George A. Ojemann, M.D.
Professor emeritus
Director of Research - U.W.M.C.

Dr. Ojemann is professor emeritus in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He retired from clinical duties in 2005 as an attending neurosurgeon at the University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center, and Children’s Hospital of Seattle, but remains active in research and continues to direct the Clinical Neuroscience Training Grant funded by the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) of the National Institute of Health, which offers pre- and post-doctoral training in the Clinical Neurosciences to qualified M.D.- and Ph.D.-level researchers.

Dr. Ojemann obtained both his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Iowa. He then completed his training in the field of neurosurgery at King County Hospital (now Harborview Medical Center in Seattle) and the University of Washington, followed by further specialty training in surgical neurology at the National Institutes of Health. He returned to Seattle in 1966, and has been affiliated with the neurosurgical faculty since that time.

Dr. Ojemann served as director of the Regional Epilepsy Center at Harborview from 1986-1996. In addition to being listed in Who’s Who in America and Best Doctors in America, he is on editorial boards of several scholarly journals in the field of neurosurgery and neurology and continues to give lectures at national and international meetings.

Research
Dr. Ojemann’s clinical interests focused on the surgical therapy of medically refractory epilepsy and brain tumors in functionally important cortical areas, utilizing awake neurosurgery under local anesthesia. His ongoing research focuses on the neurobiology of human cognition, particularly cortical organization for language and memory, analyzing decades of accumulated data gathered during awake neurosurgeries, from electrical stimulation mapping to recording of activity of single neurons.

Dr. Ojemann's recent review article from Nature: "Invasive Recordings from the Human Brain: Clinical Insights and Beyond" (pdf file 428kb)

Education and Training
1955- BA with highest distinction, University of Iowa

1959- MD, University of Iowa

1959-60- Intern, King County Hospital (now Harborview Medical Center, Seattle)

1960-64- Neurosurgical Resident, University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals

1967- Certified by American Board of Neurological Surgery

Honors and Awards
1984- Grass Prize, Society of Neurological Surgeons, , for “Outstanding continuous commitment to research in the neurosciences by a neurosurgeon”

1984- Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award,

1991- Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, University of Iowa,

1998- Doctor of Science (Honorary) Medical College of Ohio,

2000- Zulch Prize for Basic Neurological Research, Max-Planck Society

2000- President, American Academy of Neurological Surgery

1993- Chairman, American Academy of Neurological Surgery

1987-93-Director, American Board ofNeurological Surgery

1994-99- Member, Residency Review Committee for Neurological Surgery

1992- Chairman, Journal of Neurosurgery Editorial Board

1985-92- Member, Journal of Neurosurgery Editorial Board

1997-2000- Member, NINDS Advisory Council, NIH

1992-95- Member, Board of Directors, American Association of Neurological Surgeons

Listed in Who’s Who in America, Best Doctors in America

Research Grants (since 2000)
Neural Correlates of Human Memory, NIH NS 36527

McDonnell-Pew Cognitive Neuroscience Grant

Neuroscience Training Grant, NIH NS

Selected Publications
1. Ojemann G, Schoenfield-McNeill J, Corina D, Anatomic subdivisions in human temporal cortical neuronal activity related to recent verbal memory. Nature Neuroscience 5:64-71, 2002. PubMed abstract

2. McKhann II G, Schoenfield-McNeill j, Born D, Ojemann G, Intraoperative hippocampal electrocorticography to predict the extent of hippocampal resection in temporal lobe epilepsy surgery. J Neurosurgery 93:44-52, 2000. PubMed abstract

3. Ojemann G, Schoenfield-McNeill J, Neurons in human temporal cortex active with verbal associative learning. Brain and Language 64:317-327 1998. PubMed abstract

4. Johnson M, Ojemann G, Role of the human thalamus in language and memory: evidence from electrophysiological studies. Brain and Cognition 42:218-230, 2000. PubMed abstract

5. Ojemann G, Awake operations with mapping in epilepsy, in Schmidek H, Sweet W, eds, Operative Neurosurgical Techniques 3rd edition Philadelphia, Saunders, 1995, pp 1317-1322.

6. Calvin W, Ojemann G, Conversations with Neil’s Brain, New York, Addison-Wesley, 1994.

7. Creutzfeldt O, Ojemann G, Lettich E, Neuronal activity in human lateral temporal lobe: I. Responses ot speech; II Responses to subjects own voice. Exp Brain Res 77:451-489, 1989.

8. Ojemann G, Ojemann J, Lettich E, Berger M, Cortical language localization in left, dominant hemisphere: An electrical stimulation mapping investigation in 117 patients. J Neurosurg 71:316-326, 1989. PubMed abstract

9. Haglund M, Ojemann G, Hochman D, Optical imaging of epiletiform and functional activity in human cerebral cortex. Nature 358:668-671, 1992.

10. Ojemann S, Berger M, Lettich E, Ojemann G, Localization of language functions in children: Results of electrical stimulation mapping. J Neurosurg in press 2003.