Our Team

Nizar Souayah, MD, FAAN

Pediatric Neurology

Dr. Nizar Souayah is board-certified in Neurology, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and Neuromuscular Medicine. He is currently an Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience and Associate Professor of Neurology at the Neurological Institute of New Jersey at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark. Dr. Souayah is the Director of the MDA Clinic, the Electrodiagnostic Medicine Laboratory, the Peripheral Neuropathy Center, and the Neuromuscular Division. Dr. Souayah sees children and adults at New Jersey Pediatric Neuroscience Institute to perform Electromyography (EMG), a diagnostic procedure that helps to assess the health of muscles and the nerves cells that control them. Dr. Souayah received his medical degree from the Medical School of Tunis in Tunisia. He completed internships and residencies in Primary Care and Family Practice at the Medical School of Tunis; in Internal Medicine at the University of Strasbourg in France and at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and in Neurology at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Souayah completed clinical and research fellowships in Electromyography/Neuromuscular Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston and in Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Disorders at Drexel Medical School in Philadelphia.

Dr. Souayah is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, where he also serves on the History of Neurology Committee, and is a member of American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine and Neuromuscular Section. He is a Fellow of the. Dr. Souayah has authored or coauthored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts and serves on the Editorial Boards of several medical and scientific journals. He has presented both nationally and internationally at several meetings and grand rounds, including the annual meetings of The American Society of Neuroimaging, American Academy of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine and the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Souayah’s major research interests are in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, neuroinflammation, cell therapy, and outcome studies in neurological disorders and neuromuscular adverse reactions of vaccination. The goal of his research is to develop a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. Dr Souayah is investigating the effect of cell therapy combined to other drugs on the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He also researching the effect of modulation of neuroinflammation and oxidative stress on the course of the disease. Dr. Souayah is also developing a new model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, studying the natural history of the disease, correlation between biomarkers and course of the disease and the best cost effective way to manage ALS patients. He has been listed as Healthgrade’s “Top Scoring Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Doctor” and was included in the Consumer Research Council of America’s “Guide to America’s Top Physicians.”

Published In

1. Block BR, Collins JJ, Rios JC, Mazzola CA. Levothyroxine Treatment as an Etiologic Factor in the Development of Infantile Craniosynostosis. Submitted to PEDIATRICS. October 2021.

2. Caruso JP, Ravinderjit S, Mazzola CA, Eldridge CM, Chilakapati S, Deme P, Swartz K, Schirmer CM, Huntoon K, Cheng J, Steinmetz M, Adogwa O: Are Neurosurgeons Leading the Way? A Comparative Assessment of Racial and Ethnic Diversity Among Specialties in Residency Training. Submitted to NEUROSURGERY. July 15,2021.

3. Bautista A, Bogan M, Mazzola CA: Secondary Craniosynostosis and Slit Ventricle Syndrome — A Dangerous Combination: Case Report and Literature Review. Submitted to Pediatric Neurosurgery. Summer, 2021.

4. Mazzola CA: Letter: United States medicolegal Progress and Innovation in telemedicine in the Age of COVID-19: A Primer for Neurosurgeons. NEUROSURGERY. NEU-D-21-01510, accepted October 2021.

5. Huntoon K, Stacy J, Cioffi S, Profitt C, Mazzola C, Sales Representatives in the Operating Room: Conflict of Interest or Clinical Support? World Neurosurgery, 2021,ISSN 1878-8750,. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2021.08.088

6. Mazzola CA. Invited Commentary: The Role of Gender in Neurosurgical Residency Applicants’ Letters of Recommendation, Neurosurgery, Volume 89, Issue 3, September 2021, Page E155, https://doi.org/10.1093/neuros/nyab235

7. Ca M, Luo Y, Wu Z, Mazzola CA, Goodman A, Catania L, Alvarez TL, Halperin JM, Li X: Topological Aberrance of Structural Brain Network Provides Quantitative Markers of post-TBI Attention Deficits in Children. Brain Connectivity doi: 10.1089/brain.2020.0866

8. Bertoli MJ, Parikh K, Klyde D, Mazzola CA, Shah SP: Spinal arteriovenous malformation in a pediatric patient with a history of congenital syphilis: a case report. BMC Pediatrics (2021)21:242 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-021-02707-y

9. Franklin RC, Behmer Hansen RA, Pierce JM, Tsitouras DJ, Mazzola CA. Reply to Oleske et al., Blood Lead Concentrations in Newark Children. Comment on “Franklin et al. Broken Promises to the People of Newark: A Historical Review of the Newark Uprising, the Newark Agreements, and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School’s Commitments to Newark. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 2117. Online Version: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4215.

10. Kandregula S, Lefever D, Trosclair K, Savardekar A, Menger R, Agarwal N, Kimmell K, Mazzola CA, Cozzens J, Rosenow J, Schirmer C, Guthikonda B: “There has got to be a better way: The Medical Legal Environment in Neurosurgery: An Informative Overview of the Stages of Litigation and Distinct Challenges. Accepted by World Neurosurgery. March 6, 2021. WNS-21-296R1.

