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Do you have a pituitary HCP who has made a profound difference in your care or your life? A real “Gentle Giant”. We want to hear about them! Help us recognize the amazing professionals who go above and beyond by nominating your favorite doctor. Your story can help shine a light on the heroes in our community and inspire others on their journey. Submit your nomination today—we can’t wait to celebrate them with you!
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Patient’s Corner
Introducing Patient’s Corner, a place for you, the patient, to share your stories. If you have a story you would like to share please contact us below.
PNA Spotlight: Dr. Gelarah Zadeh
This month the PNA Spotlight focuses on Gelarah Zadeh, M.D., Ph.D., a neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She specializes in gliomas and meningiomas. She earned her bachelor’s degree and her M.D. at the University of Manitoba. She did her postdoctoral training and then a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. She completed fellowships at the University Health Network, at University College of London, and at the Canadian Institutes of Health. We posed some written questions to Dr. Zadeh; her answers are below.
What inspired you to choose this career path?
I had outstanding mentors, including Dr. Norman Hill who was a neurosurgeon in Manitoba and had trained at Mayo Clinic. I also want to recognize my neuroanatomy instructor, retired neurosurgeon Dr. Dwight Parkinson, who also trained at Mayo Clinic and was the first neurosurgeon in Canada. Drs. West and Fewer allowed me to experience neurosurgery in the operating room and see the intricate procedures, sparking my interest in the field. Dr. Fewer oversaw my first pituitary surgery.
What message would you like to convey to your patients?
I commit to work with each individual patient to ensure they have the care they are most comfortable with, and the best management and care plan to fit their unique condition and needs. Taking a holistic approach to who they are as a person, in the context of their work, family and personal life is as important as knowing how to bring the best care to them for their pituitary tumor.
What would you like people to know about the focus of your work or research?
In our research, we focus on better understanding the biology of brain tumors so we can use that knowledge to better predict the behavior of the tumor, determine if surgery is needed or not, and whether the tumor responds to radiation or not. We then identify new treatment options using the biological information that we gain from individual tumors.
What do you consider to be the future of your field?
The future of the field will be tests that can identify those at risk of developing brain tumors so that we can offer treatment early and avoid complex tumor growth and late effects of tumors.
What should patients know more about? What deserves more awareness?
Patients should be very vigilant about any changes to their eyesight, whether it is how well they can see or whether they can see out of the corner of their eyes. An MRI to rule out a pituitary tumor may be needed if there is a change in energy level, a change in hand and foot size (if a ring or shoes no longer fit), and/or a change in weight and distribution of body fat. Patients with pituitary tumors often also describe a sharp, stabbing pain behind the eye that gets more intense as time passes.
How did you get involved with the PNA?
I got involved with the PNA through the relationship the PNA and Mayo Clinic have. With my experience in managing pituitary tumors, I wanted to reach out to become directly involved in caring for pituitary patients. I have a long-standing commitment and experience managing pituitary tumors and want to continue offering my care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
“I commit to work with each individual patient to ensure they have the care they are most comfortable with, and the best management and care plan to fit their unique condition and needs.”
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Pituitary Patient Toolkit
Seventh Edition - Now Available!
The Pituitary Patient Resource Guide Seventh Edition is now available! Be one of the first to have the most up-to-date information.
The Pituitary Patient Resource Guide a one of a kind publication intended as an invaluable source of information not only for patients but also their families, physicians, and all health care providers.
It contains information on symptoms, proper testing, how to get a diagnosis, and the treatment options that are available. It also includes Pituitary Network Association’s patient resource listings for expert medical care.
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