Melike Mut Askun, MD, PhD
Neurosurgery
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Bio & Overview
Melike Mut Askun, MD, PhD, is a neurosurgeon who specializes in brain tumor diagnosis and treatment. She has expertise in treating gliomas and brain metastasis, especially involving regions of the brain responsible for language, movement, and cognitive functions. She is also interested in the treatment of pituitary adenomas.
She uses the most current technology to help her patient’s maintain their quality of life.
“Surgical treatment of brain tumors requires a multidisciplinary approach. And a neurosurgeon is an essential part of the team in the journey from diagnosis to treatment,” Dr. Mut says.
She adds, “Maximum and safe tumor removal, while preserving neurological function, contributes significantly to our patient's quality of life. This is why we utilize the most current technology in the operating room.”
The advanced technologies and procedures she uses during surgery include:
- Neuro-navigation systems
- Intraoperative ultrasound
- Intraoperative MRI
- Intraoperative neuromonitoring
- Mapping for location of brain tumors in areas that control key functions like language and movement
- Awake craniotomy
- Tumor specific fluorescence staining
- Endoscopy
Dr. Mut graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in Turkey. Graduating with honors from medical school, she then obtained certification to practice medicine in the United States. She did her neurosurgery residency training at Hacettepe University Department of Neurosurgery, combined with a clinical fellowship at the University of Washington, Department of Neurosurgery in Seattle.
After her neurosurgery residency, she started the PhD program in Neuroscience at Hacettepe University Institute of Neurological Sciences and Psychiatry. Her PhD research was focused on the understanding of gliomagenesis, signal transduction pathways, and potential therapeutic targets.
She then completed a surgical neuro-oncology fellowship at the University of Virginia. She practiced as a brain tumor surgeon between 2005-2021 at Hacettepe University in Turkey.
To improve care for brain tumor patients, she institutionalized a multidisciplinary tumor board, and worked to standardize patient care, education, and training in surgical neuro-oncology. She’s helped get the surgical neuro-oncology program recognized in neurosurgical communities and at a national level.
In 2021, she joined the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia. “I am a surgeon-scientist fascinated with brain tumors,” she shares. “I’m passionate about learning and teaching micro-neurosurgical anatomy to preserve the patient’s neurological function, while removing the brain tumors.”
Her personal areas of research interest include the surgical neuroanatomy, glioma tumorigenesis, signal transduction pathways of the brain tumors, serum diagnostic biomarkers, targeted therapeutics with nano-drug delivery through the blood brain barrier, and routes of drug delivery.
Academic Information
- Academic Role
- Associate Professor
Conditions & Treatments
- Benign neoplasm of brain
- Brain metastases
- Brain neoplasms
- Glioblastoma multiforme
- Malignant brain neoplasm
- Meningioma of the spine
- Metastatic brain cancer
- Primary brain tumor
- Gender
- Female
- Languages
- Turkish, English
- Age Groups Seen
- Adults (21-65)
Older Adults (65+)
- Primary Education
- Hacettepe University Institute of Neurological Sciences and Psychiatry
- Residency
- Hacettepe University
- Fellowships
- University of Virginia School of Medicine
Reviews
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