Overview
We at Neurosurgical Research Advancement Laboratory (NEURAL), advance the field of neurovascular, neurosurgery and neuromodulation by pioneering innovative and minimally invasive endovascular and neurosurgical approaches. By using cutting-edge catheter and imaging technologies, we are dedicated to find new treatments for complex neurovascular and neurosurgical diseases such as stroke, aneurysms, glioblastoma and neuropathic pain. As a truly multidisciplinary research team, our work lies at the intersection of the fields of cerebrovascular surgery, neurological, neurosurgical oncology, neuroengineering, and molecular biology.
In addition, we are available as a service center for an array of research and proof-of-concept studies. We work very closely with the Animal Resource Center’s veterinary staff to ensure smooth and efficient operation of protocols and research studies. We offer a complete fluoroscopic suite equipped with a state-of-the-art Siemens Cios Spin 3D system. To inquire about our services or have any questions, please email robgarci@utmb.edu.
News
April 15, 2025 - We published another article with Viz featuring their AI algorithm and Intracranial Hemorrhage in Neurosurgery! Congrats to the team!
March 21, 2025 - Congrats to Anthony Price for matching into Neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University!
January 17, 2025 - Just published a retrospective review of MMA embolization in nonagenarians with our collaborators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center!
January 13, 2025 - We were just awarded funding from the Innovation, Discovery & Technology Commercialization (IDEA) Grants Program for our neuromodulation project. Congrats to our team at BCM and Rice Engineering!
November 11, 2024 - We would like to announce that our NIH-funded research was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. Congrats to our collaborators at NeuroConnect and Rice Engineering! We are excited to continue this endeavor at UTMB Neurosurgery!
October 30, 2024 - Congrats to Sean O'Leary and Adam Husain for winning 1st and 2nd place at the 3rd Annual WE Summit on October 25, 2024. Each of them received a “Top Student Researcher Award for the Class of 2026”.
July 7, 2024 - Just published our microangioscopy paper in Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology (SVIN)!! This was a collaborative effort of Vena Medical, Medtronic, UPENN and UTMB Neurosurgery!!
April 1, 2024 - Just awarded the Trauma Research and Combat Casualty Care Collaborative (TRC4) grant for our BIO-CHESS project, which is a biorepository for the CHESS clinical trial. Congrats Dr. Kan and team!
March 15, 2024 - A heartfelt congrats to our first medical students and research associate at UTMB for matching into residency: Abhi Rao: Med-Peds at Indiana University, Ariadna Robledo: Internal Medicine at University of Miami, Viren Vasandani: Internal Medicine at Baylor Scott & White, and Aaron Luna: Neurosurgery at Tufts University. Truly a privilege and we can expect great things from all of you in the future!
March 10, 2024 - Congrats to Rice Engineering collaborator, Abdeali Dhuliyawalla, for presenting our joint research in his abstract entitled "Endocisternal Interfaces for Minimally Invasive Neural Stimulation" at the Neuroelectronic Interfaces Gordon Research Conference in Galveston, TX on March 10-15, 2024.
November 21, 2023 - Our abstract entitled "Estimation of Ventricular and Intracranial Hemorrhage Volumes and Midline Shift on an External Validation Dataset Using a Convolutional Neural Network Algorithm" was just accepted for presentation at the International Stroke Conference on February 7-9, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona! Congrats to Viz and the NEURAL team!
October 13, 2023 - Congrats to Adam Husain, MS2, for winning 2nd place at the 2nd Annual WE Summit for the Class of 2026. He will receive a “Top Student Researcher Award” at the WE Summit on October 14, 2023!
September 20, 2023 - Just awarded a UG3 grant for our Chronic Subdural Hematoma Treatment with Embolization versus Surgery Study (CHESS) clinical trial from the NIH/NINDS! This potentially will be a 5 year grant and means big things for the department! Congrats Dr. Kan!
August 22, 2023 - Our results involving ESIA therapy in a glioblastoma rabbit model was published in Neuro Oncology! You can read it here!! Congrats to the UTMB and MD Anderson Teams!
July 25, 2023 - Just announced that our MCAO collaborative project with Baylor College of Medicine was accepted for an Oral Presentation at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). Congrats team!
March 3, 2023 - We published another article with Viz featuring artificial intelligence analysis in cerebral aneurysms in the Journal of Neurosurgery! Congrats to everyone involved in this research!
January 15, 2023 - Congratulations to Adam Husain and Sean O'Leary for getting their abstracts accepted for virtual presentations at the 5th Annual Student Neurology & Neurosurgery Research Conference. Further congrats to Sean for winning Best Abstract in the Epilepsy category and Adam for winning Best Abstract in the Vascular category. This event was hosted by the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Awesome job, guys!
December 15, 2022 - Our research with MCB-613 therapy in a Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion rat model was published in Frontiers of Molecular Neuroscience! Congrats to the NEURAL team! Read about it here!
October 1, 2022 - Congrats to Sean O'Leary, MS2, for being selected as one of the top 3 student researchers for the Class of 2025. He will receive a “Top Student Researcher Award” at the WE Summit on October 8, 2022.
September 30, 2022 - Exciting news that our artificial intelligence research with Viz was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery! Congrats to everyone involved in this research! View the paper here!
March 31, 2022 - We would like to announce that our NIH-funded research was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. Congrats to our collaborative teams at UTHealth, NeuroConnect and Rice Engineering! We are excited to further develop this technology here at UTMB Neurosurgery! https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-022-00873-7
January 16, 2022 - Congratulations to Aaron and Viren for outstanding presentations at the SNRC 2022. A Special Congrats to Viren for winning Best Presentation in the Vascular Division!
January 8, 2022 - Congratulations to Aaron Luna and Viren Vasandani for getting their abstracts accepted for virtual presentations at the 4th Annual Student Neurology & Neurosurgery Research Conference. This event will be hosted by the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University on January 15, 2022. Great job, guys! https://brownneurosurgery.com/education/aans-student-chapter/