Special Expertise: Neurology
Specialty/Board Certified: Neurology
Graduate School: Albany Medical College
Internship: Albany Medical Center
Residency: Jackson Memorial Hospital
Fellowship: Jackson Memorial Hospital
Areas Of Interest: Electromyography; General Neurology; Migraine; Myasthenia Gravis; Peripheral Neuropathy; Stroke
When it comes to “brain power,” the team of doctors at the Marcus Neuroscience Institute (MNI) at Boca Raton Regional Hospital have cornered the market.
Established just five years ago, the Institute has attracted some of the leading neurologists from around the country, many of whom trained and practiced at world-renowned clinical and academic institutions.
They care for patients suffering from a wide range of conditions, including strokes, brain tumors, seizure disorders, memory- and movement-related problems, sleep disorders, and spinal and traumatic brain injuries, to name a few.
“Patients do not have to travel far distances when most of the neurological and neurosurgical care is here,” says Sajeel A. Chowdhary, M.D., the Institute’s director of medical neuro-oncology. “It not only is as good but better than anywhere else out there.”
Dr. Chowdhary, who has trained and worked at some of the top medical facilities in the world, was drawn to the Institute because of his desire to be part of something special.
“All of us want to build destination programs,” he says. “You don’t have to be in a big city like Chicago or San Francisco or Houston to get it.”
The Institute was established in 2015 with a $25 million lead grant from the Marcus Foundation, along with another major gift last year for a new expansion of the MNI clinic. Last year, Boca Raton Regional Hospital merged with Baptist Health South Florida, which has positively impacted the growth of the hospital and the Institute.
“Baptist has given us more opportunity for growth in the Palm Beach market,” says Dr. Chowdhary.
The 57,000-square-foot Institute houses four dedicated operating rooms as well as a 20-bed Neuro Intensive Care and Step-Down Unit. There are five neurosurgeons and eight neurologists. It offers a wide range of programs, including an accredited comprehensive stroke center, an epilepsy monitoring unit and a center for brain and spine tumors.
Dr. Chowdhary’s colleague, Patricio S. Espinosa, M.D., the founding chief of neurology, has spent the past several years recruiting some of the top neurologists from around the country. What attracted him to Boca Raton was the community’s support.
“The community wanted a top-notch neuroscience center, and the community was willing to invest in it to make the program a success,” he says.
Academic research and clinical trials are among the things that set the Institute apart.
“We have more than 20 clinical trials going on in multiple neurological diseases, including epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s,” says Dr. Espinosa. “This allows us to bring to the community new medications that may not be available for five to 10 years but that can be used now as part of our clinical trials.”
Collaboration is key to any medical facility’s success, and the Institute not only has a collaborative relationship with Boca Regional’s Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute but also established a neurological residency program with Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine to train its medical students.
Marc A. Swerdloff, M.D., has worked in Boca Raton for many years and was part of an eight-doctor group when he was asked to join the Institute.
“This is an oasis of neurological knowledge and expertise,” he says. “We are all blessed to be able towork at this beautiful center, which seems to have come together cosmically.”
Dr. Swerdloff spends part of his time at “the mothership,” as he refers to the main campus, and part of his time at the Institute’s satellite office in Deerfield Beach. There also are plans to add a satellite office at Bethesda Hospital.
“It keeps growing by leaps and bounds,” he says.