone: (401) 793-9166
Fax: (401) 444-2788
Biography
Wael Asaad, MD, PhD received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College in 1993, then earned a PhD in systems neuroscience from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001, and his MD from Yale University in 2003. Asaad completed a general surgery internship and neurosurgical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. During his residency, he undertook additional training in functional neurosurgery. In 2011, he joined the department of neurosurgery at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Asaad’s clinical work focuses on applying brain circuit modulation techniques (including deep brain stimulation, focused ultrasound, responsive neurostimulation, and laser ablation) to treat movement disorders, intractable epilepsy, and intractable psychiatric disease. He is also involved in clinical trials applying novel neurosurgical therapies for conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Stroke.
His basic science interests focus on the ways in which neuronal circuits in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia underlie visual-motor learning, memory and decision-making, and how a better understanding of these might lead to strategies to alleviate the cognitive aspects of psychiatric and neurological diseases, including traumatic brain injury and stroke.
Education
Degrees
2003
M.D. Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
2001
Ph.D. Systems Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
1993
B.A. Magna Cum Laude, Neuroscience & English, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
Residencies
2004-2010
Resident, Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
2003-2004
Intern, General Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
Fellowships
2006-2008
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Functional Neurosurgery / Neuroscience, M.G.H.
2001-2003
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Learning & Memory, M.I.T.
Board Certifications
Board-Certified, American Board of Neurological Surgeons
Clinical Interests
Epilepsy surgery, functional neurosurgery / deep brain stimulation, focused ultrasound, psychiatric neurosurgery, general neurosurgery of the brain and spine, movement disorders, traumatic brain injury.
Recent News
Dr. Wael Asaad, who received his PhD in systems neuroscience from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his medical degree from Yale University, is the director of the Functional Neurosurgery and Epilepsy division at the Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute, which is headquartered at Rhode Island Hospital. He performed the first incisionless thalamotomy procedure this summer, making the hospital the second provider in New England to offer the treatment.
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A new clinical trial is now enrolling for a type of brain surgery, known as deep brain stimulation.
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In this special installment of Podcasts360, Andrew Blum, MD, PhD, and Wael Asaad, MD, PhD, discuss their case series on responsive neurostimulation, why they chose responsive neurostimulation for each patient, and how the technology has evolved over the years.
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