Michael C. Dewan, MD, MSCI
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Global Health Topics: Neuro-Oncology, Hydrocephalus/Spina Bifida, Neurosurgical Capacity-Building, Epidemiology of Neurologic Diseases
Michael Dewan MD, MSCI is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt (MCJCHV) and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). He is the Surgical Director of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program and the Pediatric Neuro-Vascular Program. He also serves as the Academic Director of the Global Neurosurgery Program. In 2016 he co-founded the Global Neurosurgery Initiative within the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard Medical School, which is now a leading center for international neurosurgical collaboration, advocacy, and scientific progress. He has developed surgical educational modules for neurosurgeons in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), now being used in more than a dozen countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. His expertise in the treatment of childhood brain tumors and neurovascular disorders have informed ongoing and completed multicenter clinical studies. His extensive experience in the endoscopic management of hydrocephalus and the treatment of congenital neurologic defects, and his development of a research platform to improve outcomes, have fueled an international consortium of centers addressing these conditions in LMICs. Dr. Dewan maintains active research and capacity-building collaborations with partners in more than a dozen countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Throughout, he has mentored numerous medical students and residents in funded research initiatives successfully culminating in publications and trainee advancement.
Education:
BS, University of Notre Dame
MD, Yale Medical School
MSCI, Vanderbilt University
Training:
Resident, Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical School
Fellow, Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Chief Fellow, Pediatric Neurosurgery, University of Toronto
Kathryn Edwards was rushed into emergency surgery at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt after being found unresponsive at home. After a year of chemo and radiation, Kat was suffering from treatment complications for a brain tumor on her optic nerve. Michael Dewan, MD, MSCI, assistant professor of Neurological Surgery, Surgical Director of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program and Associate Vice Chair of Global Surgery, was on-call that evening and performed life-saving surgery. Dr. Dewan would later perform five additional brain surgeries to help Kat survive and thrive. Kat and her family share their experience and encourage others to support brain tumor research and donate to the Global Neurosurgery Program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Neurologic diseases are among the most disabling and burdensome conditions affecting low-resourced populations. Dr. Dewan and his team are dedicated to improving outcomes for children with brain tumors and increasing access to neurosurgical care for patients worldwide. In response to the urgent need for brain tumor care, Dr. Dewan is working with partners in underserved parts of the world to build a global brain tumor collaborative – the first of its kind for children.
Featured Publications
- Global Neurosurgery: the current capacity and deficit in the provision of essential neurosurgical care; Executive Summary of the Global Neurosurgery Initiative at the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change
- Subspecialty pediatric neurosurgery training: a skill-based training model for neurosurgeons in low-resourced health systems
- The CURE Protocol: evaluation and external validation of a new public health strategy for treating paediatric hydrocephalus in low-resource settings
- Estimating the global incidence of traumatic brain injury
- Global hydrocephalus: epidemiology and incidence