Faculty & Staff

Timothy Witham, M.D., FACS, Director
Associate Professor in Neurosurgery

Associate professor of neurosurgery and director of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Spine Program, Timothy Witham, M.D., FACS, focuses on complex spinal disorders. His interests include the surgical treatment of degenerative conditions at the cervical and lumbar spine to include instrumented fusion and dynamic stabilization procedures. Board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, Dr. Witham has interests in the treatment of spinal tumors, spinal trauma and degenerative disorders including spinal deformity.

Dr. Witham earned a bachelor's of science with honors at the Pennsylvania State University and a medical degree at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as advanced training in complex  reconstructive spinal surgery and spinal oncology at Johns Hopkins, under the direction of Dr. Ziya Gokaslan.

Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Witham served in the U.S. Air Force as Chief of the Neurosurgery Element at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Ali Bydon, M.D., Clinical Director
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery

Ali Bydon, M.D., associate professor of neurosurgery, clinical director of the JHBMC Spine Surgery Program and director of the Spinal Column Biomechanics and Surgical Outcomes Laboratory, specializes in degenerative disorders of the spine (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar osteophytes or disk herniations; cervical, thoracic and lumbar synovial cyst herniation; cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal stenosis; cervical, thoracic and lumbar spondylolisthesis; spondylosis, spondylolysis and degenerative scoliosis), neoplastic disorders of the spine (intradural spine tumors, intramedullary spine tumors, extradural metastatic spine tumors, spinal meningiomas, spinal schwannaomas), traumatic spinal cord and vertebra column injuries; complex reconstruction and restoration of the spine; and minimally invasive spine surgery.

Dr. Bydon earned a medical degree at the University of Michigan School of Medicine in Ann Arbor. He completed residency training in neurological surgery at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where he graduated with distinction. He also completed a fellowship in minimally invasive spine surgery at Henry Ford, as well as a fellowship at Louisiana State University on the surgical treatment of peripheral nerves. He was the recipient of the prestigious ”Richard Otenasak Faculty Teaching Award” in 2009/2010.

A reviewer for several spine publications, Dr. Bydon has co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles related to spinal pathologies, spinal biomechanics, and spinal disparities and outcomes.

Click here to watch Dr. Bydon perform spinal surgery.

Judy Huang, M.D.
Director, Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery

Associate professor of neurosurgery and director of cerebro-vascular neurosurgery, Judy Huang, M.D., specializes in the treatment of cerebrovascular disorders such as cerebral aneurysms, carotid artery stenosis and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). She also focuses on the treatment of spinal disorders, and primary and metastatic brain tumors.

Dr. Huang earned a medical degree at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. There, she also completed residency training in neurological surgery and pursued a fellowship in neurovascular research.

Active in neurological research, Dr. Huang's research focuses on the inflammatory mechanisms of stroke, as well as intracerebral hemorrage and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrage. She is further investigating gender differences in stroke and other cerebro-vascular diseases. Dr. Huang has published extensively on experimental studies of stroke and carotid endarterectomy, including a widely used handbook of operative neurosurgery.

Dr. Huang has received a number of awards, including the Young Clinician Investigator Award from the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the School of Medicine Clinician Scientist Award. She has received several teaching awards and serves as co-director of the Neurosurgery Residency Training Program as well as the director of Medical Student Education.

Alessandro Olivi, M.D.
Director, Neurosurgical Oncology
Professor of Neurosurgery

Alessandro Olivi, M.D., professor of neurology and director of neurosurgical oncology, focuses on the surgical treatment of primary and metastatic tumors of the brain and spinal cord. He performs microsurgery on skull-based tumors, such as acoustic neuromas, meningiomas and vascular lesions. Dr. Olivi also holds clinical intrests in cerebrovascular conditions and craniofacial reconstructions.

Actively involved in designing and running clinical experimental protocols, Dr. Olivi has worked to develop and assess new treatments for patients with brain tumors. He also leads multi-
disciplinary initiatives to coordinate the most ideal management of patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent brain tumors.

Dr. Olivi is involved in several research activities in the areas of immuno-therapy for brain tumors, cancer stem cells and new drug delivery systems.

Paul Kaloostian, M.D., assistant professor of neurosurgery at The Johns Hopkins University, earned a medical degree at UCLA Medical School. He completed a residency in neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico and a fellowship/instructorship in complex spine surgery and spinal oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. His clinical interests include spinal oncology, complex spinal deformity, and cervical, thoracic and lumbrosacral degenerative spinal disease.

Kristophe Karami, D.O., MS, earned undergraduate degrees in biology, psychology and neuroscience, as well as a master's in neuroscience at Brandeis University. He completed training in osteopathic medicine at Nova Southeastern University, followed by a residency at St. John Health (Michigan State University) and a fellowship/instructorship in complex spine and spinal oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Dr. Karami holds interests in spinal oncology, degenerative spine disease, minimally invasive spinal surgery, spine surgery outcomes analysis and spinal cord injury research.

Dan Sciubba, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Oncology and Orthopaedic Surgery

Dan Sciubba, M.D., assistant professor of neurosurgery, oncology and orthopaedic surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, specializes in all aspects of spine disease, with a focus on the surgical treatment of complex spinal reconstructions and spinal tumors. His interests lie in the treatment of all categories of spine pathology (degenerative, trauma, tumor and deformity) with minimally invasive approaches.

Dr. Sciubba earned a medical degree at Columbia University. He completed an internship in general surgery, residency in neurological surgery and an infolded complex spine fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as well as a traveling orthopaedic spine fellowship in pediatric spine deformity at Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Jean-Paul Wolinsky, M.D.
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery

Jean-Paul Wolinsky, M.D., associate professor of neurosurgery and clinical director of the Johns Hopkins Spine Program, cares for patients with any neurosurgical problem. His primary neuro-surgical interests lie in neurosurgical oncology, pathology of the occipital-cervical junction and complex spinal reconstruction. He has been actively developing new approaches to spinal surgery and concepts for spinal reconstruction.

Dr. Wolinsky earned a medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where he subsequently completed neurosurgery training. In addition to general neurosurgical training, he gained extensive trauma experience at Ben Taub Hospital, one of the world’s largest trauma hospitals. He also received specialized training in neurosurgical oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital during his residency. After the neurosurgical residency, he completed an AO Spine fellowship in complex reconstructive spine surgery and spinal oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Richard Zorowitz, M.D.
Chairman, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Associate Professor of Medicine

Richard D. Zorowitz, M.D., associate professor and chairman of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, as well as spinal cord injury medicine. His clinical interests lie in neuro-rehabilitation, including acquired brain and spinal cord injury, spasticity and neuropathic pain. He also holds research interests in stroke rehabilitation and functional outcomes.

Dr. Zorowitz earned a medical degree at Tulane University School of Medicine. He completed an internship in internal medicine at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, as well as a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University.

Jared Abay, MS, PA-C

Jared Abay, MS, PA-C, is a senior physician assistant in the department of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview.

Abay earned an undergraduate degree at George Washington University and a master's at the University of Nebraska. Abay also completed a physician assistant surgical residency program at Sinai Hospital.

Sharonda E. Keith, PA-C

Sharonda E. Keith, PA-C, is a physician assistant in the Department of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. She earned a bachelor of arts degree at Rutgers University, as well as a bachelor of science degree at Howard University, where she also completed physican assistant training.

Keith currently is pursuing a master of science degree with an emphasis in neurosurgery at The University of Nebraska.