Vanderbilt Brain Tumor Center
Our Neurosurgery Team
Reid C. Thompson, M.D.
Dr. Reid C. Thompson is the Willaim F. Meacham Professor and Chairman of Neurological Surgery and Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Tumor Center. He is a neurosurgeon and clinician scientist with expertise in the surgical treatment of patients with complex brain and spinal cord tumors. Dr. Thompson treats both adults and children and performs over 250 complex intracranial operations a year. His clinical practice includes the entire spectrum of brain tumors including low-grade gliomas, malignant gliomas, metastatic brain tumors, and benign tumors such as meningiomas, and acoustic neuromas. In addition, he has special expertise in treating complex tumors involving the most critical parts of the brain such as the brain stem and skull base.
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Kyle D. Weaver, M.D.
Dr. Weaver is Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery, The Vanderbilt Brain Center and is also a member of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. His clinical interests encompass all tumors of the neuraxis, especially primary malignant brain tumors. He also has special expertise and interest in metastatic disease to the brain and spine, the latter requiring complex reconstructive and instrumentation techniques following tumor removal. Dr. Weaver's research interests lie in tumor genetics and epigenetics and his laboratory focuses on blood biomarkers for malignant intracranial disease.
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George S. Allen, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. George Allen is the former chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Vanderbilt. He has a special expertise in the surgical treatment of pituitary tumors and is Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Pituitary Center. In addition, in collaboration with Dr. Anthony Cmelak and Dr. Dennis Hallahan of Radiation Oncology, Dr. Allen treats patients with brain tumors using stereotactic radiosurgery - a specialized form of radiation.
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Joseph S. Cheng, M.D., M.S.
Dr. Cheng's clinical interest is in all aspects of spinal surgery such as treating degenerative disease, deformities, trauma, tumors, and spinal cord injury, with an emphasis on complex spinal reconstruction and instrumentation. He completed his Neurosurgical training and continued on for a one-year Fellowship in Complex Spinal Surgery. During that time, he has also received a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering with a special emphasis in spinal biomechanics and modeling. His research interests include spinal biomechanics and modeling, spinal oncology, spinal reconstruction and instrumentation, and minimally invasive spinal techniques. His research interests include spinal biomechanics and modeling, spinal oncology, spinal reconstruction and instrumentation development, and minimally invasive spinal techniques. He has taught a number of courses on spinal surgery, published a number of research papers and book chapters, along with presenting talks at a variety of meetings. Dr. Cheng is an active member of many professional organizations and has acted as a moderator along with serving on their committees. These include the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, AANS/CNS Joint Spine Section, AANS/CNS Trauma Section, American Medical Association, AO/ASIF (Association for the Study of Internal Fixation), Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Wisconsin State Medical Society, and the Tennessee Neurosurgical Society, of which he is past president. Dr. Cheng currently serves as Assistant Professor and Director of the Neurosurgery Spine Program at Vanderbilt University
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Matthew Pearson, M.D.
Dr. Pearson joined Vanderbilt faculty as a fellowship trained Pediatric Neurosurgeon in 2003. His practice is devoted to the surgical management of children with brain tumors and he has special expertise in the use of endoscopic and minimally invasive surgery for children.
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Allen K. Sills, Jr., M.D.
Allen Sills, MD received his undergraduate degree at Mississippi State University, grduating in biological engineering. He obtained his medical degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Sills continued his training by doing a surgical internship at Johns Hopkins followed by a neurosurgical residency. He also completed a two-year fellowship in brain tumors with both clinical and research responsibilities. This was under the direction of an NIH funded research training fellowship for neurosurgeons and neuro-oncology.
In 1997 Dr. Sills joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee in Memphis as an attending neurosurgeon. He developed an extensive neurosurgical practice with emphasis on neuro-oncology, cerebral vascular disorders, and sports neurosurgery. He was also a member of Semmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute.
Dr. Sills has research training and has published in basic science research related to neuro-oncology. Early work focused on brain edema, models, and treatment. He also studied angiogenesis associated with malignant glioma as well as new therapeutic strategies for intracranial treatment of malignant gliomas. He currently focuses on translational clinical trials of new therapies for brain tumor management. He has been the principal investigator on a number of brain tumor trials and is author of several national trials that are being used at other sites for treatment of brain tumors. He is a member of the CNS tumor panel of the NCCN and is involved in the development of national guidelines for brain tumors. Dr. Sills is active in the Society of Neuro-Oncology, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American College of Sports Medicine, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Southern Neurosurgical Society, and is certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery.
