Previous Clinical Fellows

Dr. Franziska Schmidt, MD
March 1, 2023 – February 28, 2024
Dr. Schmidt completed her neurosurgical training in Austria. She trained with us in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery for one year and will continue this surgery for Austria.  

 

Dr. Brie Matthews, MBBS
April 1, 2022 – March 30, 2023
Dr. Matthews completed her neurosurgical training in Australia and New Zealand with the supervision of Dr. McMaster (see below). She trained with us in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and will continue this surgery for New Zealand.  

 

Dr. Aisha Alkubaisi, MBBCh
January 1, 2021 – July 1, 2022
Dr. Alkubaisi completed her neurosurgical training in Qatar. She trained with us in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and plans start this surgery in Qatar. She is completing additional time with our colleague, Dr. Bhatia, at the University of Toronto to learn spinal cord stimulation. 

 

Dr. Michael Hart, MBBS, PhD
June 1, 2020 – July 1, 2021
Dr. Hart completed his neurosurgical training and PhD in Cambridge England. He spent a year with us training in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. He has returned to the United Kingdom and is practicing in London at St. George’s Hospital.

Dr. Timoteo Almeida, MD, PhD
June 1, 2019 – July 1, 2020
Dr. Almeida completed his neurosurgical training and PhD in Brasil and has completed clinical fellowships in New York and Bristol. He spent a year with us training in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. He plans to work in the United States.

Dr. Michael Honey, MD,
January 1, 2019 – Dec 31, 2019
Dr. Honey joined our team for an in-folded fellowship during his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Manitoba. His research with our team received numerous awards including: the AANS/CNS Ronald R. Tasker Young Investigator Award (the only Canadian to win this award in more than a decade), the Canadian Neurosurgical Society K.G. McKenzie Prize, and the Canadian Neuromodulation Society best resident research award.

Dr. Marie Kruger, MD
June 1, 2018 – July 1, 2019
Dr. Kruger completed her neurosurgical training in Freiberg, Germany under the guidance of my colleague Professor Volker Coenen (see below). She spent a year with us training in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. She led our RESCUED clinical trial testing the benefits of directional DBS leads. She has investigated new treatment options for patients with ‘dental neuralgia’. She is working at Queens Square Hospital in London, England.

Dr. Josue Avecillas, MD, PhD
July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018
Dr. Avecillas completed his neurosurgical training in Madrid, Spain under the guidance of my colleague Professor Juan Barcia. He spent a year with us training in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. Josue has an expertise in imaging of the brain, particularly with diffusion tensor imaging. We believe this will be a very important addition to our surgical field. He is a functional neurosurgeon at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre in the United States.

Dr. Adi Sulistyanto, MD
July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017
Dr. Sulistyanto completed his neurosurgical training in Indonesia under the supervision of my colleague Dr. David Fairholm. He spent a year with us training in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. He has returned to Jakarta and will coordinate the functional neurosurgery for that country. The Indonesian government plans to support a centre of excellence in Functional Neurosurgery in Jakarta with Dr. Sulistyanto heading that programme.

Dr. Zurab Ivanishvili, MD, FRCSC
July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016
Dr. Ivanishvili completed medical school in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia and continued neurosurgical training at the University of Saskatchewan with my colleague Professor Ivar Mendez. He spent a year with us studying functional neurosurgery. He then completing a spine fellowship in Victoria, British Columbia with Dr. Daniel Warren. Dr. Ivanishvili has accepted a position at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, British Columbia. 

Dr. Philipp Slotty, MD, PhD
February 1, 2014 – December 31, 2014
Dr. Slotty has returned to the Department of Functional Neurosurgery at the Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, Germany. He is a leader in Europe in Functional Neurosurgery with a very large experience in the treatment of pain and movement disorders. Dr. Slotty spent a year training with us in Vancouver.

Dr. Waleed Dabbas, MD
January 1, 2014 – July 1, 2014
Dr. Dabbas has returned to Jordan and plans to start a stereotactic and functional neurosurgery program there.

