Barry Jay Levin

Shih-Chun (David) Lin, M.D., is a neurosurgeon with Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery in Bethesda, Maryland, as well as an associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Lin offers neurosurgical care to patients with brain or spine diseases. He was the first to introduce several procedures to Suburban Hospital, including endoscopic pituitary surgery, endoscopic extended skull base surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery, neurosurgical complex spinal instrumentation surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery and microvascular decompression for cranial nerve compression syndrome, such as trigeminal neuralgia. He also has clinical expertise in MRI- and CT-guided surgical navigation. Dr. Lin typically treats brain tumors, spinal tumors, pituitary tumors, spinal stenosis, herniated intervertebral disc, skull base tumors, encephalocele, and skull base CSF leak (rhinorrhea or otorrhea). Dr. Lin graduated first place from National Taiwan University College of Medicine, earning his medical degree at the age of 21, the youngest in Taiwan’s history. He then served as a medical/surgical officer in the 206th Infantry Division for the Taiwan Army. He received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University, awarded Phi Beta Kappa and Paul Ehrlich Research Award for his academic and research achievements. Dr. Lin completed his neurosurgical residency at Stanford University Medical Center, where he gained experience in the latest surgical technologies, such as endoscopic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, computer-guided surgical navigation and stereotactic radiosurgery. His research using optogenetics, from his fellowship at Stanford, was awarded by The Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Lin is a member of the Suburban Hospital Tumor Board. He has worked on several system innovation and quality improvement efforts at Suburban Hospital, such as standardizing critical care protocols for post-operative care for patients undergoing pituitary surgery and establishing MRI protocols for patients implanted with spinal cord stimulators or cardiac pacemakers. Dr. Lin is also a fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Lin has earned numerous awards, such as the Teaching Excellence Award for Stanford University School of Medicine, the Service Excellence Award for Suburban Hospital, Best Consulting Physicians at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Surgeon of the Year Award at Suburban Hospital, and was named one of America's Top Surgeons for Consumers' Research Council of America, Washingtonian Top Doctors, and Bethesda Magazine Top Doctors. Dr. Lin's research interests are in optogenetics, investigating mechanisms behind epilepsy control and glial cell reaction to pathologic conditions. He has contributed to numerous publications and lectures.

Dr. Comair is an internationally recognized neurosurgeon and sees patients for a wide range of neurosurgical needs. He offers surgical therapy for diseases of the brain and spine and has pioneered awake craniotomies for the resection of intrinsic brain tumors. His surgical expertise also includes epilepsy surgery, deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor, trigeminal neuralgia surgery, radiosurgery, and treatment for hydrocephalus and herniated disc repair. Dr. Comair received his medical degree from St. Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon, and completed his neurosurgery residency at Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University. He completed fellowship training in brain tumor and functional neurosurgery at Montreal Neurological Institute. He has held adjunct faculty appointments at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Comair has educated scores of neurosurgical trainees in the Middle East, North Africa region, and the U.S., authored more than 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals and two leading textbooks of neurosurgery. He contributed chapters to more than 40 textbooks. Dr. Comair has received multiple awards and recognitions and has been an invited visiting professor to the most prestigious neurosurgery centers. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Neurosurgery and a fellow of the royal college of surgeons of Canada. He serves on the board of directors of the World Society of Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery and has been elected to the pediatric epilepsy surgery committee of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). Dr. Comair has held several prominent academic and clinical positions throughout his career, including assistant professor of neurosurgery and head of the pediatric epilepsy surgery section in the Department of Neurosurgery at the UCLA School of Medicine; attending neurosurgeon and head of the section of epilepsy surgery in the Department of Neurosurgery for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; professor and chair of the Division of Neurosurgery at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon; and professor and vice-chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.