Dear NERVES Friends,

As I reflect on my time serving as President of NERVES, I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude and pride in what we have accomplished together. Over the past two years, our organization has continued to strengthen its role as a premier network for neurosurgical executives—advancing collaboration, elevating best practices, and fostering meaningful relationships across our field.

Together, we have expanded educational programming, deepened our strategic partnerships, and created new opportunities for members to share insights and drive innovation in both neurological care and practice management. From impactful annual meetings, our building the best conference, to the continued growth of our benchmarking and socio-economic initiatives, the work we have done is not only advancing our organizations but ultimately improving care for the patients we serve.

Help us welcome our new members to NERVES! The Regional Directors representing the Southeast, Northeast, West, South and North/Midwest regions would like to personally welcome you to our great professional organization. We are excited you have decided to join us and look forward to getting to know you!

Southeast

• Tammy Lynn Jackson, FirstHealth Neurosurgery, Pinehurst, NC
  
• Frances van Beek, Wellstar Health System, Atlanta, GA
• Maritza Alvarez, Memorial Healthcare System, Hollywood, FL 
• Amy C Poplin, Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic, Raleigh, NC

Northeast

• Melanie Lopez-Humann, Neurosurgery Service Line, Northwell Health, Huntington, NY 
• Shannon Gilgallon, Metropolitan Neurosurgery Associates, Englewood, NJ

West

• Brian Daniel Chavarin, Dignity Health Bakersfield Market, Bakerfield, CA 
• Alyssa Crosser, CommonSpirit Neurosurgery St Anthony, Lakewood, CO
  

South

• Carolina Guerra, TNSpine, San Antonio, TX
• Khrystal LeAnne Tucker, Fort Worth Brain and Spine Institute, LLP, Fort Worth, TX

North/Midwest

• Alan Dow, BJC Health, St. Louis, MO
• Ryan Dabelow, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, Avon, IN
• Nancy Mehrhoff, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO

The NERVES Nominating Committee would like to submit the following ballot of nominees for your consideration and support. Final voting by the membership will take place during our Annual Business meeting set for Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Kimpton Santo Hotel in San Antonio, TX.

2026-2027 Board Nominees

 
 2026-2027 Board, Liaisons, and Committee Chairs

Here are the top conversations from last quarter in the List Serv.  You can read the full threads by visiting:

Member’s Home Page → My Profile → My Features → E-Lists → NERVES Listserv.

Kevin A. Rudd Jr. serves as the Director of Clinical Operations for the Department of Neurosurgery at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. In this leadership role, he oversees operational strategy and administrative management for one of the region’s leading academic neurosurgery programs, supporting physicians and multidisciplinary teams delivering highly specialized neurological care. Kevin has been part of Jefferson Health’s Neurosurgery leadership team for several years, supporting the continued growth and operational excellence of the department.

Jefferson’s neuroscience program is nationally recognized for treating complex neurological conditions including brain tumors, neurovascular disease, stroke, minimally invasive spine disorders, skull-base surgery, and advanced endovascular neurosurgery. Kevin’s leadership focuses on strengthening operational efficiency, improving patient access, optimizing clinical workflows, and ensuring seamless coordination across clinical, surgical, and administrative teams. 

Kevin's Areas of Focus

• Clinical operations leadership for a large academic neurosurgery practice
• Surgical coordination and patient access optimization
• Multidisciplinary care integration across neuroscience programs
• Operational workflow development and performance improvement
• Strategic support for neurosurgical service line growth

Neurovascular care is the backbone of every high-performing neuroscience service line. RapidAI strengthens that foundation with deep clinical AI designed to improve clinical, operational, and financial outcomes across the neurovascular pathway.

Our enterprise platform brings care teams together with real-time intelligence that tells a complete clinical story—from first imaging to surgical decision-making. With unmatched speed and compatibility across all imaging formats, RapidAI supports confident, timely decisions that improve door-to-treatment times, increase appropriate case capture, identify surgical eligibility earlier, and reduce unnecessary transfers. The result is a more aligned, efficient neurovascular program that elevates performance across the entire service line.

Help us welcome our new members to NERVES! The Regional Directors representing the Southeast, Northeast, Northwest, West, South and North/Midwest regions would like to personally welcome you to our great professional organization. We are excited you have decided to join us and look forward to getting to know you!

