Education & Academic Qualifications

 

  • Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of Neuroscience, European University, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Graz, Austria
  • 1984 – 1988: Medical School (Doctor of Medicine, MD): Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria
  • 01/1988 – 12/1989: Neurosurgery Residency: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Dept. of Neurosurgery, USA
  • 1/90 – 12/90: Surgery Internship: Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Department of Surgery, Graz, Austria
  • 1991 – 1995: Neurosurgery Residency: Karl-Franzen -University Graz, Department of Neurosurgery, Graz, Austria
  • 10/2012 – 12/2012: Endovascular and Cerebrovascular Intervention Fellowship at University of Alabama, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Birmingham, AL, USA (Director: Mark Harrigan M.D., Ph.D.)

 

  • 2013 – present: Director, IMASA (International Medical and Surgical Associates), Nicosia, Cyprus

  • 2010 – 2012: Chairman, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Baylor Scott&White hospital, Texas A&M University, USA
    Director of the Neuroscience Institute at Scott&White, Temple, Texas,
    Administrative Leadership for the entire institutional Neurosurgery program and Neuropsychology program
    Administrative Leadership for the Children’s hospital at Scott&White, Neurosurgery
    Administrative co-director for Finances, Neurosurgery clinic Co-director of the Movement Disorder Center at Scott&White
    Administrative and Clinical Neurosurgery appointee for Radiosurgery

  • 2009 – 2010: Interim Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Scott &White Memorial Hospital, Temple, Texas, USA

  • 2008 – 2009: Vice-Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, Scott &White Memorial Hospital, Temple, Texas, USA

  • 2002 – 2008: Vice-Director of the New England Gamma Knife Center, Lifespan, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
    Director of Pain and Functional Neurosurgery at Brown University, USA
    Brown University Quality Assurance Director, Neurosurgery
    Administrative Director for Neurosurgery at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island

  • 1995 – 2008: Attending Neurosurgeon, Rhode Island Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, USA
    Attending Neurosurgeon, The Miriam Hospital, Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, USA
    Attending Neurosurgeon, Memorial Hospital of Pawtucket, Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, USA
    Attending Neurosurgeon, Butler Hospital, Department of Surgery, USA

Hospital Appointments

  • 2012 – present: Hygeia Hospital, Athens, Greece

Iaso Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece

American Medical Center, Niocosia, Cyprus

Polyclinic Hygeia Limassol, Cyprus

Mediterraneo Hospital, Athens, Greece

  • 2014 – 2018: Henry Dunant Hospital Center, Athens, Greece

  • 2008 – 2012: Scott &White Memorial Hospital, Temple, Texas, USA

  • 2005 – 2008: Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, USA

  • 1995 – 2008: Rhode Island Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, USA

The Miriam Hospital, Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, USA

Memorial Hospital of Pawtucket, Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, USA

Butler Hospital, Department of Surgery, USA

Education Experience:

  • 2017 – present: Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of Neuroscience Program, European University, Nicosia, Cyprus

  • 2010 – 2012: Administrative leader for all clinical, educational and research responsibilities, Baylor Scott&White hospital. Texas A&M University, USA

  • 2009: Associate Professor of Surgery, Scott&White Memorial Hospital, Texas A&M University, Texas

  • 2008 – 2009: Assistant Professor of Surgery, Texas A&M University

  • 2005 – present: ATLS instructor

  • 2002 – 2008: Associate Professor of Clinical Neurosciences (Neurosurgery), Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA 

Director of Functional Neurosurgery Fellowship, Brown University, USA 

Mentor: Masters of Medical Science Program at Brown University Clinical

  • 1996 – present: Associate Professor for Neurosurgery, Medical University Graz, Austria

Teaching Appointment in Neurosurgery

  • 1995 – 2002: Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurosciences (Neurosurgery), Brown University, Providence RI, USA

  • 1988 – 1989: Research Assistant, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

  • 1985 – 1986: Teaching Assistant, Karl-Frazens-Universität Institut für Medizinische Physik und Biophysik, Austria

  • 1984: Teaching Assistant, Karl-Frazens-Universität Institut für Medizinische Chemie, Austria

