Neurological Institute
Unparalleled treatment and care for patients with neurological disorders
The Neurological Institute is one of Houston Methodist’s six centers of excellence—emphasizing medical care, research and academics. It is recognized as a research leader, with teams involved in developing new treatments, drugs and clinical trials for neurological disorders. Our exceptional leaders within the Neurological Institute have developed specialized patient clinics for some of the most devastating neurological diseases, going above and beyond medical care by providing a support group and social network for dealing with these diseases. Accordingly, U.S. News & World Report ranks the Neurological Institute the top center of its kind in Texas and one of the best in the country.
Leveraging philanthropic funding will support the recruitment of targeted physician-scientists; bolster translational research projects on the cusp of transformative breakthroughs; and establish an endowment for translational neuroscience research to help current and future research reach patients in the clinic.
The strategic vision of the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute is to redefine the future of neurological medicine. Our goals are to:
- Detect Alzheimer’s early, before symptoms begin, and stop it in its tracks; Houston Methodist physician-researchers believe this is possible here within the next five years
- Halt the progression of ALS
- Restore movement to those damaged by spinal cord injury, which has already been accomplished in small animal trials
- Restore brain function damaged by stroke and traumatic brain injury
- Destroy brain cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue, which Houston Methodist has been able to accomplish through minimally invasive surgery and nanomedicine
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Help us bring a new kind of hope and healing for those who need it most.
Stories
Read more about our friends and benefactors whose leadership and generosity have helped to build our legacy and take this next step forward.
Dr. Stanley H. Appel and Joan Appel
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Dr. Stanley H. Appel and Joan Appel
For nearly four decades, Dr. Stanley H. Appel has dedicated his life to understanding neurological diseases and their devastating effects. Now the Houston Methodist Department of Neurology that he has chaired so many years will bear his name and become the Stanley H. Appel Department of Neurology – thanks to an unprecedented and remarkable gift from the woman who has worked by his side for 18 years – his wife Joan. “His passion for his work and for his patients is incredible,” Joan says. “I thought it would be a wonderful thing to name the department after him. He is really loved.” Her gift was a sudden epiphany, providing a pathway to ensure that her husband’s remarkable legacy will forever be associated with the nationally renowned department he has built at Houston Methodist. It also honors their mutual workplace, giving the hospital abundant resources to inspire excellence and innovation in perpetuity.
Dr. Appel has served as chief of the neurology division and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He held a joint appointment as chair of the Department of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of the neurology service at The Methodist Hospital from 1977 to 2004. He then became the first chair of the newly established Department of Neurology at Houston Methodist. In this role he also directs the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute and is professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “This gift is extraordinary in so many ways,” says Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO. “First, it’s from an individual who is, herself, a professional whose work instills the utmost respect and admiration. It’s also a transformational gift that blends current and future endowed funding that will continue to grow and support the organization forever. Finally, it’s from a wife honoring her husband in a very unique way, and both the benefactor and the honoree have dedicated their lives’ work to Houston Methodist.”
Stanley Hersh Appel was born in 1933 to Russian immigrant parents in Boston. As a young student at Boston Latin School, he was expected to study up to six hours a night. He completed his undergraduate work at Harvard, then attended Harvard Business School. But an epiphany at age 22 changed his course, and he decided to enroll in medical school to study and understand the workings of the human brain. He started at Tufts and earned his medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, returning to Harvard for a medical internship.
Throughout his life, Dr. Appel has maintained strong ties to family and speaks with pride of his sons Evan and Jon, his daughter Tanya, and six grandchildren. It was Dr. Appel’s mother, though, who always played a special role right up until the day she died at age 101. He had called her every Sunday night since moving into the dorm at Harvard. Dr. Appel remembers their final conversation in February 2010. “She said, ‘You know, Stan, I’m tired. I think I’m going to say goodbye.’” The next day, he received a call that she died peacefully in her sleep. “She was in perfect cognitive health – she never lost a synapse.”
The Appels share a passion for neurology and a deep commitment to their patients. She is a physician assistant and conducted HIV and AIDS research before joining the Houston Methodist Department of Neurology in 1998. They both recall one patient’s reaction to his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis. Dr. Appel had just delivered the news when the patient said, ‘It must be so hard for you to go from room to room and tell people that they have ALS.’ “I just told you that you have ALS and all you can think of is us? That’s why we’re here,” Dr. Appel recalls. “If anything is motivating, that is motivating. It keeps you going.”
