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Office Location
Community Medical Center, Toms River Office 780 Route 37 West – Suite 220 Toms River, NJ 08755
Phone Number
833-NJ-Neuro (656-3876)

Merritt W. Brown, MD

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Neurological Medical Director, Endovascular Program | Department of Neurosurgery | RWJMS
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery | Department of Neurosurgery | RWJMS

 

Dr. Merritt W. Brown is a board-certified Neuroendovascular Surgeon, Neurocritical Care Specialist, and Neurologist, previously serving as Stroke Medical Director at LCMC Health’s West Jefferson Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. He recently joined RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Health, where he is proudly serving the community at Community Medical Center.

Dr. Brown followed a far from traditional path to becoming the first physician in his family. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, he worked for nearly a decade in finance and information technology prior to returning to medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. While completing his residency training at Harvard where he was appointed as Administrative Chief Resident, Dr. Brown worked to improve stroke management with emerging technologies from Google. His post-residency journey led him to practice internationally in southern Africa as a visiting instructor of Neurology and Neurocritical Care at the University of Zambia School of Medicine in Lusaka. Having completed fellowships in Neurocritical Care, Neuroendovascular Surgery, as well as an National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded stroke research fellowship, Dr. Brown brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to treating complex neurological disease.

Dr. Brown’s areas of expertise include advanced stroke interventions, cerebral aneurysm treatment, carotid and vertebral artery stenting, and the management of complex cerebrovascular conditions. In addition to his clinical roles, he has served as an Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant for the National Football League (NFL) since 2020. His active research portfolio includes principal investigations on traumatic brain injury and stroke management, contributing to numerous studies and publications that advance the field of neurosurgery. He has consistently been recognized as an educator having given multiple grand rounds presentations and invited lectures, as well as having been course director for the annual Neuroscience Symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a certified Emergency Neurological Life Support (ENLS) trainer which he has presented since 2021. His dedication to improving neurological care is further demonstrated through his active memberships with the Neurocritical Care Society, Society for Neurointerventional Surgery, and Society for Vascular and Interventional Neurology.

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Merritt W. Brown to the Neurosurgery team at RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Health. His commitment to clinical excellence, innovative treatments, and compassionate patient care makes him a valuable addition to our community. Dr. Brown’s passion for advancing neurosurgical techniques and improving patient outcomes aligns perfectly with our mission to provide the highest quality care.

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Education:

Medical School:
Doctor of Medicine, Jefferson Medical School, 2011

Fellowship:
Endovascular Neurosurgical Fellow, University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2019

Neurocritical Care Fellow, University of Pennsylvania Health System, 2017

NIH StrokeNet Research Fellow, National Institutes of Health, 2018

Residency:
Neurology, Harvard Neurology Program, Admin. Chief Resident, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 2015

Neurology, Harvard Neurology Program, Affiliating Resident, Boston Children’s Hospital, 2015

Neurology, Harvard Neurology Program, Affiliating Resident, Boston Children’s Hospital, 2015

Board Certification:
Neuroendovascular Surgery (CAST) Fellowship Certified
Neurocritical Care (UCNS) Board Certified
Neurology (ABPN) Board Certified

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Research Interests:

  • Neuroendovascular: Acute Ischemic Stroke Thrombectomy, Intracranial Stenosis Stenting & Angioplasty, Carotid / Vertebral Artery Stenting, Cerebral Aneurysm Embolization, Flow Diversion of Cerebral Aneurysm, Treatment of Cerebral Vasospasm with Intra Arterial Pharmacologic, Agents and Angioplasty, Diagnosis and Treatment of Blunt Cerebrovascular Injury, Arteriovenous Malformation / Fistula Embolization, Middle Meningeal Artery Embolization for Chronic Subdural Hematoma, Pre-operative Tumor Embolization, Venous Sinus Sampling, Venous Sinus Pressure Measurements, Venous Sinus Stenting and Venoplasty for Idiopathic, Intracranial Hypertension or Intractable Tinnitus, Balloon Test Occlusion/Vessel Sacrifice for Skull Base Tumors.
  • Neurocritical Care: Management of critically ill patients with neurologic diseases including Ischemic Stroke, Hemorrhagic Stroke, Brain Edema/Herniation, CNS Infection, CNS Inflammatory/Autoimmune conditions, Hydrocephalus, Traumatic Brain Injury, Subdural Hematoma, Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Cerebral Vasospasm
  • Vascular: Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke, Diagnosis and Prevention of Ischemic Stroke, Medical Management with Antiplatelets / Anticoagulants.

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Publications:

  • Article – Jacques AA, Summers KL, Brown MW, Risher W. Internal Carotid Artery Agenesis in a Trauma Patient with
    Ipsilateral Neck GSWs. Ann Vasc Surg. 2021 Jul 1(74):P526.E1-526.E5.
  • Article – Brown MW. Differentiation of Seizure from Stroke using Advanced Imaging in the Acute Period. J Neurol Sci.
    2020 Sep 2;418:117113.
  • Presentation – Management of Acute Stroke. Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Department of Neurology Grand Rounds. 2020.
  • Article – Shah K, Brown MW, Desai S, Jovin TG, Jadhav AP, Gross BA, Jankowitz BT. Capitated Pricing Model for Stroke Thrombectomies: A Single Center Experience. J Neurointerv Surg. 2020 Jul 16.
  • Article – Gross BA, Dolia J, Tonetti DA, Stone J, Brown MW, Shah K, Desai SM, Lang M, Jadhav AP. Ballast and NeuronMax in stroke thrombectomy. J Neurointerv Surg. 2020 Jun 23.
  • Article – Tonetti DA, Desai SM, Casillo S, Stone J, Brown MW, Jankowitz BT, Jovin TG, Gross BA, Jadhav AP. Successful reperfusion, rather than number of passes, predicts clinical outcome after mechanical thrombectomy. J Neurointerv Surg. 2020 Jun;12(6):548-551.
  • Article – Jankowitz BT, Tonetti DA, Kenmuir C, Rao R, Ares W, Zussman B, Brown MW, Stone JG, Gardner PA, Friedlander RA, Gross BA, Jadhav AP, Jovin TG. Urgent Treatment for Symptomatic Carotid Stenosis: The PIRATES Protocol. Neurosurgery. 2020 Apr 15.
  • Article – Stone JG, Zussman BM, Tonetti DA, Brown MW, Desai SM, Gross BA, Jadhav AP, Jovin TG, Jankowitz BT. Transradial versus transfemoral approaches for diagnostic cerebral angiography: a prospective, single-center, noninferiority comparative effectiveness study. J Neurointerv Surg. 2020 Jan 22.
  • Article – Zussman B, Tonetti DA, Stone J, Brown MW, Desai S, Gross B, Jadhav A, Jovin T, Jankowitz B. Maturing Institutional Experience with the Transradial Approach for Diagnostic Cerebral Arteriography: Overcoming the Learning Curve. J Neurointerv Surg. 2019 Dec;11(12):1235-1238.
  • Article – Zussman BM, Tonetti DA, Stone J, Brown MW, Desai SM, Gross BA, Jadhav A, Jovin TG, Jankowitz BT. A prospective study of the transradial approach for diagnostic cerebral arteriography. J Neurointerv Surg. 2019 Oct; 11(10):1045-1049.

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Location:

Community Medical Center, Toms River Office
780 Route 37 West – Suite 220
Toms River, NJ 08755