Current Residents
The Neurological Surgery Residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center is seven years in length and includes one introductory year consisting of general surgery, neurosurgery, and neurocritical care at our institution. Two to three residents are appointed each year to enter the training program.
PGY-7
Mary Ashley Liu, M.D.
Originally from Houston, TX, Mary Ashley graduated in 2014 from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with Honors. It was during her time at UT Austin that she developed a passion for integrating medicine and technological innovation, which carried over into her medical school experience at UT Southwestern. During her medical school years at UTSW, Mary Ashley helped pioneer the Biomedical Innovation Scholarly Activity program and served as the appointed medical student representative on the Women in Science and Medicine Advisory Committee. Mary Ashley began her neurosurgical residency at UT Southwestern in 2018 and is scheduled to complete her training in 2025. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and exploring the Dallas food scene with her fiancé.
Julia Yi, M.D.
Julia was born in Chicago and raised in the northwest suburbs. She majored in Biology, Psychology, and Philosophy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also attended medical school. She enjoys art, traveling, and collecting vinyl records.
PGY-6
Jose Marin Sanchez, M.D.
Jose was raised in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and moved to the United States when he was a senior in high school. He attended college at the University of Texas at El Paso where he obtained a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biochemistry. Following his undergraduate education, he attended medical school at Dartmouth. In June 2019, he obtained his medical degree. Initially, he had a strong interest in vascular neurosurgery, however, as he got more intimately involved in diverse neurosurgical cases, he has developed strong interests in other areas and is currently exploring what area of neurosurgery he loves the most. His hobbies include dirt biking, soccer, friends, movies, traveling.
Cody Wolfe, M.D.
Cody grew up in Normangee, Texas. He attended Trinity University where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and competed on the Football and Track and Field teams. Afterwards, he attended UT Southwestern Medical School where he served in leadership positions for organized medicine and participated in research investigating translational technologies for telerehabilitation for stroke victims. He began neurosurgical training in 2019, and is interested in a career and research in Epilepsy and Functional Neurosurgery. In his off time, he can be found leisure reading philosophy or science fiction, playing pick-up sports, and never missing a Cowboys game.
PGY-5
Jeffrey Traylor, M.D.
Jeffrey was born in Abilene, Texas and raised on a pecan farm in Hico, Texas. He attended Baylor University and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He then graduated with the inaugural class of Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin where he was selected for induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. During his time in medical school he achieved a research distinction at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas studying machine learning applications in low and high-grade glioma and laser interstitial thermal therapy for primary and metastatic brain tumors. Dr. Traylor began his neurosurgery training at UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2020 and plans to graduate in 2027. Outside of medicine, he is an avid guitarist and enjoys skiing, running, and reading.
Remi Wilson, M.D.
Remi was born and raised in New Orleans, LA. She graduated from Louisiana State University with honors research distinction with a degree in Biochemistry. After college, she worked as a medical researcher for a consulting firm specializing in high-profile toxic tort litigation, while also working for a global health non-profit aimed to address community health needs such as sanitation and literacy in underdeveloped countries. She attended medical school at Howard University becoming the founder and President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Student Chapter. She conducted research at Massachusetts General Hospital, investigating neurodegenerative diseases. Remi has received many accolades and scholarships during her medical school career, including Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and Gold Humanism Honor Society. Outside of the hospital, Remi is a coffee enthusiast, who enjoys basketball, collecting board games and her dog Kenzo.
PGY-4
Ryan Chiu, M.D.
Ryan was born and raised in Chicago, IL and its surrounding suburbs. He attended both college and medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago as part of an accelerated 7-year B.S./M.D. program, receiving dual undergraduate degrees in Biology and Political Science prior to graduating with honors from medical school. Throughout high school and college, he worked part-time as a software engineer and web developer, and has been passionate about developing predictive tools, software and other technology to help individuals with neurosurgical conditions.
Ryan is an inductee of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and Gold Humanism Honor Society. He was also named by the American Medical Association as a Physician of Tomorrow in 2020, in recognition of his dedication to clinical and academic excellence, empathy in patient care, medical innovation, research, and health advocacy work. He remains an active member of the American Medical Association, and served as Chair of the Illinois State Medical Society’s medical student section prior to coming to Dallas to begin his neurosurgical training at UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2021.
