User:RavishPatwardhan

Ravish Patwardhan, M.D.

Dr. Ravish Patwardhan is Founder & Director of The Comprehensive Neurosurgery Network, LLC

Born:	1971 (age 38) Nagpur, India

Citizenship:	United States of America

Ethnicity:	Indian

Fields:	Neurosurgery, Neurology, Neuroscience, Back Pain, Radiculopathy

Institutions:	Presently in various institutions in Northwest Louisiana; Founder & Director, Comprehensive Neurosurgery Network, LLC; Founder & Director, Interactive Neuroscience Center, LLC (for Innovative Research & Development); Founder & President, Re-Vitalize Foundation (for Philanthropic activities)

Alma mater:	John F. Kennedy High School, La Palma, California; University of California, Riverside (U.C. Riverside) – Undergraduate; University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.) – Medical School

Known for:	Minimally-invasive and highly specialized neurosurgery for brain and spine-related problems;General neurosurgery for brain, spine, and peripheral nerve problems; Innovative research with several patents filed, pending; Philanthropic involvement on local and global level; Capital project investments for betterment of community.

Notable awards:	NCAA Academic-Athletic Award, 1990; Distinguished Young Alumnus Award, U.C. Riverside, 2006; Young Professional of the Year, 40-under-40, Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, 2007; Outstanding Small Business of the Year, Shreveport, 2009 Dr. Ravish Patwardhan (born in 1971) is a neurosurgeon and Founder & Director of The Comprehensive Neurosurgery Network, LLC, in Shreveport, La. He has performed several thousand operations for brain, spine, and peripheral nerve related problems, including highly specialized, minimally invasive, and technically challenging cases. He was the first neurosurgeon in the world to successfully reroute nerves following a gunshot wound to the spine, to restore bladder restoration function (2008). He was also the first neurosurgeon in the United States to perform an awake laser ablation of a brain tumor, using the novel Visualase minimally invasive laser system in conjunction with the NAV device (the latter of which he developed).

Background and education: Dr. Ravish Patwardhan was born in Nagpur, India. His parents were Captain Vinay Patwardhan and Mrs. Alka Patwardhan. He spent his childhood partly on a ship, as his father was a ship captain. His parents taught him on the ship intermittently, while attending school on land in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In 1981, in pursuit of the American dream, his parents moved him and his younger brother Ashish to Los Angeles, where he completed his schooling. He attended U.C. Riverside’s accelerated Biomedical Sciences Program in 1989, which allowed approximately 24 students out of the 300+ accepted in the first year to enter U.C.L.A. Medical School in three years (instead of the routine four). While at U.C. Riverside, Dr. Patwardhan requested and was granted permission to add Electrical Engineering as a second major; he completed all but the final year of this major, since he was accepted to medical school early and chose to go. While at U.C. Riverside, he was a member of the NCAA Division II Cross Country Team, which qualified for the NCAA National Championships. He was awarded the NCAA All-Conference academic and athletic award given by the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

There were no physicians in his family, but his grandfather, Dr. Shankar Patwardhan, came very close to becoming a medical doctor. An orphan who placed first-class-first in a highly competitive school during the time of British rule in India, Dr. Shankar Patwardhan was suspended for protesting the British government’s rule by wearing the homespun cloth propagated by Gandhi. From the day he received the letter of acceptance into medical school, Dr. Patwardhan was determined to become a neurosurgeon. After medical school he became a neurosurgery resident at the University of Alabama. He later became Chief Resident of Neurosurgery at Louisiana State University.

Career Accomplishments: After completing his residency, Dr. Patwardhan became Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. He subsequently founded Comprehensive Neurosurgery Network, LLC, an independent solo private practice based out of Willis-Knighton Health System (Louisiana’s largest hospital system) in Shreveport, La. He expanded his staff three-fold in three years, and provided general and highly specialized treatment for neurological disorders of the brain, spine, and peripheral nerves. This practice has become one of the busiest practices of its kind in the nation. Dr. Patwardhan was the first in the world to reroute a nerve for bladder function restoration following a gunshot wound to the spine, performed in a child (in collaboration with Dr. Xiao, a Chinese urologist who pioneered the technique in animal models). Dr. Patwardhan was also the first in North America to perform a novel laser procedure to eradicate a brain tumor. He is highly skilled and professionally trained in some of the latest neurosurgical techniques, including the mentioned techniques, awake brain mapping, epilepsy surgery, and deep brain stimulation. Patwardhan also founded The Interactive Neuroscience Center (LLC) in 2007, which remains on the forefront of neurological research and development. He has presented at 40 conferences and professional meetings covering issues such as functional imaging and electrostimulation for neurosurgical treatment, head trauma, vagus nerve stimulation, brain tumors, deep brain stimulation, and epilepsy. He has published articles in numerous peer reviewed journals.

Awards and honors: Dr. Patwardhan is recipient of a number of noteworthy awards and honors including: o	NCAA All-Conference Academic and Athletic Award o	Alpha Omega Alpha research fellowship from the UCLA School of Medicine o	Two “Best Poster at Meeting” awards at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) 2004 annual meeting. o	Recipient of the Cone Pevehouse M.D. award for best abstract submitted by a resident by AANS. o	He has been named Northwest Louisiana Young Professional of the Year (2007) and his practice has been named Small Business of the Year by the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce in 2009. o	He was also recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award by the University of California Riverside in 2006.

Philanthropy,Volunteer, and Community Service: Dr. Patwardhan is also deeply involved in public service. In 2006, he founded Re-Vitalize Philanthropic Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to facilitate medical care to the underserved members of the community, and work with other organizations to transform underprivileged neighborhoods worldwide. Re-Vitalize has worked with educational institutions, spiritually-oriented organizations, and benefactor companies. He is also involved in local partnerships and capital projects that build lodgings to accommodate families of patients hospitalized at Level I Trauma Center in Shreveport. In 2009, he was an invited member to the Clinton Global Initiative, where he presented a proposal partnerning Re-Vitalize with Mack McCarter of Community Renewal International.

Novel Procedures: First in the world: Successful “Nerve rerouting for bladder function restoration seven years after a gunshot wound to the spine” in collaboration with Dr. Chuan-Guo Xiao from China. First in North America: “Awake Visualase laser ablation of brain tumor” in conjunction with Visualase, Inc. from Houston, Texas.

Patent Applications Submitted: (1) "Carotid sinus nerve stimulation for epilepsy control." Patwardhan RV, Tubbs RS; Provisional patent filed 2000; University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, Alabama. (2) "A device for brain stimulation for epilepsy control"; Patwardhan RV, Besio WG; Provisional patent filed October 2003; Final patent pending, 2004; Shreveport, Louisiana. (3) “A novel, simple device for accurate placement of intracranial objects”; Patwardhan RV; The Interactive Neuroscience Center, LLC—Pending provisional patent filed 2007.