Dr. Scott Simon was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, IL. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political theory from Princeton University and his MD from University of Chicago. He completed his neurosurgical residency and endovascular neurosurgery fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After three years in Richmond, VA, Dr. Simon moved to the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA. He is a Professor of Neurosurgery at the Penn State College of Medicine, the Chief of the Division of Cerebrovascular Surgery, the Director of the Endovascular Neurosurgery Fellowship and Medical Co-Director of the Penn State Health Stroke Program. Dr. Simon is on the executive council of the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies, Pennsylvania Neurosurgical Society, and Congress of Neurological Surgeons Foundation. He has sponsored research in computational modeling of ischemic stroke as well as the cellular mechanics of iron handling in cerebral hemorrhage.

Please tell us your background, where you are from, schooling, etc.

I am from Chicago, IL, and I completed my neurosurgery residency and endovascular neurosurgery fellowship at Vanderbilt University.  I spent the first three years of my career at VCU in Richmond, VA, and then moved to Hershey, PA, to work at the Penn State College of Medicine.  Currently I am a Professor of Neurosurgery, Endovascular Neurosurgery Fellowship Director, Director of the Division of Cerebrovascular Surgery, and Medical Co-Director of the Penn State Health Stroke Program.

I take care of subarachnoid hemorrhage and aneurysm patients every day in my clinical practice. Taking excellent care of these patients to me means not only always trying to improve my surgical skill but also pushing the frontiers of treatment technology through clinical and basic science research.

In the simplest terms, what is the purpose of your project?

See if a commonly occurring gene that controls iron metabolism makes mice with SAH recovery faster than those without this gene.

In the simplest terms, what do you hope will change through your research findings?

If we can identify a genotype that confers a survival or outcome advantage we can recreate that advantage in all patients with medicines or vaccines.

Why is the funding you are receiving through the Brain Aneurysm Foundation so important?

This crucial support will provide the foundation for clinical trials testing new methods to improve aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage survival.