Quality and duration of life have improved for ALS patients over the years. Just 15 years ago, ALS patients lived an average of three years. Today, they live five to six years, some longer. Physicians are now able to better control the main clinical problems of ALS patients – breathing difficulties and falling. Dr. Appel has teamed up with Massachusetts General Hospital to study whether altering the immune system can help ALS patients. “We’ve spent many years documenting that the immune system plays a significant role in neurological diseases,” Dr. Appel says. His research team recently took blood from an ALS patient and altered its properties before injecting it back into the patient after a few weeks. “In a mouse model, this dramatically extended its life,” he says.
Dr. Appel’s passion for his patients and his vision for the future of ALS research come alive in the ALS Clinic he founded 34 years ago. The MDA/ALS Research and Clinical Center was the first multidisciplinary care center for ALS patients in the country. One Friday a month, patients and their caregivers arrive early – it’s first-come, first-served – and physicians, social workers, dietitians, physical and occupational therapists, volunteer lawyers and accountants come to them. They’re called Team Hope, and they give people as much time as they need, with no direct cost to patients. The Appels are at their best on clinic days, and they wouldn’t miss one. The love and respect they share with these patients is present in their touch, their words and their smiles. Ronald Bess (at right) is a regular patient who comes three to four times annually and has for a decade. The 65-year-old retired refinery worker drives himself 55 miles to be the first one in line. “This gentleman shows that the more positive you are, the more you fight ALS and get on with your living, the better you do,” Dr. Appel says. When the Appels hear that he arrives 45 minutes before the doors open at 6:30 a.m., they promise to put a chair by the elevator before the next clinic.
When Joan Appel decided on this gift to name the department in her husband’s honor, Dr. Appel had no idea it was coming. “I’m grateful,” he says, “but whether Stan Appel’s name is on the department is not a key issue. What is most important is that we have a community of dedicated, highly motivated people who want to improve the quality of life for their patients.” Joan’s gift will do just that, by helping to ensure outstanding care and improved treatments in perpetuity through a sustained investment in research, innovation and discovery and by the continued recruitment and retention of leading clinician-scientists in the Appel Department of Neurology.
From the top floor of their Houston high-rise, the Appels have created a refuge above the city and the Texas Medical Center. They live with three cats and a nearly 360-degree view of the country’s fourth-largest city. Every evening, they sit side by side and dine by candlelight. “There aren’t many people who can work together 24-7, and we do,” Dr. Appel says. “Neither of us likes to fight – we’re non-confrontational people. We work very well together.” And they make each other laugh. “She’s smart as hell and always so funny,” he says. “What you see is what you get,” Joan Appel says of their relationship. “We have lunch together every day, and we always will. I keep threatening to retire, but I’ll work until I drop dead. I know we’re going to carry him out in a pine box.”
Dr. Appel’s list of accolades is long. He has written 15 books and more than 400 articles, won numerous awards and trained more than 200 neurologists, many of them now heading their own departments. “Stan Appel is among the most preeminent neurologists in the world,” says Houston Methodist Board Member Gary Edwards, whose late mother Sonja was treated by Dr. Appel and whose generous gifts – from Gary, his wife Peggy and their family – endowed the ALS chair that Dr. Appel holds, named the ALS laboratory in his mother’s memory and established the envisioned Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. “We’re so grateful for the exceptional care he provided to my mother, and my family has been honored to support his work.” Perhaps Dr. Appel’s greatest, most lasting legacy will be his connection with patients and his ongoing quest to improve their lives through research, care and compassion.
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Kathy Hathorn Reichenthal
Few people know hospitals better than Kathy Hathorn Reichenthal. She and her late husband Jack co-founded American Art…
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Kathy Hathorn Reichenthal
Few people know hospitals better than Kathy Hathorn Reichenthal. She and her late husband Jack co-founded American Art Resources in the 1980s, ultimately growing it into the premier international consulting firm for improving patients' hospital experiences through carefully selected, life-affirming artwork. Their design consulting has changed the face of hospitals in 47 states and several overseas countries, creating masterful displays of color and images that give patients comfort and ease stress.
