Dr. Hai Sun received his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and History from St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD, and an MD and PhD combined degree from Dartmouth College. His PhD was in Biomedical Engineering. After his training at Dartmouth, Dr. Sun completed a residency in Neurological Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, and a fellowship in Epilepsy Surgery at University of Washington in Seattle, a fellowship in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, AZ and a fellowship in Endovascular Neurosurgery at Louisiana State University Health Science Center in Shreveport, LA.
Dr. Sun is currently an Associate Professor and Assistant Director of Research at the Department of Neurosurgery at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick. He is a member of Rutgers Brain Health Institute and faculty member of the Rutgers Department of Neuroscience Graduate Program. He has served on faculty in the Department of Neurosurgery at Louisiana State University Health Science Center in Shreveport, LA (2015-2019) and has helped establish the Ochsner LSU Regional Epilepsy Center and led the Center to its Level 4 accreditation by National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAECs). Besides epilepsy surgeries, Dr. Sun also performs surgeries to treat brain tumors, cerebrovascular lesions such as aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations, and ischemic stroke.
His research interests are in the areas of brain computer interface, neuroimaging, brain functional and structural connectome, and pathophysiology of epilepsy. He is the co-author of more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and 7 book chapters. Dr. Sun is a recipient of the Epilepsy Research Program Idea Development Award from the U.S. Department of Defense for the search of imaging biomarkers for the development of post-traumatic epilepsy.
Education/Training:
- Undergraduate School – St. John’s College, MD
- Medial School – Dartmouth College
- Graduate (PhD) School – Dartmouth College
- Internship – Oregon Health and Science (OHSU) University
- Residency – Oregon Health and Science (OHSU) University
- Fellowship (Adult Epilepsy Surgery) – University of Washington
- Fellowship (Cerebrovascular & Skull Base Surgery) – Barrow Neurological Institute
- Fellowship (Endovascular) – Louisiana State University Health Science Center
Research Interests:
- Functional and structural brain connectome
- Neurobiology of epilepsy
- Outcomes for neurosurgical treatments
- Neuroimaging
- Brain computer interface
- Optogenetics and brain electrophysiology
Publication Highlights:
- D’Cruz J, Hefner M, Ledbetter C, Frilot C, Howard B, Zhu P, Riel-Romero R, Notarianni C, Toledo EG, Nanda A, Sun H. Focal epilepsy caused by single cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) is associated with regional and global resting state functional connectivity (FC) disruption. Neuroimage Clin. 2019 Nov 5;24:102072. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.102072. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31734529; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6854067.
- Wild E, Barry J, Sun H. Targeted Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Arteriovenous Malformation Downgrading Followed by Microsurgical Resection: A Case Report and Review of the Literature. World Neurosurg. 2019 Jul 30;131:82-86. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2019.07.170. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31369878.
- Senchenkova EY, Ansari J, Becker F, Vital SA, Al-Yafeai Z, Sparkenbaugh EM, Pawlinski R, Stokes KY, Carroll JL, Dragoi AM, Qin CX, Ritchie RH, Sun H, Cuellar-Saenz HH, Rubinstein MR, Han YW, Orr AW, Perretti M, Granger DN, Gavins FNE. Novel Role for the AnxA1-Fpr2/ALX Signaling Axis as a Key Regulator of Platelet Function to Promote Resolution of Inflammation.Circulation. 2019 Jul 23;140(4):319-335. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.039345. Epub 2019 Jun 3. PubMed PMID: 31154815; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6687438.
- Georgescu MM, Li Y, Islam MZ, Notarianni C, Sun H, Olar A, Fuller GN. Mutations of the MAPK/TSC/mTOR pathway characterize periventricular glioblastoma with epithelioid SEGA-like morphology-morphological and therapeutic implications.Oncotarget. 2019 Jun 18;10(40):4038-4052. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.27005. eCollection 2019 Jun 18. PubMed PMID: 31258848; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6592288.
- Savardekar AR, Narayan V, Patra DP, Spetzler RF, Sun H. Timing of Carotid Endarterectomy for Symptomatic Carotid Stenosis: A Snapshot of Current Trends and Systematic Review of Literature on Changing Paradigm towards Early Surgery.Neurosurgery. 2019 Feb 25;. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyy557. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30799491.
- Holly KS, Fitz-Gerald JS, Barker BJ, Murcia D, Daggett R, Ledbetter C, Gonzalez-Toledo E, Sun H. Differentiation of High-Grade Glioma and Intracranial Metastasis Using Volumetric Diffusion Tensor Imaging Tractography. World Neurosurg. 2018 Dec;120:e131-e141. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.07.230. Epub 2018 Aug 27. PubMed PMID: 30165214.
- Cavallo C, Safavi-Abbasi S, Kalani MYS, Gandhi S, Sun H, Oppenlander ME, Zabramski JM, Nakaji P, Lawton MT, Spetzler RF.Pulmonary Complications After Spontaneous Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Experience from Barrow Neurological Institute. World Neurosurg. 2018 Nov;119:e366-e373. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.07.166. Epub 2018 Jul 31. PubMed PMID: 30075258.
- Cuellar H, Maiti T, Narayan V, Patra D, Dossani R, Sun H, Nanda A. Novel Use of Pipeline Stent Device After Inadvertent Microcatheter Rupture During Arteriovenous Fistula Embolization. World Neurosurg. 2018 Nov;119:345-348. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.07.171. Epub 2018 Jul 30. PubMed PMID: 30071327.
- Kalakoti P, Sciubba DM, Pugely AJ, McGirt MJ, Sharma K, Patra DP, Phan K, Madhavan K, Menger RP, Notarianni C, Guthikonda B, Nanda A, Sun H. Impact of Psychiatric Comorbidities on Short-Term Outcomes Following Intervention for Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2018 Oct 1;43(19):1363-1371. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000002616. PubMed PMID: 29481379.
Laboratory Website: www.haisunlab.com