Scott had a surgery in October of 2023 to remove a clog in his stomach. The procedure was done through a small incision in his left arm where the surgeon accessed Scott’s radial artery to put a stent in one of the arteries that supplies his intestines. The surgery was...

Neurosurgical oncologist Dr. Dominique Higgins was invited to participate as a moderator for a session of the Christopher Davidson Forum for Brain Tumor Research hosted by Washington University in St. Louis. The conference consisted of keynote speakers considered to be leaders in the field of brain tumor treatment. The forum...

“Part of this subspecialty that I enjoy is the rapidly evolving advancements in minimally invasive treatment for patients, which is why I have a large interest in focused ultrasound.” – Dr. Nicole Silva UNC Neurosurgery residents are strongly encouraged to develop clinical, translational or basic science research interests during their...

Focused ultrasound treatment at UNC Health allowed Frank, a patient diagnosed with essential tremor, to play guitar for his wife for the first time ever. Frank noticed what he described as “nerves” in his hands in his 20’s. As it progressively got worse, he could no longer play the guitar....

Kristi Hildebrand, PNP-AC, pediatric nurse practitioner in the Department of Neurosurgery at UNC Health, has been selected as the Advanced Practice Provider Supervisor for Children’s Surgery. Kristi has worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner with UNC Health’s pediatric neurosurgery team since 2016. She has a passion for working with this...

“No one prepared me to get better from the pain that I had for eight years.” Hilary worked as a paramedic, loved to run, and spent most of her time up on her feet. But after she rolled her ankle on the job, her life changed forever. Since her injury,...

UNC Health has become the first hospital in the state of North Carolina to offer Omniscient Neurotechnology’s Quicktome, an FDA-cleared precision brain mapping platform designed to visualize a patient’s unique brain networks prior to life-changing surgery. The first surgery was performed by neurosurgical oncologist Dr. Dominique Higgins. Dr. Higgins’s clinical...

“Dad, after you go to the doctor, will you be able to play with me more?” For two years, Arnulfo experienced a gradual decrease in his eye sight, specifically his peripheral vision. He thought that the vision change was due to aging. But Arnulfo continued to struggle with his worsening...

Dr. Cheerag Upadhyaya has been selected as Chair Elect of the Scoliosis Research Society’s (SRS) Health Policy Committee, and will be appointed as Chair in 2026. SRS is one of the world’s premier spine societies and is a leading global platform for sharing and disseminating new knowledge of spinal deformity....

Medical Illustrator Mark Schornak, MS, CMI has been inducted as a fellow at the Association of Medical Illustrators national conference in July in recognition of his years of service to the organization.   The designation of Fellow is a formal recognition of Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) members who have made...