Dr. Mohamed Aly, MD, PhD
July 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012
Dr. Aly completed a 1-year clinical Fellowship in Epilepsy Surgery in Calgary, Alberta and then spent six months with our team.  He is Associate Professor at Mansura University, Egypt and Consulatant Neurosurgeon and Program Director at the Prince Ben Abdelaziz Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he is also the Head of their Surgical Research Committee.

Dr. Manish Ranjan, MBBS, MCh.
January 1, 2012 – June 30, 2012
Dr. Ranjan is Associate Professor of neurosurgery and joined us from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore India. Dr. Ranjan spent six months training with us in Vancouver. He is currently a Clinical Research Instructor at the Rockefeller Neuroscience institute at West Virginia University.

Dr. Anwen Haries, MB, BCh
July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011
Mrs. White (nee Harries) has accepted a position at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Birmingham, England as a Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgeon. Mrs. White spent a year training with us in Vancouver.

Dr. Neil Simms, MB, BCh
July 1, 2009 – June 1, 2010
Mr. Simms has accepted a position as a consultant neurosurgeon in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  His work with us earned an award for best poster presentation at the biannual meeting of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery 2010. He performed the first DBS operation in Northern Ireland in 2013.

Dr. Jacqueline McMaster, B Med, BSC, FRACS
January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008
Dr. McMaster has accepted a position as consultant neurosurgeon at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, Australia.

Dr. Ahmed Abdel Rahmen, MD
March 2007 – July 2008
Dr. Abdel Rahmen was sponsored by the Egyptian Government to complete a PhD thesis co-supervised by Dr. Honey and Professor El Husseiny (Head of Neurosurgery at Zagazig University) entitled “A comparison of surgical treatments for Parkinson’s disease between Canada and Egypt”. He is working as a neurosurgeon in Kuwait.

Dr. Volker Coenen, MD
July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008
Dr. Coenen is Professor of Neurosurgery and Head of the Division of Stereotactic Neurosurgery at the University of Freiburg, Germany.

Dr. Fernando Castro, MD
April 1, 2007 – December 31, 2007
Dr. Castro is working as a neurosurgeon in Mexico with an interest in endovascular and functional neurosurgery.

Dr. Ian Hu Liang Low, MB BCh BAO, MSc, FRCS
May 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007
Mr. Low has accepted a position as a consultant neurosurgeon at Queen’s Hospital in London, England. He was hired specifically with the mandate to start a functional neurosurgery programme at this new hospital.

Dr. Faisal Sayer, MD
January 1, 2006 – December 31, 2006
Dr. Sayer is now Chairman of Neurosurgery in Kuwait at the Ibn Sina Hospital.  He is the Program Director for the neurosurgery residency training program in Kuwait. In February 2015, Dr. Honey joined him to perform the first DBS operations in that country.

Dr. Alex Vitali, MD
July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006
Dr. Vitali has been appointed Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatoon. He has an expertise in functional and pediatric neurosurgery. Together with Professor Ivar Mendez, he performs the functional neurosurgery for their province of Saskatchewan.

Dr. Rodrigo Mercado, MD
July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005
Dr. Mercado is working as a neurosurgeon with an interest in pediatric as well as stereotactic and functional neurosurgery at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico.  He has been elected president of the Functional Neurosurgery Section of the Mexican Society of Surgical Neurology.

Dr. Tomasz Mandat, MD, PhD
July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004
Dr. Mandat is Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw and has a special interest in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery.

Dr. Constantine Constantoyannis, MD, PhD
July 1, 2002 – June 30, 2003
Dr. Constantoyannis is Professor of Neurosurgery and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Patras, Greece.  He specializes in Functional Neurosurgery.

Dr. Caglar Berk, MD
July 1, 2000 – June 30, 2002
Dr. Berk is a neurosurgeon in Portland Oregon.

Dr. Ming-Chieh Sun, MD
January 1 – December 31, 2000
Dr. Sun is a consultant neurosurgeon at the Cardinal Tien Hospital and Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Dr. Ravikant Palur, MD
January 1 – June 30, 2000
Dr. Palur is Professor of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine,  MAHSA University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.