In his free time, Ryan enjoys road trips and travelling, exploring the restaurant scene, as well as playing chess and other board games.
Keith George, M.D.
Keith was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. For college, he decided to brave the cold of the northeast and move to Boston, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Boston University with a B.S. in biomedical engineering. During this time, he worked on various projects centered around materials science and electronics. Keith stayed in Boston to attend medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine, where he was awarded the AMA Physicians of Tomorrow Award. During his time at Tufts, he worked on investigating the effects of amyloid deposition in the spine. He is excited to return home and begin neurosurgical training at UT Southwestern. He hopes to incorporate his background in engineering into his neurosurgical career to push forward innovation in the field.
When he is not at the hospital, he enjoys catching up with friends over good food, finding the best ice cream spots, playing basketball, sailing, biking, and traveling.
PGY-3
Luke Dosselman, M.D.
Luke was born in Hawaii but was raised in Naperville, Illinois. He attended college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he majored in Molecular and Cellular Biology and was part of the James Scholar Honors Program. After moving to Dallas, Luke worked in transplant surgery and was a team member of the first successful uterine transplant in the United States. He continued his medical training in Dallas, earning his medical degree from UT Southwestern.
Prior to and throughout medical school, Luke volunteered extensively at a free urgent care clinic for the uninsured run by his church. He was also Co-President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons medical student chapter and performed research focused on Enhanced Recovery after Surgery for complex spine patients. After attending medical school at UT Southwestern, Luke is thrilled to continue his training in neurosurgery here.
Outside of the hospital, Luke enjoys running, exercise, language learning, and spending time with his wife and two sons.
Bradley Guidry, M.D.
Bradley grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He attended Mississippi College, where he graduated summa cum laude in Biology with minors in Biochemistry, History, and Mathematics. He was also awarded the Bailey Award, which is given annually to the undergraduate senior with the best academic record in the Biological Sciences. After his undergraduate years, Bradley worked in research at the Surgical Outcomes Center for Kids at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. He attended Vanderbilt School of Medicine. In addition, he was a part of the Vanderbilt Program for Interprofessional Learning, which brings together medicine, nursing, pharmacy, counseling, and social work into clinical teams for the first two years of training. Upon graduation, Dr. Guidry received a certificate in Biomedical Ethics.
Outside of the hospital, Bradley is an amateur chef, and enjoys traveling, exercising, rock climbing, reading, and exploring the Dallas food scene.
PGY-2
Ammar Adenwalla, M.D.
Ammar was born in Ohio but was raised in Dallas, Texas. He graduated summa cum laude from The University of Texas at Dallas with a B.S. in biology and healthcare management. Throughout college, he worked on several bioinformatics projects and enjoyed tutoring organic chemistry and biochemistry. He also had the opportunity to experience the administrative side of medicine as a business intelligence intern at The Heart Hospital.
He stayed in Dallas to attend medical school at UT Southwestern, where he developed a passion for neurosurgery while investigating patient outcomes after glioblastoma resection and spine surgery. To explore his interests in healthcare policy, he became involved in UTSW’s TMA/AMA chapter, attending conferences and taking on leadership roles throughout medical school. He is honored to continue his training at UT Southwestern for residency.
Outside of work, Ammar enjoys supporting the Cowboys and the Mavericks, working out, traveling, and trying new restaurants.
Anthony Asemota, M.D.
Anthony received his medical degree from the University of Benin, Nigeria. Following medical school, he obtained a Master's in Public Health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and subsequently conducted clinical outcomes research at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, where he focused on skull base and pituitary neurosurgery. Anthony has also completed clinical pre-residencies at University of New Mexico and Beth-Israel Lahey Health. His hobbies include soccer, listening to music, and light reading.
Rebekah Langston, M.D., Ph.D.
