Juan C. Fernandez-Miranda, MD, FACS
Professor of Neurosurgery and, by Courtesy, of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Dr. Juan Fernandez-Miranda is Professor of Neurosurgery and Surgical Director of the Stanford Brain Tumor, Skull Base, and Pituitary Centers. He is internationally renowned for his expertise in minimally invasive brain surgery, endoscopic skull base and pituitary surgery, open skull base surgery, and complex brain tumor surgery. He has performed over a thousand endoscopic endonasal operations for pituitary tumors and other skull base lesions. He is highly regarded for his innovative contributions to the development and refinement of endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery, for his ability to select the most effective and less invasive approach to each individual patient, and for his precise knowledge of the intricate anatomy of the white matter tracts required to maximize resection and minimize morbidity on high and low grade glioma patients. 

Dr. Fernandez-Miranda completed neurosurgery residency at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, Spain. Upon completion of his residency, he was awarded the Sanitas Prize to the best medical postgraduate trainee in the country. From 2005 to 2007, he underwent fellowship training in microsurgical neuroanatomy at the University of Florida under legendary neurosurgeon Albert L. Rhoton, Jr. From 2007 to 2010 he continued subspecialty clinical training in cerebrovascular surgery at the University of Virginia, and endoscopic endonasal and open skull base surgery at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). During his 10-year tenure at UPMC, he pioneered endoscopic endonasal approaches to highly complex pituitary and skull base tumors, developed a world-class complex brain surgery program, and leaded a premier training and research program on surgical neuroanatomy and skull base surgery. 

In 2018, he was recruited to bring to Stanford his unique technical expertise and to collaborate with world-renowned Stanford colleagues across multiple disciplines to establish the preeminent center for comprehensive treatment of complex lesions in the brain, skull base, and pituitary regions. His top priority is to provide gentle, accurate, and safe surgery, in a team-based and compassionate approach to patient care.

Kumar Abhinav, MD
Clinical Instructor, Neurosurgery

Dr Abhinav obtained his medical degree from the Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College London, University of London.  During his medical training he also obtained an additional Bachelor of Science degree in Radiological Sciences. He undertook his neurosurgical training in Bristol and Plymouth and completed it in July 2017.  He was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in Neurosurgery in 2016.

 He also undertook an enfolded two year research fellowship towards the award of doctor of medicine as a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre. This period under the mentorship of Drs. Juan C Fernandez-Miranda and Robert Friedlander was funded by the prestigious Ellison-Cliffe Travelling fellowship award from the Royal Society of Medicine, London and the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute. During this placement in the surgical neuroanatomy and imaging laboratory, he built up expertise in detailed neurosurgical anatomy particularly those pertaining to the complex skull base regions. This work led to descriptions of surgically relevant endoscopic skull base anatomy. He also extensively investigated the use of advanced white matter imaging techniques in examining the structural connections in the normal brain and in pathologies like tumors and cavernous malformations. This information was used to devise least invasive neurosurgical approaches and obtain imaging markers for prognostication.

His research work has led to multiple peer reviewed publications and presentations at scientific meetings.

He has also contributed book chapters on skull base anatomy and is currently co-editing the Neurosurgery section of the Gray's Applied Surgical Anatomy (Elsevier) textbook, a major international project.

He is passionate about training and has published a well reviewed textbook for medical students and junior residents titled 'Rapid Neurology and Neurosurgery' (Wiley-Blackwell).

Dr Abhinav is currently pursuing a cerebrovascular fellowship and upon completion of his subspecialist fellowships intends to pursue a clinical academic career in cerebrovascular and skull base neurosurgery.

Sandip Panesar, MD, MSc
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neurosurgery

Sandip was born in London, United Kingdom and grew up in Hong Kong. He completed his medical training at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2010 before moving to London for foundation training in the London Deanery. He attained a master’s in clinical neuroscience at King’s College London, which he passed with distinction. His thesis was entitled “Multidisciplinary team management of cerebral metastases: recent trends and future implications,” supervised by Professor Keyoumars Ashkan MD. He moved to the United States in 2015 to join Dr. Fernandez-Miranda’s High Definition Fiber Tractography lab at the University of Pittsburgh, funded by a fellowship grant from the Pittsburgh Brain Institute. Here, he gained a detailed understanding of white matter anatomy and advanced neuroimaging techniques. He has numerous peer-reviewed publications in journals including Neurosurgery, Neuroimage, Frontiers in Neuroanatomy and the British Journal of Surgery and several book chapters on white matter anatomy. Aside from tractography, his research interests include clinical applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and surgery in adverse environments.