Mischer Neuroscience Institute


The Mischer Neuroscience Institute is the academic teaching hospital for the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Neurology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. Located in Houston, the Institute draws patients from around the world for specialized treatment of diseases of the brain and spine. It was the first center in Texas and one of only a few institutions in the country to fully integrate neurology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, spine surgery, pain medicine and neurorehabilitation.

Specialties

As the first stroke program in Texas to meet The Joint Commission’s rigorous standards for Comprehensive Stroke Center certification, the Institute stands among an elite group of providers focused on complex stroke care. This comprehensive, integrated approach led to the creation of the Southwest's leading epilepsy program, a highly ranked neurotrauma program, a cerebrovascular center where affiliated physicians treat more aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations than any other center in the region, an established pediatric neurosurgery program in collaboration with Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, a spinal neurosurgery and reconstructive peripheral nerve surgery program and a Brain Tumor Center where physicians diagnose and treat hundreds of new tumor patients each year. Affiliated physicians are also innovators in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, movement disorders, neurocognitive disorders, memory disorders and dementia, neuromuscular disorders, chronic pain and traumatic brain injury.

Innovation at the Institute

Mischer Neuroscience Institute has a strong history of firsts:
Through its affiliation with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, Mischer Neuroscience Institute offers both neurosurgery and neurology residencies and fellowships. Residents and fellows benefit from participation in cutting-edge research and caring for patients with a broad range of neurological disorders in the nation's largest medical center.
The Neurosurgery Residency Program is a seven-year program that accepts three PGY residents per year. Residents are individually mentored, evaluated and promoted, and are also regularly asked to evaluate the program and participate in its continual improvement. The program offers one of the largest neurosurgical caseloads in the United States, with more than 4,600 surgical cases per year. Neurosurgical fellowships include cerebrovascular/skull base, neurocritical care, neuroendovascular surgery, stroke and interventional stroke track, multiple sclerosis, movement disorders, neuro-oncology, neuromuscular, epilepsy and spinal and peripheral nerve surgery.
The Department of Neurology provides medical education opportunities in clinical neurology at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels of training. The Neurology Residency Training Program prepares physicians for the independent practice of neurology. Neurological fellowships are available in clinical neurophysiology, vascular neurology, epilepsy, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis/neurovirology, neuroimmunology and neuropsychology.

Research

Physicians affiliated with Mischer Neuroscience Institute and McGovern Medical School are engaged in research program focused on the mechanisms, treatment and cure of neurological disease and injury. Research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Vivian L. Smith Foundation for Neurologic Disease, the American Stroke Association and other granting agencies. Investigations cover all major areas of neurological disease.

Telemedicine

The UTHealth Telemedicine Program joins a network of hospitals working together to deliver comprehensive neurological and neurosurgical care to communities across Texas. At the Mischer Neuroscience Institute hub, physicians provide 24/7 stroke consultations, as well as consults for other conditions, for hospitals in the network.

UTHealth Neurosciences Clinics

UTHealth Neurosciences outpatient clinics are located both in the Texas Medical Center and throughout the Greater Houston area. The clinics provide 24/7 neuroscience coverage to the city of Houston and outlying suburbs and communities. Clinics are located in the Texas Medical Center, Cypress, Houston's Greater Heights, Humble, Katy, Memorial City, Pearland, Southeast Houston, Southwest Houston and Sugar Land.

Directors

Neurosurgeon Dong Kim is director of Mischer Neuroscience Institute and professor and chair of the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. Kim is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. His internship at Harvard University was followed by residency at UCSF and fellowship in cerebrovascular surgery and skull base tumors at the University of Florida. He has been honored with numerous awards and was named to U.S. News & World Report Top Doctors, America's Best Doctors, America's Top Surgeons, Marquis Who's Who and Who's Who in America. He is the recipient of grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Stroke Association and has authored studies published in peer-reviewed journals.
Louise McCullough is co-director of Mischer Neuroscience Institute. McCullough received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology, Master of Arts in experimental psychology and PhD in neuroscience at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. After receiving her medical degree at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, she completed neurology training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was chief neurology resident. She completed a fellowship in cerebrovascular disease/neurology and anesthesiology at the same institution. McCullough is a physician-scientist with a longstanding interest in vascular physiology, neuro-inflammation, cerebrovascular disease, sex differences in stroke and aging. A practicing vascular neurologist, she has clinical expertise in stroke prevention, acute stroke treatment, sex differences in stroke and outcome assessment. Recognized with numerous awards during her clinical and academic career and named to Best Doctors® continuously since 2007, she is professor and chair of the Department of Neurology and heads the Cerebrovascular Research Group at McGovern Medical School.