July 6, 2009 — Matthew G. Ewend, M.D., director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center program in neuro-oncology, received the Alumni Achievement Award from the ewendcyber2Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Neurosurgery.
The award, which is presented in conjunction with the office of the dean, recognizes distinguished achievement in the field. Ewend is the fifth recipient of this award, joining renowned neurosurgeon Irving J. Sherman (for whom a research professorship at Johns Hopkins is named), Hugo V. Rizzoli, chair of neurosurgery at George Washington University, George Udvarhelyi, emeritus professor of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, James Campbell, a noted leader in functional neurosurgery, and Edward R. Laws, Jr., director of neuroendocrinology at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Ewend is the chief of the division of neurosurgery in the department of surgery and holds the Kay M. & Van L. Weatherspoon Distinguished Professorship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
He is board certified in neurological surgery and his clinical focus is in multidisciplinary clinical neuro-oncology with a focus on brain tumors, pituitary tumors, pediatric neurosurgery, brain and spinal metastases and minimally invasive surgery. He earned his M.D. and completed his residency in neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University.
His research interests include the development of new treatments for metastatic and primary brain tumors. He has a particular interest in the use of local therapy for treatment of brain metastases and has published both preclinical and clinical work translating these laboratory findings into the patient setting. He has been the principle investigator for two multicenter studies utilizing local chemotherapy as a strategy for isolated brain metastases. Dr. Ewend has also been a key contributor to the UNC vascular imaging laboratory which has worked to use tumor vessel size and shape as a marker for tumor malignancy. This work has been performed in conjunction with Dr. Elizabeth Bullitt in the CASILAB.
Clinically, Dr. Ewend has strong interest in endoscopic skull base surgery and in surgical and radiosurgical treatment of brain metastases. Partnering with ENT surgeons, Dr. Ewend has performed over 300 endoscopic skull base surgeries for resections of meningiomas, craniopharygiomas, pituitary adenomas, and other pathology of the anterior skull base. In addition, Dr. Ewend is the co-director of the UNC CyberKnife.