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October 19, 2023

Charting the Brain, in Great Detail | Dr. Garni Barkhoudarian & Josh Emerson

by Anthony Effinger

The Think Neuro podcast from Pacific Neuroscience Institute takes you into the clinic, operating room and laboratory with doctors and surgeons who are tackling the most challenging brain diseases and disorders. Host: Anthony Effinger

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Episode 48: Show Notes

When he’s not being a world-class neurosurgeon caring for patients with brain or pituitary tumors, Dr. Garni Barkhoudarian trains younger surgeons on the science and art of neurosurgery. As director of the Neuroanatomical Skills / Microdissection Anatomy Lab, he advances the procedures and technology used for minimally invasive surgery. Neurosurgeons can enter PNI’s fellowship program, and research fellows from around the world can learn these advanced techniques taking them into their practices and back to their home countries.

In college, Josh Emerson wanted to study the neuroanatomy of whales and dolphins, but when he realized he’d have to spend time on boats he switched to human neuroanatomy instead. A talented artist, he often doodled the things he studied. One day, he drew a human spinal cord, complete with a herniated disk. A visiting surgeon looked over his shoulder, took out a $100 bill, handed it to him and told him to see a colleague about doing more medical illustrations. Emerson has never looked back.

A medical illustrator for over two decades he is the Microdissection Lab Manager at PNI, where he works closely with Dr. Barkhoudarian. Josh has moved on from pen and ink to computer-aided animation. Listen to this podcast to learn how this pair works together to map some of the smallest, most important structures in the human body.

About Dr. Barkhoudarian

Garni Barkhoudarian, MD
Garni Barkhoudarian, MD

Garni Barkhoudarian, MD, FAANS, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained neurosurgeon with a focus on skull base and minimally invasive endoscopic surgery. Dr. Barkhoudarian has particular interest and expertise in pituitary and parasellar tumors, brain tumors, skull-base tumors (including meningiomas, craniopharyngiomas, chordomas and schwannomas), intra-ventricular brain tumors, colloid cysts, trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm and other vascular compression syndromes.

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About the Author

Anthony Effinger

Anthony Effinger

Think Neuro's host is Anthony Effinger, an award-winning journalist who is fascinated with neuroscience and the workings of the brain. Anthony spent 24 years at Bloomberg News, where he covered all aspects of finance, with forays into science and health. In 2006, the Association of Health Care Journalists awarded him first prize for Playing the Odds, an in-depth piece on the changing strategies used to treat prostate cancer. These days, he is a staff writer at Willamette Week, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper in Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Last updated: March 20th, 2024