11. Caruso JP, Adogwa O, Mazzola CA, Steinmetz M, Simon SD, Schirmer CM: An Assessment of Neurosurgery Resident Clinical and Socioeconomic Training: The 2013 Council of State Neurosurgical Societies Post-Residency Survey Results. World Neurosurg. 2021 Mar 12; S1878-8750(21)00401-0. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2021.03.033

12. Franklin RC, Behmer Hansen RA, Pierce JM, Tsitouras DJ, Mazzola CA. Broken Promises to the People of Newark: A Historical Review of the Newark Uprising, the Newark Agreements, and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School’s Commitments to Newark. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021,18, 2117. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042117

13. Ellen L Air, MD, PhD, Katie O Orrico, JD, Deborah L Benzil, MD, Alan M Scarrow, MD, JD, James R Bean, MD, Catherine A Mazzola, MD, Linda M Liau, MD, PhD, MBA, James T Rutka, MD, PhD, Karin M Muraszko, MD, Developing a Professionalism and Harassment Policy for Organized Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, 2021; nyab051, https://doi.org/10.1093/neuros/nyab051

14. Snee IA, Mazzola CA. Chiari I Malformation with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome: case report and review of the literature; Childs Nerv Syst (25 January 2021) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-020-04992

15. Bogan MH, Bautista AC, Natoli LT, Morin RJ, Reddy GM, Mazzola CA. Secondary Craniosynostosis and Elevated Intracranial Pressure with Functioning Shunt: An Imaging Report. J Clin Med Img. Jan 25, 2021; V5(5): 1-3.

16. Snee I, Mazzola CA, Fellus J: Kleptomania and other Disinhibition Linked with Pseudobulbar Affect Resulting from TBI; Treatment Remission from Dextromethorphan/Quinidine 39 Years Post-Injury. J Cogn Neuropsychol. Vol. 4 No. 2: 02. 2020.

17. Markosian C, Mazzola CA, Tomycz LD: “Sodium Fluorescein-Guided Gross Total Resection of Pediatric Exophytic Brainstem Glioma: 2-Dimensional Operative Video”. Operative Neurosurgery, opaa357, https://doi.org/10.1093/ons/opaa357. Published: 12 December 2020

18. Huntoon K, Stacy J, Cioffi S, Swartz K, Mazzola CA, Profitt C, Adogwa, O: The Enforceability of Noncompete Clauses in the Medical profession: A Review by the Workforce Committee and the Medicolegal Committee of the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies. Neurosurgery 87:1085-1090, December 2020. CNS ANNUAL SOCIOECONOMIC PAPER OF 2020.

19. Mazzola CA, Christie C, Snee IA, Iqbal H. Atlantoaxial subluxation in the pediatric patient: Case series and literature review. J Neurosci Neurol Disord. 2020; 4:069-074, November 2020.

20. Hansen RT, Hansen RA, Markosian C, Mazzola CA, Mammis A: Neurosurgery Community Engagement and Lessons Learned. World Neurosurg. 2020 Nov;143:579-580. Doi:10.1016 PMID: 33167119

21. Markosian C., Mazzola CA, Tomycz, LD. Gross Total Resection of Pediatric Cervical Intramedullary Ependymoma with D-Wave Monitoring: A Case Report. SN Compr. Clin. Med. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-020-00618-0

22. Guthikonda B, Mazzola CA, Steinmetz MP, Cheng JS, Stacy JD, Wohns RN: Introduction. The importance of understanding the medicolegal climate in neurosurgery. Neurosurgical Focus. Volume 49 (2020): Issue 5 (Nov 2020): Medicolegal issues. neurosurgery https://doi.org/10.3171/2020.8.FOCUS20765

23. Bauer DF, Baird LC, Klimo P, Mazzola CA, Nikas DC, Tamber MS, Flannery MA. Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guidelines on the Treatment of Pediatric Hydrocephalus: Update of the 2014 Guidelines. Neurosurgery, Published: 28 October 2020

24. Menger R, Esfahani DR, Heary R, Ziu M, Mazzola CA, LeFever D, Origitano T, Barnes T, Cozzens J, Taylor S. Contract Negotiation for Neurosurgeons: A Practical Guide. Menger Neurosurgery. 2020 Sep 15;87(4):614-619. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyaa042.PMID: 32310279

25. Snee IA, Mazzola CA. C1-C2 subluxation after mild cervical spine trauma in a child: a case report; Surgical Case Reports doi: 10.31487/j.SCR.2020.07.17

26. Erdman CM, Christie C, Iqbal MO, Mazzola CA, Tomycz: The utilization of sodium fluorescein in pediatric brain stem gliomas: a case report and review of the literature. Childs Nerv Syst. 2020 Aug 11. doi: 10.1007/s00381-020-04857-3.

27. Iqbal H, Mazzola CA: Recurrent Torticollis and Cervical Subluxation in a Pediatric Patient. Surgical Case Reports doi: 10.31487/j.SCR.2020.08.02

28. Silva NA, Cerasiello SY, Herendeen JA, Sotayo A, Say I, Mazzola CA, Liu JK, Eloy JA. Gender Differences in NIH Grant Funding in Neurological Surgery. J Clin Neurosci. 2020 Oct;80:43-49. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2020.07.052. Epub 2020 Aug 17. PMID: 33099365

29. Cao M, Luo Y, Wu Z, Mazzola CA et al: Topological Aberrance of Structural Brain Network Provides Quantitative Markers of post-TBI Attention Deficits in Children. The preprint in perpetuity. medRxiv preprint doi: . this version posted June 16, 2020.

30. Zhang HJ, Silva N, Solli E, Ayala AC, Tomycz L, Christie C, Mazzola CA: Treatment options and long-term outcomes in pediatric spinal cord vascular malformations: A case report and review of the literature. Childs Nerv Syst. 2020 May 6. doi: 10.1007/s00381-020-04624-4.

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