Dr. Donald Smith received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his medical degree from the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine. He subsequently completed neurosurgical residency at UVM, including extensive supplemental training at the Montreal Neurological Institute and the National Hospital for Neurologic Disease, Queensquare, London. Upon residency graduation in 1986 Dr. Smith entered a further year of fellowship training in microneurosurgery with Dr. David Cahill at the University of South Florida. Dr. Smith joined the USF faculty the following year and has been a fixture in the Department of Neurosurgery ever since, with extensive experience in all aspects of general neurosurgery and with a concentrated interest in stereotaxy, neuromodulation, and deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Dr. Yarema Bezchlibnyk completed his PhD in Philosophy from Dept. of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University and his medical degree from University of Toronto. He did his neurosurgery residency in Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, and a Stereotactic, Functional Neurosurgery & Epilepsy Surgery Fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He is currently Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of South Florida’s Morsani School of Medicine, with a focus on Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Epilepsy Surgery, and Peripheral Nerve Surgery. He has been involved in clinical and basic science research in the neurosciences for over 20 years, and has specific training and expertise in the neurobiology of psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions. He has published numerous studies exploring surgical outcomes in patients with adult-onset hydrocephalus, dystonia, Parkinson’s Disease, and epilepsy.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery and Brain RepairUSF Health Morsani College of Medicine

Before USF: University of Iowa, University of Oxford, and University of Toronto (Fellowships in epilepsy and functional neurosurgery)

Expertise: Surgical implantation of devices in the brain and spinal cord for adults with movement disorders, epilepsy and pain. Specialized techniques include: Stereotactic frame-based and robotic surgery to treat movement disorders and diagnose epilepsy; MRI-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to treat tremors; stereotactic and open treatment modalities for epilepsy; laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) for epilepsy; vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy; open, percutaneous, gamma knife, and electrical field stimulation to treat trigeminal neuralgia; and spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia stimulation to mitigate chronic pain.

Dr. Theresa Zesiewicz is a Professor of Neurology at University of South Florida, specializing in movement disorders for 28 years. Her interests include Parkinson’s disease, Essential tremor, DBS, Dystonia, ataxia, and clinical research. Dr. Z has authored almost 200 peer-reviewed articles in movement disorders, including guidelines for the American Academy of Neurology for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, Essential Tremor, Restless Legs Syndrome and ataxia, and 4 books. She completed her medical degree in Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, her neurology residency in State University of New York (SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn, New York) and a 2-year fellowship in movement disorders at USF, Tampa. Dr. Z is also the Director of the USF Ataxia Research Center, focusing on ataxic syndromes and Friedreich’s Ataxia.