Robert Heller, M.D., has joined Albany Medâs Department of Neurosurgery and has been named assistant professor of neurosurgery at Albany Medical College. He specializes in the surgical treatment of pituitary tumors, meningiomas, acoustic neuromas and gliomas. He is also skilled in stereotactic radiosurgery, a precisely targeted form of radiation therapy to treat tumors.
As a cranial and skull base surgeon, Dr. Heller will work with a team comprised of neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, and ear, nose and throat surgeons who make up Albany Medâs Pituitary and Minimally Invasive Cranial Base Surgery Program.
Dr. Heller completed a complex cranial and skull base neurosurgery fellowship at Tampa General Hospital and University of South Florida in Tampa. He completed his residency training at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, where he also received his medical degree. His research interests include clinical outcomes in minimally invasive approaches to skull base surgery, and he has authored or co-authored nearly two dozen journal articles and book chapters. His professional society memberships include the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the North American Skull Base Society.
He resides in Delmar.
Dr. Heller is seeing patients at Albany Medâs Department of Neurosurgery at 43 New Scotland Ave. To schedule an appointment or for more information, call the Department of Neurosurgery at (518) 262-5088.
James K. Liu, MD
Professor of Neurosurgery
Director of Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery
Rutgers University, New Jersey Medical School
RWJ Barnabas Health
Dr. James K. Liu is the Director of Cerebrovascular, Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery at the Rutgers Neurological Institute of New Jersey, and Professor of Neurological Surgery at Rutgers University, New Jersey Medical School. He is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, and has a robust pituitary tumor practice at University Hospital and Saint Barnabas Medical Center.
Dr. Liu graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with Phi Beta Kappa honors, and obtained his MD from New York Medical College with AOA honors. After completing a neurosurgery residency at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, he was awarded the Dandy Clinical Fellowship by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and obtained advanced fellowship training in Skull Base, Cerebrovascular Surgery & Neuro-oncology at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.
Dr. Liu is renowned for his comprehensive treatment of complex brain tumors and skull base lesions, including pituitary tumors, acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, craniopharyngiomas, chordomas, and jugular foramen tumors. His robust clinical practice encompasses both traditional open and minimally invasive endoscopic endonasal skull base approaches. He also specializes in microsurgery of cerebrovascular diseases including aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), cavernous malformations, and carotid artery stenosis. He also has expertise in cerebrovascular bypass procedures for moya moya disease, carotid artery occlusion, vertebral artery occlusion, complex aneurysms and skull base tumors, as well as endoscopic-assisted microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm.
As one of the most active researchers in his field, Dr. Liu has published extensively with over 250 peer-reviewed publications and 25 textbook chapters. He has taught many hands-on cadaver dissection courses in skull base surgery and has lectured extensively nationally and internationally throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Liu’s research is focused on the development of innovative and novel skull base and endoscopic techniques, quantitative surgical neuroanatomy, microsurgical and microvascular anastomosis skills training, virtual surgical simulation, pituitary tumor biology, and clinical outcomes after skull base and cerebrovascular surgery.
Dr. Liu is an active member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, North American Skull Base Society, Pituitary Network Association, The Facial Pain (Trigeminal Neuralgia) Association, AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section, Tumor Section. He serves on the medical advisory board of the Acoustic Neuroma Association of New Jersey, and is the current Secretary-Treasurer of the International Meningioma Society.