After Jack died of a glioblastoma in 2009, Kathy made it her mission to revitalize Houston Methodist Hospital's Main 8 where they spent so much time during his illness. In recent years, she worked with the couple's nationally known artist friends and clients to contribute art to Houston Methodist's Outpatient Center (OPC), collecting nearly 100 pieces valued at approximately $200,000. The reactions of patients, physicians and staff were heartwarming, she says.
Now, to honor her beloved husband and his doctor, Kathy has committed a $2.25 million estate gift to establish the Kathy and Jack Reichenthal Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery in honor of Robert G. Grossman, MD. During Jack's years of treatment, Dr. Grossman and his team became family to the couple, virtually holding their hands through the entire journey, she says. "There was always that sense of healing, even when curing might not have been possible,” she recalls. “The heart and the healing - to me, that's what Houston Methodist represents.”
Dr. Grossman says Jack "lightened the life of everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.”
"He fought his illness - which was progressive and unrelenting - with grace and courage in a manner that was without equal," recalls Dr. Grossman. "Kathy was always by his side. Her courage was a great source of strength to him and to the physicians who treated Jack.”
Kathy says her husband was passionate about everything he did, a champion for the rights of humankind and a man who never met a stranger. "Whatever time he had on Earth, he didn't waste a minute of it,” she says.
Dr. Grossman says he will carry Jack's memory with him forever. And the remarkable gift dedicated to the memory of Jack Reichenthal and the work of Dr. Grossman provides Houston Methodist Hospital with a legacy of hope. ''Jack's life will remain with us as a reminder of what the human spirit can accomplish,” says Dr. Grossman. "He was an extraordinary individual and having my name associated with the chair that honors his memory is a privilege.
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Kenneth R. Peak Center for Brain and Pituitary Tumor Treatment and Research
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Kenneth R. Peak Center for Brain and Pituitary Tumor Treatment and Research
The Center is unique in many ways. Cutting-edge researchers in nanotechnology, gene therapy, neuro-chemistry, stem cell technology and genetics are working side by side with world-class clinicians including neurosurgeons, neurologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists and rehabilitation specialists to provide personalized care for each and every patient. Thanks to the generosity of Kenneth and Donna Peak, the Center provides individualized care to patients with brain, spinal and pituitary tumors and other brain and pituitary disorders to develop personalized treatment never before thought possible.
Kenneth Peak, a prominent and respected member of Houston’s oil community, had not been feeling like himself. A disciplined runner, he’d been bothered by weakness on one side of his body that was making it difficult for him to keep up his routine.
He went to see Dr. David Baskin, vice chair and residency program director of Houston Methodist Hospital’s Department of Neurosurgery and a senior member of the Houston Methodist Research Institute. The diagnosis was not good; Peak had a very aggressive tumor called a glioblastoma that had spread throughout major portions of his brain.
His survival would normally have been measured in days to weeks. After standard treatments failed, Dr. Baskin and his team explored additional novel technologies that are still in development.
“In his case, it meant sending his tumor tissue to four major genetic laboratories to analyze the entire genetic makeup of the tumor. We then took every chemotherapy agent known to man, tested them to see what worked, then combined all this information to design a highly specialized treatment. At one point in time, we even used superselective microcatheters to deliver chemotherapy drugs directly into the brain’s blood vessels that were actually feeding the tumor at the stem of his brain,” Dr. Baskin explains.
As a result of a number of treatments, Peak’s tumor shrank considerably over the course of the next several months, and he was able to remain mentally alert and physically functional.
“Mr. Peak was a very smart man,” says Dr. Baskin. “This was a man who ran major companies. He motivated people as soon as he walked into the room. He was a master at organizing new ideas and quickly creating successful ventures. He realized that this was an extraordinary effort. “We had long conversations along with his wife Donna, who is an incredible woman. She has a PhD in biochemistry and was 101 percent up-to-date with everything we were doing. She has a tremendous understanding of molecular biology. One could have very high-level scientific conversations with her and get new ideas, like speaking with a senior research colleague. Donna was instrumental in helping to design and execute Mr. Peak’s personalized treatment, and brought a creative scientific outlook to the table during our many discussions.”
