Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor emeritus
Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Dennis Spencer, MD, Ma(hon), FACS, FAES
Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor, Emeritus
Chairman ,Emeritus, Department of Neurosurgery
Co-Director Clinical Neuroscience Neuro-analytics (YNN)
Yale University School of Medicine
Dr. Spencer is the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor and Chair emeritus of the Department of Neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine. He is a graduate of Washington University School of Medicine and completed his neurosurgical residency at Yale in 1977. He joined the Yale neurosurgery faculty following his residency, and became Chief of neurosurgery in 1987. He has an international reputation in the surgical treatment of neurological diseases causing epilepsy and developed a widely used neocortical sparing surgical approach for patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
His research has brought together basic scientists and clinicians around a program concerning energetics, glutamate metabolism and the neurobiological study of human epileptogenic tissue. Study techniques have included 7T MRS, C13 intraoperative glucose turnover studies, and in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology and microdialysis, and immunohistochemistry. Laboratory discoveries are correlated with the epileptogenic substrate.
Most recent research has involved understanding the concept of networks in focal epilepsy, which has led to the development of devices for epilepsy such as the multimodal Neuroprobe to replace the standard EEG depth electrode(measuring O2,T,ICP,EEG,and in the future small molecules-neurochemicals),brain cooling, brain computer interface using wireless transmission, seizure prediction and the Yale Brain Atlas for parcellated multimodal communication. His clinical research includes the evolution of intracranial studies emphasizing combined neocortical and depth analysis.
Dr. Spencer was recipient of the 1999 American Epilepsy Society’s Research Award in Clinical Investigation, and the 2006 Society of Neurological Surgeons’ Grass Award for Excellence in Research. He is past Chairman of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, past President of the Society of Neurological Surgeons, past Vice Chairman of the Neurosurgery Residency Review Committee for Neurosurgery, and past President of the American Epilepsy Society. He served as interim Dean of the Yale School of Medicine 2003-2004.
(SS#VII) Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgery
Saturday, April 22, 2023
1:36pm – 2:01pm PST
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose