Surgeon

Dr. Lazar is a board certified neurosurgeon who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of complex spinal disorders, minimally invasive spine surgery, neuro-oncology, Gamma Knife radiosurgery and skull-base surgery. He evaluates and treats his patients as individuals, employing state-of-the-art diagnostic and surgical techniques to provide the best outcome possible. He strives to be available for his patients to support them and their families through the challenges of neurological diseases.

Dr. Houston, a board certified neurosurgeon, uses state-of-the-art technology to surgically correct a patient’s problem when the patient has not responded to non-surgical care, such as physical therapy and epidural steroid injections. He has performed over 4,000 spine surgeries to correct common conditions, such as cervical, thoracic and lumbar herniated discs, stenosis, spondylolisthesis, fracture, low back pain and sciatica.

Dr. Jason S. Hauptman is an associate professor of neurological surgery and a board-certified pediatric neurosurgeon. He is a staff neurosurgeon at both Seattle Childrens Hospital and Harborview Medical Center. He dedicates a significant portion of his clinical practice to the surgical management of epilepsy, both in children (Seattle Children’s Hospital) and adults (Harborview Medical Center).

Robert H. Bonow grew up in Chicago before attending college at Cornell University and medical school at Tufts University. Prior to entering neurosurgery training, he conducted basic science research into neuroinflammation at the NIH. He joined the University of Washington as a resident in Neurological Surgery in 2012, graduating in 2019. During his training, he developed an interest in neurotrauma and neurocritical care, and was a recipient of the Codman Neurotrauma research fellowship in 2016.

Dr. Zhang completed his residency training in neurological surgery at the UW. He also completed a joint orthopedic and neurosurgery spine fellowship at the UW before becoming a faculty member in neurosurgery at the University of Texas in Houston in 2006. He returned to Seattle and joined the faculty in 2009. 

Dr. Silbergeld is the Arthur A. Ward Jr. professor of neurological surgery and is based at the UW Medical Center. He is also an adjunct professor of pathology. He specializes in tumors of the central nervous system, pituitary tumors, epilepsy surgery and radiosurgery with the Gamma Knife. He is board certified in neurological surgery. 

His research program focuses on gliomas, a type of brain tumor, and on methods to break the blood/brain barrier to deliver chemotherapy to malignant brain tumors.

Dr. Sekhar is known around the world for his expertise in treating complex neurosurgical problems, particularly skull base tumors, such as acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, chordomas and complex brain tumors. He is also an expert in the treatment of brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformation, and the performance of brain bypasses. 

Dr. Ravanpay practices general neurosurgery covering brain tumors, spine disorders and peripheral neuropathies at the Seattle Veterans Affairs Hospital and Harborview Medical Center.

Dr. Ravanpay earned his Bachelor’s degree from University of California, Berkeley (Dual major in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Near Eastern Studies). He completed the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at University of Washington, earning dual M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. He completed his neurological surgery internship and residency at University of Washington.

Dr. Ojemann is Vice-Chair for Discovery and Professor in the UW Department of Neurological Surgery. He earned his MD and completed a residency in neurosurgery as well as a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He also served as epilepsy surgery fellow at the University of Washington. Dr. Ojemann’s clinical focus is on the surgical treatment of epilepsy and tumors near the eloquent cortex along with general pediatric neurosurgery.  

Michael Levitt, M.D. is a professor of neurological surgery and radiology and an adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington. Dr. Levitt graduated summa cum laude from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, completed his neurological surgery residency at the University of Washington and completed additional fellowship training in endovascular neurosurgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. Dr.