Faculty

Prof. Anton Valavanis started his career as an Assistant Professor in 1984 and obtained full professorship at the chair of neuroradiology in 1994. The same year he founded the Institute of Neuroradiology at the University of Zurich. He retired from this position in December 2017. He is currently working as a professor emeritus and Head of clinical neurosciences center, university hospital Zurich. The institute is the leading center of Interventional Neuroradiology worldwide.

He co-founded the Clinical Neuroscience Center at the University Hospital Zurich, where he currently serves as Chair of the governing council. He is also a founding member of the European Society of Head and Neck Radiology, the Swiss Society of Neuroradiology and other prestigious organizations. He served as president of the World Federation of Neroradiological Societies from 1997 to 2002 and has been President of the Swiss Society of Neuroradiology since 2001.

He has received numerous honors, including the Scientific Award of the German, Swiss and European societies of neuroradiology and the James Bull Medal of the British Society of Neuroradiologists. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of Neuroradiologia Helvetica, and Neuroradiology and a member of editorial board of various journals on neuroradiology, neurosurgery and skull base surgery.

Apart from extensive lectures across the world, Prof Valavanis has authored or co-authored 200 original scientific publications and two books. In 1992 he founded the “Zurich Course on Interventional Neuroradiology’, which has been held annually ever since.

He has been an inspiration behind the ‘Delhi Course’ and has been integral part of it since it’s beginning.

Dr. Shakir Husain Obtained his board qualification in neurology from G.B.Pant Hospital, Delhi University. He is one of the first neurologists in the global arena to be trained in Neurointervention from University Hospital Zurich in 1997 – 1999.

He is an accomplished neurointerventionist practicing in India. He developed one of the first independent Departments of Neuroendovascular Therapy and Stroke at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and served as its Chief of Services for over a decade. After he moved to Max Healthcare in 2009, he developed one of the first independent and comprehensive departments of Interventional Neurology & Stroke treatment, which is at par with any best centre in the world. From Feb 2014, he joined as Director of Interventional Neurology & Stroke at Saket City Hospital, New Delhi where he developed department of Interventional neurology & stroke with integrated stroke intensive care unit and a biplane neurovascular suit. In March 2015 he moved again to Max Institute of Neurosciences. He joined Neo Hospital, Noida in June 2015 where he developed neurointervention program. In October 2017, he joined UniversitätsSpital Zürich, Klinik für Neuroradiologie, where he worked until November 2021 and held a position of a Professor and the director of the International Fellowship Program in Neurointervention. He is currently working as a Consultant,

He single handedly conceptualised and started the Delhi Course on Neurointervention and has shaped it to what it has become today! He also runs a one-year Fellowship Program (Egas Moniz Fellowship in Interventional Neurology & Stroke) and is actively involved in teaching and developmental activities of Neurointervention in Asia Pacific region.

He is the founding chairman of the Stroke & Neurointervention Foundation (SNIF), which has been actively involved in the advancement of knowledge, science and art on neurointervention in Asia Pacific region.

Dr. Michihiro Tanaka is an accomplished neurosurgeon and neuroendovascular surgeon who holds board certification in both fields. He has been serving as the director of the Department of Neuroendovascular Surgery and Neurosurgery at Kameda Medical Center, one of the largest private hospitals in Japan, since 2004. In addition, he currently holds positions as a visiting professor at Tokyo Jikeikai University School of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, and Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Tanaka has made notable professional contributions through his appointment as President of the World Federation of Intravascular Therapeutic Neuroradiology (WFITN) from 2022 to 2024, where he is deeply involved in advancing the field through cutting-edge research and fostering collaborative partnerships.

Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Tanaka held the position of Associate Professor at University Hospital Zurich from 1998 until 2004. His areas of expertise encompass clinical neuroanatomy, surgical neuroangiography, embryological anatomy, minimally invasive neurosurgery, functional vascular anatomy of the brain, acute stroke management, cerebral blood flow, and metabolism.

Dr. Komiyama is a board-certified neurosurgeon and a neuro-endovascular therapist in Japan. He was graduated from Keio University in Tokyo and started his medical carrier in plastic and reconstructive surgery first and extended the fields to neurosurgery and neuro-intervention. Amongst the field of neuro-intervention, he is a specialist in pediatric neuro- intervention. He is also specialized in the functional neurovascular anatomy and care for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). He has established ‘Niche Neuro- Angiology Conference (NNAC)’ in 2006 in Japan, which is the core meeting for functional neurovascular anatomy.

The 16^th NNAC meeting will be held this year in Osaka. He has also established HHT JAPAN in 2013 for an improvement of the HHT patients’ care. HHT-JAPAN holds the annual scientific meeting. The 9th HHT JAPAN meeting will be held this year in Osaka.

He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed English papers related to mostly neurointervention and neurovascular anatomy. He was a former editor-in-chief of ‘Interventional Neuroradiology’.

Dr. Bernd Tomandl is a Neuroradiologist practicing in Germany. He is the Head of Department of Radiology and Neuroradiology at Christophsbad Fachklinik. He has vast experience on diagnostic neuroradiology and therapeutic neurointerventions including spinal cord AVMs, cerebral aneurysms, brain AVMs, and head and neck vascular anomaly and acute stroke.

Dr.Ota is borad-certified in Neurosurgery in Japan, and also Board certified Trainer of both the Japanese Society for NeuroEndovascular Therapy and the Japanese Society on Surgery for Cerebral Stroke. He was graduated from Unversity of Tokyo, and started his medical carrier in general surgery first, and extended the fields to neurosurgery and neurointervention, currently a specialist in vascular neurosurgery, functional neurovascular anatomy, neurointervention and brain tumor surgery.

He has been a director of Department of Neurosurgery in Tokyo Metropolitan Tama Medical Center since 2012, and an associated editor of the journal "Interventional Neuroradiology (INR)" an official journal of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (WFITN).

Dr. Kadooka is board certified in neurosurgery and neuroendovascular surgery in Japan. He graduated from Kyushu University in 2006 and started his medical career at Asahi General Hospital(Asahi, Chiba, Japan). After training, he moved to the department of neurosurgery, Kameda Medical Center in 2013. He trained in interventional neuroradiology at the University Hospital Zurich from 2017 to 2018 and finished the Fellowship in Interventional Neuroradiology (FINR). After his having returned to Japan, they launched the department of neuroendovascular surgery at Kameda Medical Center in 2020. He has special interests in cerebrovascular diseases, interventional neuroradiology and neuroanatomy.