Clinical & Research Interest

Clinical Interest:

  • Adult and Pediatric Neurosurge

Research Interest: 

  • Functional Neurosurgery

Patents: 2001

  • Co-Founder, Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, Inc. (CYKN); co-inventor on 3 patents on brain-machine interfaces

Honors & Awards

  • 2007: Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award, Brown University

  • 2005: Rhode Island Top Doctor, Pain Management

  • 2004: State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Outstanding Doctor

  • 2003: Brown University, M.A. honorary degree

  • 1994: Honorable mention by the Austrian Medical Association for Ph.D. work on new neurosurgical approaches for the treatment of Parkinsonism

  • 1993: Honorable mention by the Austrian Medical Association for work on Parkinsonism

  • 1991: Birkmayer Award for Research on Parkinsonism

Grants 

  • 2009 – 2012: Principal Investigator: Development of a Tissue Bank for Neuroscience Research, Scott&White Institutional Grant: $ 450.000. 

  • 2004 – present: Co-Investigator: Implantation of Braingate (R) in Human Subjects who cannot move. (2 studies: for patients with stroke, high cervical injury or ALS). Funded by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnologies, Inc. Approx. $ 700.000.

  • 2003: Principal Investigator, A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Intrathecal Ziconotide in Adults with Severe Chronic Pain. Funded by Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Multicenter Phase III Study. $140,000.

  • 2003: Co-Investigator, Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Intractable Depression, NIH RO1 application

  • 2002 – 2005: Co-Investigator, Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy for the Treatment of Intractable Depression. Funded by Medtronic, Inc. Multi-Center Phase 1 Study. $150,000.

  • 2001 – 2003: Co-Investigator, Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy for the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Funded by Medtronic, Inc. Multi-Center Phase 1 Study.$150,000. 

  • 2000: Co-Investigator, Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy for the Treatment of Intractable Depression. Funded by Cyberonics, Inc. Multi-Center Study Phase 2 Double-Blind Study. US$ 100,000. 

  • 1999 – present: Co-Investigator, Neuroprosthesis Project. Funded through Dept. of Neuroscience (Chairman: John Donoghue, Ph.D.).

  • 1997 – 2002: Consultant, Static and Dynamic Organization of Primate Motor Cortex. NINDS grant R01 NS25074. 

  • 1995: Investigator, Rhode Island Hospital research grant (“Radiosurgical lesioning of the striatum in 6-OHDA hemiparkinsonian rats”); US $ 20,000. 

  • 1994: Co-Investigator, Österreichische Nationalbank, Research Grant (co-investigator with O. Schröttner, M.D.) for Research in Parkinsonism (“Radiochirurgische Behandlung des Parkinsonismus durch Zerstörung des Nucleus caudatus”), US $ 40,000. Investigator, Elekta Research Grant for Research in Parkinsonism (“Treatment of Parkinsonism with the Gamma Knife”), US $ 100,000.

  • 1993: Investigator, Birkmayer Award for Research in Parkinsonism (“Lesioning of the Striatum Reverse Motor Asymmetry in a 6-OHDA Rodent Model of Parkinsonism”); US $ 6,000.

Books

 

  • Park MC, Goldman MA, Carpenter LL, Price LH, Friehs GM. Vagus nerve stimulation for depression: rationale, anatomical and physiological basis of efficacy and future prospects. In: Operative Neuromodulation. Volume II: Neural Networks Surgery, Sakas DE, Simpson BA (eds). Springer Wien New York, NY, 2006.

  • Friehs GM, Walters BC, Zerris V. Radiosurgical Treatment of Parkinsons’s Disease. In: Surgery for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders. Krauss JK, Grossman G, Jankovich J (eds). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001, pp 258-267.

  • Nakata GK, Friehs GM. Neurological Physiology. The brain and its response to injury. In: The Practice of General Surgery. Bland K (ed.). W.B. Saunder 2001, pp 192-195. 

  • Friehs GM, Friedman J, Epstein MH, Noren GC. Radiosurgical Pallidotomy for Parkinson’s Disease. Krauss JK, Grossman G, Jankovich J (eds), Pallidal Surgery for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders. Lippincrott-Raven (1998).

