Medical Student
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
My name is Mr. Tritan Plute, BS and I currently attend the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. I have been interested in neurosurgery since I was junior in high school; however, my true interest began to develop when I attended a talk by Dr. Brian Jankowitz during my early undergrad years at University of Pittsburgh. Since then, I have been pursing a career in the field with enthusiasm. I have expereince in basic neuroscience, computational neuroscience, neuro-oncology, and clinical neurosurgery reseach. Following some experience in basic neurosicience research during undergrad, I became involved in functional neurosurgery research. I conducted computational brain mapping students with the neurology team at Pitt and Dr. Dennis Spencer at Yale. This interest led me to undertake a functional neurosurgery summer fellowship under Dr. Andrew Ko of University of Washington for which I was awarded the Arthur Mirsky award for clinical science by my home instittuition. During my time in Washington, I became interested in other neurosurgical fields and began to explore skull base, vascular, and oncology neurosurgery. This interest spurred my decision to undertake a research year in the UPMC department of neurosurgery. I am currently on research year and am conducting both basic and translational neuro-oncology research along with clinical neurosurgerical research. I have had the honor to be mentored by amazing attendings, PIs, and reseidents during my time. Most totably, I have learned from Dr. Paul Gardner, Dr. Zachary Gersey, and Dr. Hussam Abou-Al-Shaar. I am currently working on developing a molecular model for chordoma as well as investigatign the feasibility of liquid biopsy for the detection of relevant markers in chordoma. Clinically, I have worked on projects involving gamma knife radiosurgery, skull base pituitary treatments, optimization of endovascular therapies, and trends in academic neurosurgery. Aside from my research interests, I also engage with the neurosurgical world by serving as course coordinator of my medical school's neurosurgery elective course run by Dr. Michael McDowell. Other interests of mine include medical education and training, therefore I aid prospective medical students through a proogram called "Giving a Boost" where I review applications and advise undergrads on strategies for entering medical school. Additionally, I serve as a student interviewer for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. When I am not cultivating my skills and knowledge in neurosurgery, I enjoy running, watching movies, hiking, playing video games, and spending time with friends.