Montana Neuroscience Institute Foundation

Clinical Research Investigator Bios

Neurosurgery

Chriss A. Mack, M.D.
Neurological Associates, P.C.

Dr. Mack received a B.S. in Biology from Oregon State University, and an M.D. from Texas A&M University. He completed an internship and neurosurgical residency at the University of Florida.

Dr. Mack is currently practicing with Neurological Associates, P.C. in Missoula, Montana, and serves as a neurosurgeon/researcher in the Montana Neuroscience Institute. He has strong research interests in the areas of degenerative spine disease and spinal trauma. He has been an investigator on four clinical trials. Dr. Mack has served as an invited lecturer and instructor at many spine courses and symposia around the United States.

Carter E. Beck, M.D.
Neurological Associates, P.C.

Dr. Beck received a B.A. in Genetics from the University of California at Berkeley, and then an M.D. from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He then completed a Medical internship at the University of Chicago Hospital, a year of Neurology residency at New York Hospital-Cornell, and a surgical internship at Stanford University Hospital. He went on to complete a neurosurgical residency at Stanford University Hospital and a fellowship in complex spinal surgery at UCSF-Mt Zion with Dr. Bruce McCormack.

Dr. Beck is currently practicing with Neurological Associates, P.C. in Missoula, Montana, and serves as a neurosurgeon/researcher in The Montana Neuroscience Institute. He has participated in molecular genetics and clinical studies, and has interests in the treatment of adult degenerative spine diseases.

Kenneth C. Brewington, M.D.
Neurological Associates, P.C.

Dr. Brewington received a B.S. in Biology from Tulane University, and an M.D. from the University of South Alabama. He then completed a surgical internship and neurosurgical residency at The University of Tennessee at Memphis. He completed a fellowship in Complex and Minimally invasive spinal surgery with Dr. Kevin T. Foley of The Semmes-Murphy Clinic in Memphis.

Dr. Brewington is currently practicing with Neurological Associates, P.C. in Missoula, Montana, and serves as neurosurgeon/researcher in The Montana Neuroscience Institute. He has research interests in minimally invasive spine surgery techniques. He is also a flight surgeon with the 164th Airlift Wing of the Tennessee International Guard, and serves as an instructor at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.

Neuro-otology

Peter VonDoersten, M.D.
Rocky Mountain Eye & Ear Center, P.C.

Dr. Von Doersten received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Dartmouth College, and an M.D. from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He did his internship in general surgery at Rush Presbyterian St. Lukes in Chicago, and his residency in Otolaryngology Head and Neck surgery with Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland. He then completed a fellowship with the Otology Group in neurotology and skull base surgery under Michael Glasscock and Gary Jackson.

Dr. VonDoersten is currently practicing with Rocky Mountain Ear, Nose and Throat in Missoula, Montana, where he is the Director of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery. He is the Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Saint Patrick Hospital in Missoula, and is a Faculty Affiliate Professor at the University of Montana. Dr. VonDoersten has published in many areas of neuro-otology, and has current research interests in cochlear implants and in vivo hair cell genetic transfection/regeneration studies.
Neuroradiology

Opthamology

Brian D. Sippy, M.D. Ph.D.

Dr. Sippy received his Bachelors of Arts with distinction from the University of Kansas in 1989. He attended medical and graduate schools at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles from 1989-1996. There, he received a doctorate of philosophy in Pathobiology in 1995 and a medical doctorate in 1996. His medical internship was performed at the University of Utah from 1996-1997. He then went on to Emory University in Atlanta for a residency in Ophthalmology from 1997-2000. He stayed on at the Emory Eye Center for a fellowship in ocular pathology from 2000-2001 and another fellowship in retinal disease and surgery from 2001-2003. He moved to Missoula, MT in the summer of 2003 to join the Rocky Mountain Eye Center where he currently practices clinical ophthalmology and oversees clinical trials. He serves on the MNIF board, and he is an Affiliate Faculty at the University of Montana where he participates in research and student education. http://www.rockymountaineye.com

Translational Reseasrch

Dave Poulsen, Ph.D.

After completing a Bachelors degree in Microbiology at Brigham Young University, David Poulsen obtained his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Molecular Virology from the University of Delaware. Following the completion of his doctoral degree, Dr. Poulsen trained at the National Institutes of Health as an Intramural Training Research Award (ITRA) fellow with Dr Bruce Cheesbro in the Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Rocky Mountain Laboratories). Following his training at the NIH, Dr. Poulsen served a second post-doctoral fellowship in the CNS Gene Therapy Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. In 2001, Dr. Poulsen joined the Montana Neuroscience Institute as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Montana and as a Translational Research Scientist with St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center. He was promoted to Research Associate Professor in fall 2007.

Fernando Cardozo-Pelaez, Ph.D.

Originally from Colombia, Fernando Cardozo-Pelaez received a bachelor degree in Chemistry at the Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira in Colombia. He graduated with a Masters in Analytical Chemistry under Dr. Robert Braman at the University of South Florida, and in 1996 earned a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences at the University of South Florida in Tampa under Dr. Lynn Wecker tutelage. After a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neurology in the University of South Florida, under Dr. Juan Sanchez-Ramos guidance, Fernando moved to the University of Montana as an Assistant Professor in 2002. He was pomoted to Associate Professor in fall of 2006.