  • Haselsberger K, Friehs GM, Schrottner O, Pendl G. Radiosurgery (gamma knife): an alternative adjuvant treatment for glioblastoma. In: Kogelnik HD (ed), Progress in Radio- Oncology V. Monduzzi editore, 1995. 

  • Schröttner O, Friehs GM. Place of stereotactic techniques in surgery for pain. In: Pain-Clinical Aspects and Therapeutical Issues, Part II. Kepplinger B, Penak JM, Ray AL, Schmid H (eds.), Edition Verlag Selva (1993). 

  • Friehs GM, Schröttner O. Levels of analgesia and thermanesthesia after percutaneous and open cordotomies. In: Pain – Clinical Aspects and Therapeutical Issues, Part II. Kepplinger B, Penak JM, Ray AL, Schmid H (eds.), Edition Verlag Selva (1993).

 

Recent Publications

  • 2016: Tsitskari M, Friehs G, Zerris V, Georgiades C.  CT-Guided, Ethanol Sympatholysis for Primary Axillary-Palmar Hyperhydrosis. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2016 Dec;39(12):1722-1727. Epub 2016 Jul 26.

  • 2015: Jarosiewicz B, Sarma AA, Bacher D, Masse NY, Simeral JD, Sorice B, Oakley EM, Blabe C, Pandarinath C, Gilja V, Cash SS, Eskandar EN, Friehs G, Henderson JM, Shenoy KV, Donoghue JP, Hochberg LR.  Virtual typing by people with tetraplegia using a self-calibrating intracortical brain-computer interface. Sci Transl Med. 2015 Nov 11;7(313):313.

  • 2013: Jarosiewicz B, Masse NY, Bacher D, Cash SS, Eskandar E, Friehs G, Donoghue LP, Hochberg LR.  Advantages of closed-loop calibration in intracortical brain-computer interfaces for people with tetraplegia.   J Neural Eng 2013; 10: 046012. Kubu CS, Malone DA, Chelune G, Malloy P, Rezai AR, Frazier T, Machado A, Rasmussen S, Friehs G, Greenberg BD.  Neuropsychological outcome after deep brain stimulation in the ventral capsule/ventral striatum for highly refractory obsessive- compulsive disorder or major depression. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 2013; 91: 374-8. 

  • 2012: Robinson JL, Laird AR, Glahn DC, Blangero J, Sanghera MK, Pessoa L, Fox PM, Uecker A, Friehs G, Young KA, Griffin JL, Lovallo WR, Fox PT. The functional connectivity of the human caudate: an application of meta-analytic connectivity modeling with behavioral filtering. Neuroimage 2012, 60: 117-129.

  • 2011: Kim SP, Simeral JD, Hochberg LR, Donoghue JP, Friehs GM, Black MJ. Point-and-click cursor control with an intracortical neural interface system by humans with tetraplegia. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2011; 19: 193-203. 

  • 2009: Malone DA, Dougherty DD, Rezai AR, Carpenter LL, Friehs GM, Eskandar EN, Rauch SL, Rasmussen SA, Machado AG, Kubu CS, Tyrka AR, Price LH, Stypulkowski PH, Giftakis JE, Rise MT, Malloy PF , Salloway SP, Greenberg BD. Deep brain stimulation of the ventral capsule/ventral striatum for treatment-resistant depression. Biol Psychiatry 2009; 15; 65: 267-275.

  • 2008: Truccolo W, Friehs GM, Donoghue JP, Hochberg LR. Primary motor cortex tuning to intended movement kinematics in humans with tetraplegia. J Neurosci 2008, 28 (5): 1163- 1178.

  • 2007: Friehs GM, Park MC, Goldman MA, Zerris VA, Noren G, Sampath P. Stereotactic radiosurgery for functional disorders. Neurosurg Focus 2007, 23. Park M.C., Goldman M.A., Carpenter, L.L., Price, L.H., Friehs, G.M. Vagus nerve stimulation for depression: rationale, anatomical and physiological basis of efficacy and future prospects. Acta Neurochir Suppl 2007, 97: 407-16.