Dr. Robert Solomon (left) with Dr. Michael Sisti

From right to left, Dr. Michael Kaiser, Dr. Christopher Winfree, & Dr. Robert Solomon

More than 90 members of our staff attended our Holiday party this year at  Dylan Prime restaurant in New York City.

Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to relax in good company and to celebrate all the years’ achievements.

Our webmaster Greta Perovic did a wonderful job organizing the event. Everyone had a ball.

Here’s to another year!

Dr. Anthony D'Ambrosio (seated in white)

Meet Dr. Anthony D’Ambrosio from Columbia Neurosurgery on Vimeo.

Learn more about this new series and see our first one here: Meet Dr. Michael Sisti on Video 

Stay tuned for our next video…

From Left: Dr. Kaiser, John Collins, Pat Kennelly & Kevin Collins

The Valley Hospital’s annual Golf Outing was held under sunny skies this past Monday at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ.  There were 184 golfers who enjoyed lunch on the patio, a wonderful day of golf, putting and pink ball contests, and a silent auction during cocktails and dinner!

Many awards were presented at the outing including the 3rd Net team prize of Greg Norman Pullovers that went to John Collins, Dr. Michael Kaiser from the Spine Center, Kevin Collins and Pat Kennelly (all pictured at left).

There were also prizes for Longest Drive, Closest to the Hole, 1st & 2nd Gross, 1st – 9th Net, Individual Gross, and the Putting Contest. The event was sponsored by The Valley Hospital Auxiliary to benefit the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unit and Valley Home Care’s Maternal Child Health Program.

From left: Dr. D'Ambrosio, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Link & Dr. Lavine

Also joining in on the fun were New Jersey Affiliates Dr. Anthony D’Ambrosio & Dr. Timothy Link along with Dr. Richard Anderson from the Pediatric Neurosurgery Center & Dr. Sean Lavine from the Endovascular Center (all pictured at right).

Dr. D'Ambrosio, Dr. Anderson, & Dr. Lavine at the Tournament

Always willing to help out, a few of our Docs played in the 2011 Golf Tournament for Denan at the Apple Ridge Country Club in Mahwah, New Jersey last week.

The Denan Project is a nonprofit, grassroots organization whose volunteer members secure the necessary resources to provide free medical care, potable water, agricultural training, education, and other critical services for the people of Denan, Ethiopia and the surrounding villages, and to other impoverished communities in the developing world. Working with regional government and nongovernmental agencies, its ultimate goal is to make specific communities in these areas self-reliant by developing and implementing long-term, sustainable solutions.www.thedenanproject.org

Good work guys!

He also co-authored the preface and two articles in this issue:  With Dr. Steven Isaacson from the Gamma Knife Center he wrote, Radiosurgical Management of Brain Metastases; and with resident Dr. Christopher Kellner he wrote, Surgical Management of Brain Metastases.

Also of note, Dr. Paul McCormick from the Spine Center is a consulting editor for this journal.

To learn more see Neurosurgery Clinics of North America,Volume 22, Issue 1, Pages 1-110 (January 2011). You can also read the preface of that issue written by Dr. D’Ambrosio and Dr. Ganesh Rao.

Their paper, Relationship between Symptoms and Secondary Gain in Work- Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury was presented during the CNS Original Science Program.

Their research was also published in the August issue of Neurosurgery.

*Co-authors also included: Samuel S. Bruce, Carl Valenziano, and Dr. Anthony D’Ambrosio

On Tuesday night, Dr. D’Ambrosio, of the Brain Tumor Center, Gamma Knife Center, and Spine Center, organized an event at AANS for the young members in the community.  It included good food and drink; the guest speaker Dr. Henry Brem, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, who created a hillarious home-made video for the event; a number of our doctors; and a good time for all who came.

Dr. D’Ambrosio’s practice is devoted to brain tumors, skull base tumors, meningiomas, acoustic neuromas, pituitary tumors, microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm, cerebral aneurysm treatment, degenerative spine disease, and intervertebral disc disease.

He uses state-of-the-art technology such as frameless image guidance systems, awake craniotomy, and stereotactic radiosurgery (i.e. GammaKnife, BrainLab, Tomotherapy) for the treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors.  He has particular expertise in the use of endoscopic techniques to remove complex intracranial tumors at the base of the brain.

Dr. D’Ambrosio directs our Northern New Jersey practice based in Ridgewood, NJ.  He is the Director of Neuro-Oncology – Disease Management Team at the Luckow Cancer Center of The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ.  Dr. D’Ambrosio is also the Director of Neurosciences for the St. Joseph’s Healthcare System in Paterson and Wayne, NJ.  He sees patients at The Valley Hospital, St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital, Chilton Memorial Hospital, and Mountainside Hospital.  With his main office in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Dr. D’Ambrosio has helped to establish a center of excellence for Columbia Neurosurgery in the communities of Bergen, Passiac and Essex counties.