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Peter Konrad, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Konrad is the Director of Functional Neurosurgery at Vanderbilt and is a member of the Brain Tumor Center. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery and has a special expertise in the surgical treatment of seizure disorders. He has extensive experience in intraoperative brain mapping.
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Skull Base Surgery
Brain tumors involving the base of the skull are difficult to treat. Many of these tumors involve critically important arteries and nerves and the surgery to treat them effectively is very specialized. We have assembled an extraordinary team that is devoted to the surgical treatment of patients with tumors of the skull base. Our patients at Vanderbilt benefit from the specialized surgical care of a team of Neurological Surgeons, Neuro-Otologists, and head and neck cancer specialists who work together to provide state of the art surgical care for patients with complex tumors of the skull base.
Reid C. Thompson, M.D.
Dr. Reid C. Thompson is the Willaim F. Meacham Professor and Chairman of Neurological Surgery and Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Tumor Center. He is a neurosurgeon and clinician scientist with expertise in the surgical treatment of patients with complex brain and spinal cord tumors. Dr. Thompson treats both adults and children and performs over 250 complex intracranial operations a year. His clinical practice includes the entire spectrum of brain tumors including low-grade gliomas, malignant gliomas, metastatic brain tumors, and benign tumors such as meningiomas, and acoustic neuromas. In addition, he has special expertise in treating complex tumors involving the most critical parts of the brain such as the brain stem and skull base.
Link to CV
James L. Netterville, M.D.
Dr. Netterville is the Director of Head and Neck Surgery at Vanderbilt and is an international leading authority of treating head and neck cancer. He is one of the world's experts in the treatment of skull base tumors and has a vast clinical experience.
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Dr. Sinard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He completed his undergraduate study at Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts. In 1989 he completed his medical school at the University of Michigan. He received internship training at Mt. Carmel Medical Center and residency train in otolaryngology at The Ohio State University Medical Center, both located in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Sinard then completed a fellowship in Head and neck Cranial Base Surgery at Vanderbilt in 1995 before joining the faculty at The University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
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David Haynes, M.D.
Dr. Haynes is the Director of the Neuro-otology program at Vanderbilt. He is a leading expert on the treatment of tumors of the skull base such as acoustic neuromas.
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Marc L. Bennett, M.D.
Dr. Bennett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. As part of the Otology Group of Vanderbilt, he sees patients at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Baptist Hospital, and St. Thomas Hospital. His research interest include auditory development and functional improvements in patients with vertigo. Dr. Bennett is Board Certified with the American Board of Otolaryngology (2006).
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Nurses and Physician Assistants
Tracy Reeves, B.S.N.
Mrs. Reeves has worked in the nursing profession for the past 17 years. She joined the Vanderbilt staff 11 years ago, working with patients who have neurological problems and diseases in both outpatient and inpatient settings. Currently, Tracy works in the Neurosurgery Clinic, specializing in patients with CNS tumors. In addition to assisting the physicians in the clinic, Tracy is responsible for patient/family education, pre and postoperative care and instructions, clinic visit and testing coordination as well as CNS Tumor Board contact. Tracy obtained her Associates in Nursing from Caldwell Community College in Hudson, North Carolina, and a Bacholer's in Nursing from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN.
Karen M. Brown, R.N., B.S.N.
Mrs. Brown has been a registered nurse for seven years. She graduated from the State University of New York College at Brockport in 2003 with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and a Minor in Biology. She has been practicing nursing in the Nashville area since graduating and has recently started at Vanderbilt this year. Her focus of practice has been in the perioperative setting with 5 years experience in the operating room. She now works in the outpatient neurosurgery clinic focusing on patients with brain tumors and is responsible for patient and family education, pre and post operative care, assisting Dr. Reid Thompson with clinic visits, testing coordination as well as CNS Tumor Board contact.
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Ryan Raburn PA-C
Ryan is originally from the Nashville area. He received his undergraduate degree from King College in Bristol, TN with a major in Biology. He obtained his Physician Assistant training from Trevecca Nazarene University where he graduated in 2007. He spent the first two years, following graduation, working for an Ortho-Spine surgeon with a large Orthopaedic group in Huntsville, AL. He has since moved back to the Nashville area to work with Dr. Allen Sills.
