Brian Milligan, M.D., F.A.A.N.S.

Professional Background

Dr. Brian Milligan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at The University of Kansas Health System (TUKHS), where his clinical practice focuses on complex cranial surgery utilizing advanced techniques including awake brain surgery. His main interests include: brain and spinal tumors especially glioma, pituitary tumors, meningioma and acoustic neuroma; cerebrovascular disease including aneurysms, AVMs, carotid stenosis and Moyamoya; and uncommon conditions including Chiari malformation, intracranial hypertension, and spontaneous encephalocele/CSF leak.

After growing up in the Kansas City area, this University of Kansas undergraduate alumni matriculated to the Stanford University School of Medicine, completing his MD in 2004. He completed residency in Neurological Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in 2011. He and his family then spent most of the next year in Portland, OR while Dr Milligan pursued Skull Base and Cerebrovascular Surgery fellowship under the mentorship of Dr Johnny Delashaw.

Returning to Kansas City in 2012, Dr. Milligan developed a busy complex cranial practice and served as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery and Orthopedics for the University of Missouri - Kansas City, teaching UMKC medical students about neurosurgery and helped to form committees focused on quality improvement, peer review, electronic medical record customization/efficiency, and stroke certification.

He came to TUKHS in March 2020 and is looking forward to again being involved in clinical excellence and quality improvement projects. He is a Neurosurgery Liaison for the Career And Specialty Advising (CASA) program in the medical school, Chair of the Neurosurgery Department Quality Comittee and Co-Chair of the Neuro Disease Working Group that oversees brain cancer clinical trial at KUMC.

• BChE, Chemical Engineering, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
• MD, Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
• Residency, Neurological Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
• Clinical Fellowship, Skull Base and Cerebrovascular Surgery, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR

• Diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, American Board of Neurological Surgery
• Medicine and Surgery, The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts
• Physician and Surgeon, Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts

• American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Member, 2013 - Present
• Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Member, 2013 - Present
• North American Skull Base Society, Member, 2012 - Present

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Research

Overview

Dr. Brian Milligan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center. During residency, his research endeavors focused on the basic science of glioblastoma where he developed culture systems to study the migration and invasion of brain tumors. His current research interests focus on patient outcomes and quality of life as well as pre- and intra-operative decision-making and the development of surgical hand-eye coordination. He is developing projects to identify the predictors of remission after surgery for acromegaly or Cushing’s disease, predictors of long-term survival after glioblastoma resection and the predictors of patient quality of life after treatment (or observation) of acoustic neuroma.

• Schiefer, T., K, Milligan, B., D, Bracken, C., D, Jacob, J., T, Krauss, W., E, Pichelmann, M., A, Clarke, M., J. 2015. In-hospital neurologic deterioration following fractures of the ankylosed spine: a single-institution experience.. World neurosurgery, 83 (5), 775-83
• Higgins, D., M, Wang, R, Milligan, B, Schroeder, M, Carlson, B, Pokorny, J, Cheshier, S., H, Meyer, F., B, Weissman, I., L, Sarkaria, J., N, Henley, J., R. 2013. Brain tumor stem cell multipotency correlates with nanog expression and extent of passaging in human glioblastoma xenografts.. Oncotarget, 4 (5), 792-801
• Milligan, B., D, Pollock, B., E, Foote, R., L, Link, M., J. 2012. Long-term tumor control and cranial nerve outcomes following γ knife surgery for larger-volume vestibular schwannomas.. Journal of neurosurgery, 116 (3), 598-604
• D'Urso, P., I, Loumiotis, I, Milligan, B., D, Cloft, H, Lanzino, G. 2011. "Real time" angiographic evidence of "pseudoaneurysm" formation after aneurysm rebleeding.. Neurocritical care, 14 (3), 459-62
• Milligan, B., D, Meyer, F., B. 2010. Morbidity of transcallosal and transcortical approaches to lesions in and around the lateral and third ventricles: a single-institution experience.. Neurosurgery, 67 (6), 1483-96; discussion 1496
• Milligan, B., D, Giannini, C, Link, M., J. 2007. Ganglioglioma in the cerebellopontine angle in a child. Case report and review of the literature.. Journal of neurosurgery, 107 (4 Suppl), 292-6
• Milligan, B., D, Wilkinson, S, Overman, J, Kirschman, D., L, Koller, W., C, Pahwa, R, Lyons, K., E, Batnitzky, S, Gordon, M., A. 2001. Magnitude of microelectrode refinement in pallidotomy and thalamotomy.. Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, 76 (1), 2-18
• Kirschman, D., L, Milligan, B, Wilkinson, S, Overman, J, Wetzel, L, Batnitzky, S, Lyons, K, Pahwah, R, Koller, W., C, Gordon, M., A. 2000. Pallidotomy microelectrode targeting: neurophysiology-based target refinement.. Neurosurgery, 46 (3), 613-22; discussion 622-4