Rebekah was born and raised in a small town in Arkansas. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arkansas with a double major in Chemistry and Spanish. She then spent two years at the National Institutes of Health as part of the post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award program, studying genetic mutations underlying Parkinson’s disease with Dr. Mark Cookson. Inspired by her work there, she pursued an M.D.-Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
During her time in medical school, she was given the Lawrence E. Scheving Award for Excellence in Anatomy and served as President of the AANS Student Chapter. She was also awarded grants from the Pulaski County Medical Society and the Blue & You Foundation that supported the development of an inter-disciplinary foot clinic for Little Rock homeless. She graduated with the highest scholastic grade point average in her class. She returned to Dr. Cookson’s lab at the NIH to complete her Ph.D. research, during which time she used single cell sequencing analyses of human brain and a human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia model to describe the function of a non-coding Parkinson’s disease risk variant.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, learning Greek, and tending her always expanding collection of plants.
Derrick Murcia, M.D.
Derrick was born in Burbank, California and was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Louisiana State University in Shreveport for college where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in chemistry and minor in molecular and cellular biology. After college, Derrick attended the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Throughout college and medical school, he has performed extensive research investigations regarding brain tumor differentiation using noninvasive imaging quantification and analysis.
Derrick began his neurosurgical training in 2023 at UT Southwestern. His academic interests in neurosurgery include neuro-oncology and MRI image processing. He is also invested in mentoring students and healthcare disparities.
Outside of the hospital, Derrick enjoys playing soccer, basketball, hiking, trying new foods, and traveling to new areas.
Darsh Shah, M.D.
Darsh was born in Gujarat, India, and raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Dallas, where he majored in neuroscience and received a master's degree in Healthcare Management. Darsh also spent 9 months in Washington D.C. during undergrad, interning as a public health policy research analyst for a bipartisan think tank. He then graduated from Dell Medical School, where he received a research distinction at Baylor College of Medicine studying the molecular makeup of malignant meningiomas.
Outside the hospital, Darsh enjoys spending time with his wife, supporting his hometown Dallas Mavericks and Cowboys, traveling, hiking, and exercising.
PGY-1
Farrukh Hameed, M.D., Ph.D.
Farrukh is a resident in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. After completing his early education in different West African countries, he obtained his medical degree from Southeast University where he graduated summa cum laude. He went on to obtain Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, where he focused on neuro-oncology and electrophysiology research. Prior to joining UT Southwestern, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh and Hillman Cancer Center where he developed tumor models and brain computer interfaces.
Farrukh's research is in neural mapping, neurotechnology and translational neuro-oncology. He has authored several publications in high-impact journals (including JAMA, Neuro-oncology, Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery) and book chapters on brain mapping, intraoperative neuromonitoring and nervous function preservation. Farrukh is also passionate about medical education and has presented at numerous national and international conferences.
Outside work, he enjoys playing soccer, traveling, and spending time with his family and friends.
Khashayar Mozaffari, M.D.
Khashayar was born and raised in Iran, and moved to Southern California with his family in high school. He went to University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) for college, and George Washington University for medical school. During medical school, he took time off to perform research under the mentorship of Dr. Isaac Yang at UCLA, working on various clinical projects, and also studying anti-angiogenic treatment resistance in glioblastoma. Khashayar is enthusiastic about learning from all facets of neurosurgery, especially pediatrics and spine. During his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, swimming, biking, and spending time with friends and family.
Keannette Russell, M.D.
Keannette was born and raised in rural eastern New Mexico where she worked on her family’s fifth generation cattle ranch. She attended New Mexico State University and graduated in 2016 earning bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Genetics and Biotechnology with a minor in biochemistry. She then moved to Fort Worth and attended graduate school at the University of North Texas Health Science Center graduating with her M.S. in 2018. While in Fort Worth, Keannette tutored high school students in biology, mathematics, and physics while also volunteering with numerous charitable organizations around the DFW area. Keannette continued to live and work in DFW until she moved to San Antonio in 2020 to attend medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center Long School of Medicine.
During medical school, Keannette developed a deep interest and passion for neurosurgery, becoming an officer in the American Association of Neurological Surgeons medical student organization and being involved in multiple neuroendovascular and spine research endeavors. She continued her devotion for mentorship during medical school by counseling undergraduate students from across the country who were striving to attend medical school.
Keannette is excited to be back in Dallas and to continue her neurosurgical training at UT Southwestern.
Outside of the hospital, Keannette loves spending time with family , participating in all water, snow, and sand sports, hiking, exploring nature, and traveling to new places.