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Fellowship Program Director: Jonathan Riley, MD
Fellowship Program Coordinator: Elizabeth Bommaraju
Length of Fellowship: 1 year
CAST/SNS Approval:  Yes
Number of Positions: 1

Program’s goals and objectives

SUNY Buffalo Department of Neurological Surgery has a long history in offering neuromodulatory interventions to the Western New York regional community. Our clinical offerings include a deep representation across the traditional domains of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. This includes:

  • a robust intracranial stimulation program including treatment of movement disorders, epilepsy, and psychiatric disorders.  These procedures are completed with lead placement in a variety of capacities: (awake vs asleep, OR vs interventional MRI, frame versus frameless). The fellow will be centrally involved in procedural planning and execution.
  • Our epilepsy program includes continuous NAEC level IV accreditation and cooperative multidisciplinary engagement.  Our practice includes invasive neuromonitoring with craniotomies/grid placement as well as robot-assisted stereo-electroencehaplography lead placement. Our neurostimulation offerings for epilepsy include: Neuropace responsive neurostimulation, Deep Brain Stimulation at on- and off-label targets, and vagal nerve stimulation. Therapeutic intracranial resection-based, disconnection-based, and laser ablation procedures are also offered. The fellow will be centrally engaged with our epileptology colleagues and engaged with the intellectual process of presurgical SEEG planning.
  • We have a large local community of patients with intrathecal pumps.  This provides a technical and educational experience that bridges our movement disorders/spasticity and pain program offerings. 
  • Our pain program includes offerings for cancer pain (e.g. cordotomy) and neuromodulation offerings for trigeminal, occipital, and spinal neuropathic pain syndromes. Neurostimuation exposure includes percutaneous/paddle spinal cord stimulation, occipital and trigeminal stimulation, dorsal root ganglion stimulation, and peripheral nerve stimulation.
  • A robust exposure to gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery will be offered.  This includes both oncologic and functional clinical indications.
  • Elective time will be structured into the fellowship to further clinical and research-based educational goals.

Clinical fellowship goals to create graduates with exposure to and competency within the full breadth of subspecialty domains comprising S&FN.  Elective and research offerings will allow a component of further self-directed engagement and enrichment.

Neurosurgical procedure exposure

  • Surgery for Movement Disorders: Yes
  • Epilepsy Surgery: Yes
  • Pain Procedures: Yes
  • Surgery for Spasticity: Yes
  • Stereotactic Radiosurgery: Yes
  • Psychosurgery: Yes
  • Other (please indicate): None specified

Contact information

Fellowship Program Director: Jonathan Riley, MD
Fellowship Program Coordinator: Elizabeth Bommaraju
40 George Karl Boulevard, Suite 100
Williamsville, NY 14221
Phone: (716) 218-1000
Email: functional@ubns.com; ebommaraju@ubns.com
URL: https://www.ubns.com/fellowships/