President Bush recently recognized Thomas Milhorat, MD, chairman of neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, director of the Harvey Cushing Institutes of Neuroscience, and director and founder of its Chiari Institute, for his long-standing service to the American Syringomyelia Alliance Project (ASAP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to public education and awareness of complex brain and spinal conditions. Dr. Milhorat was the first chairman of ASAP’s medical advisory board, serving from 1995 to 2006.

Chiari malformation (CM) is a condition in which excess brain tissue pushes against the cerebellum and spinal cord at the base of the skull, disturbing the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The condition is often accompanied by syringomyelia (SM), in which a tubular cavity develops within the spinal cord as a result of obstructed CSF circulatory pathways. Surgery is the only intervention for this debilitating and painful condition.

Presenting the presidential accommodation to Dr. Milhorat at a reception at the Chiari Institute was Patrice Schaublin, an ASAP board member and a former patient of Dr. Milhorat’s, with Dick Heller, chief executive officer of ASAP.

Established in Great Neck in 2001, The Chiari Institute is the world’s first comprehensive, multidisciplinary center for the management of patients with CM and related disorders.

Contact: Betty Olt
(516) 465-2645