At one point, Kenneth asked Dr. Baskin if the kind of out-of-the-box treatment he was getting was available for everybody. Dr. Baskin replied, “We do the best we can, and we do very well. But in order to deliver this on a larger scale, it’s always been my dream to build a brain tumor center and to have a whole bevy of people available for each and every patient -– multispecialty doctors, caregivers, nurse practitioners, research scientists -– a combined effort to try to bring this to the next level.”
In the end, the best medical science available in the world could not save Kenneth Peak. He passed away in April 2013 at the age of 67. But before he died, he and Donna made a $10 million commitment to Houston Methodist to establish the Kenneth R. Peak Center for Brain and Pituitary Tumor Treatment and Research. The Peak center, which is already up and running, should move into a beautiful new location before the end of 2015. It will be housed in Houston Methodist’s state-ofthe-art outpatient facility and will collaborate extensively with the Houston Methodist Cancer Center, under the direction of world-renowned breast cancer researcher Dr. Jenny Chang.
“Donna Peak was instrumental in this gift,” says Dr. Baskin, “because Mr. Peak looked to her to explain to him what was going on. He was a brilliant human being, and had an innate ability to grasp complex issues quickly. However, understanding neuroscience and tumor biology was like learning a foreign language to him, and Donna was his teacher. But Donna looked to him, too, to make major decisions all along the way.
“When people have cancer, one sometimes sees the very worst in families, not the best. Minor stresses turn into major rifts. Personality differences become major issues. But not with the Peaks. This is a loving and wonderful family, who rallied together to fight Ken’s cancer with their hearts, souls and minds. The captain of the ship was Donna Peak, with scientific brilliance and a profound love for Ken that one rarely has the privilege to see. She idolized him to the last second.”
In keeping with Kenneth Peak’s wish for everyone to have access to the same kind of care he received at Houston Methodist, the Peak center will offer personalized neurosurgical and cancer treatment options. It will give patients access to novel research studies not available elsewhere. Investigational therapies include immunotherapy, nanosyringes for drug delivery, mitochondrial chemotherapy “smart bombs,” stem cells, gene therapy, genomic, proteonomic and DNA profiling, and high throughput screening of every tumor to determine the most effective course of treatment. In addition to tumors originating in the brain and spine, Dr. Baskin says the Peak center will focus on cancers that have metastasized to the brain (usually from the breast or lung), as well as pituitary tumors. While pituitary tumors are rarely malignant, they can cause blindness or other life-threatening disorders due to hormonal changes, if they go untreated.
“Brain and pituitary tumors are a devastating set of diseases,” says Dr. Baskin. “We are bringing together specialists from all over the world and, using state-of-theart technology, designing novel, personalized treatment for each patient, and when possible, eradicating tumors and killing cancer.”
Dr. Baskin, who began his medical and research career at Baylor College of Medicine in 1984 and now is a professor of neurological surgery at Houston Methodist and the Weill Cornell Medical College, emphasized that Houston Methodist is covering all of the construction and operational costs, so that the gifts from the Peaks and other contributors will be devoted entirely to patient care and research. “Houston Methodist’s generosity is unusual in the medical world, where such gifts almost always have to support a portion of operational costs for the institution. Their willingness to cover construction and infrastructural costs leverages this gift and allows me to use all of these funds for what they were intended for, with the operation of the center supported by the hospital.
“We consider each patient to be unique, and know that each tumor has different genetic information and biological behaviors. The Peak center will capitalize on these differences, starting with an initial $5 million commitment to research which we hope will further our goal to provide personalized treatment using new technologies to achieve cure rates never before thought to be possible.”
For a man who spends his days getting inside people’s heads, literally, Dr. Baskin seems to have maintained the ability to not take himself too seriously. Among the weighted volumes of scientific research lining the shelves of his Scurlock Tower office is a thin book called Your Brain on Cubs, documenting the biochemical changes that apparently result from rooting for a team that has not won the World Series in more than 100 years.
But he is not kidding when he expresses his profound appreciation and gratitude for the gift he and Houston Methodist have been given by Kenneth and Donna Peak.
“How paradoxical is it that the man who had the worst of the worst, who we really couldn’t help as much as we’ve helped so many people, could still have the vision, foresight, compassion and commitment to the Houston community to provide such generous support? Here’s a man who knew he was dying, but who made this gift to help others after him. It speaks volumes about him and his family, and sets a high bar for all of us to cure brain tumors.”
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