Southeast

• Jeff Nguyen, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
  
• Dana Sosh, Neurosurgical Consultants, LLP, Owensboro, KY 
• Kasie Wood, NMMC Neuroscience Institute, Tupelo, MS
• Jessica Zeller, UAB Medicine, Birmingham, AL 
• Allison Wakeland, NeuroSpinal Associates, Bradenton, FL
• Anne Whaley, Neuroscience Service Line, Hoover, AL
• Brian Tamburro, AdventHealth Medical Group West, Wesley Chapel, FL
• Shanna Clark, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY 
• Gregory Lee Neal, Appalachian Orthopedics & Neurosurgery, Kingsport, TN
  
  

Northeast

• Jonathan Bellotte, UPMC Hamot Neurosurgery and Neurosintervention, Erie, PA 
• Maximillian DeFilippis, Hartford HealthCare Medical Group - Neurosurgery, Bristol, CT
• Susan Shirk, Argires Marotti Neurosurgical Associates of Lancaster, Lancaster, PA
• Melissa Kardonsky, MGB Neurosurgery, Boston, MA 
  
• Elise Atkinson, Mass General Brigham Neurosurgery, Boston, MA 
  
  

Northwest

• Barri Stiber, Legacy Health, Portland, OR
  
  

West

• Adam Hebb, Colorado Permanente Medical Group, Dilon, CO
• Joshua Beckman, NeurosurgeryOne, Denver, CO
  
  

South

• Joanne Martin, UTHealth Houston Neurosciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Houston, TX
• Jennifer Seals, Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, Leander, TX
• Elizabeth Ifeoma Nwojo, Macaulay E Nwojo MD PLLC DBA Midessa Neurosurgery & Complex Spine, Odessa, TX
• April Ramirez, University of Oklahoma - Neurosciences, Oklahoma City, OK 
• Emily Tally, University of Oklahoma Neurosurgery, Oklahoma City, OK
• Dawn Van Nice, Neurosurgery and Spine Specialist, Neurocritical Care, Fort Worth, TX
  
  

North/Midwest

• Natalie Cassidy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Hannah Beth Horwood, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• Candice Wright-Lawson, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL
• Brandon Henry Darrington, University of Nebraska Medical Center / Nebraska Medicine, Omaha, NE
• Dawn Garbarz, University Neurosurgical Associates PC/Michigan Head & Spine Institute, Novi, MI
• Evlien Khamis, Northwestern Medicine, Chicago, IL
• Misty Michelle Kirby-Nolan, Indiana University Health, Indianapolis, IN
• EmmaMarie Pierce, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Here are the top conversations from last quarter in the List Serv.  You can read the full threads by visiting:

Member’s Home Page → My Profile → My Features → E-Lists → NERVES Listserv.

Dear NERVES Friends, 

As we begin 2026, I am filled with a sense of optimism and gratitude for the strength, resilience, and collegiality of our NERVES community.

My name is Joshua Beckman, and I am a board-certified neurosurgeon at NeurosurgeryOne in Denver, Colorado. I joined NeurosurgeryOne in 2021 after completing my military service at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX where I served as Vice Chair of Neurosurgery and Director of Spine Surgery and Spinal Oncology. I am incredibly honored to have served my country and to have cared for some of the bravest men and women I have ever known. At NeurosurgeryOne, I specialize in the full spectrum of spinal procedures, treating conditions ranging from degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis to complex spinal deformities and tumors. Most recently, I was honored to be named a 2025 “Top Doctor” by 5280 Magazine, a recognition that reflects our commitment to excellence in patient care.

One aspect that makes my practice unique is my passion for both motion-preserving/minimally invasive procedures and complex spinal deformity surgery. These two ends of the surgical spectrum could not be more different, and I joke with my team that scheduling swings from “microsurgery mode” to “all-hands-on-deck” every week.  This dichotomy was born out of necessity during my military service, where preserving motion and function was critical for pilots and soldiers to continue their careers. But we also needed to treat complex acute trauma to maintain readiness skills and degenerative deformity conditions for the retired military population. Being able to perform both types of procedures at a high level allows me to tailor care to each individual patient rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all solution.