Yaser Badr, MD
Neurosurgeon
Dr. Yaser Badr is Director of SNI. He specializes in brain tumors, brain aneurysms, cerebrovascular neurosurgery, endovascular surgery, brain AVMs, and complex and minimally invasive spine surgery. He received his medical degree from Cairo University School of Medicine and completed his residency at Louisiana State University. He completed fellowship training in neuroendovascular neurosurgery at St. John Providence Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. He makes it his to goal to provide his patients with the most advanced brain and spine care using state-of-the-art technology and techniques. Dr. Badr strives to use his extensive training to provide excellent care in all aspects of spine and brain diseases.
Jared Ament, MD, MPH
Neurosurgeon
Dr. Jared D. Ament is a board eligible fellowship-trained neurosurgeon. He specializes in complex and minimally invasive brain and spine surgery, using the latest technologies, including neuronavigation and robotics. He focuses on the management of back pain, spinal deformity, degenerative spine diseases, brain and spine tumors, facial pain/spasm syndromes (trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia). Dr. Ament is also an advocate for motion preserving spine surgery and technology for the appropriate patients (artificial cervical and lumbar discs, facet off-loading devices, etc).
Dr. Ament received his Hon. BSc. from the University of Toronto and his MD from the Medical School for International Health, a collaborative initiative between Ben-Gurion University in Israel and Columbia University, NY. He completed his surgical internship at the University of Massachusetts and a post-doctoral fellowship in surgical outcomes at Harvard Medical School. His Master of Public Health degree is from the Harvard School of Public Health and he served as adjunct faculty at Harvard's department of Population Health and Epidemiology. He completed his neurosurgical training at University of California, Davis and an enfolded complex and minimally invasive spine fellowship at Cedars Sinai Medical Center under Dr. J. Pat Johnson.
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Dr. Ament has specific research interests in cost-effectiveness, cost-utility analyses, economic modeling, decision analysis, international surgery, and medical education. He has spearheaded several large projects both here in the USA and other countries including Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Ecuador, and Bolivia. He has published extensively on cost-effectiveness in surgical subspecialties. Dr. Ament’s economic models have resulted in national reform towards increased government and payer support for various surgical interventions. He is the recipient of the Mayfield Clinical Science and John Hanbery Awards, for the best clinical papers related to his work on the cost-effectiveness of artificial disc technology in patients with degenerative cervical spine disease. He was also recently part of team that introduced the first Neurosurgical Boot Camp to South American trainees in Bolivia in an effort to standardize neurosurgical education abroad. He joined the Sierra Neuroscience Institute (SNI) in Los Angeles as the Director of Spine Neurosurgery and the Director of Economic and Outcomes Research. He is the President and Founder of Neuronomics, a professional corporation specializing in cost-effective analyses in the neurosciences. He also has the distinct pleasure of serving on the advisory boards for the Institute for NeuroInnovation (INI) and Neurovella Inc. He was also recently appointed as Associate Neurosurgical Faculty at UCSF. In his spare time, Dr. Ament prioritizes activities with his wife and young children.
Kristen M Schultz, RN, MSN, AGACNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner
Kristen Schulz is a board-certified Nurse Practitioner who joined Sierra Neuroscience Institute after graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles with her master's degree in acute care. Originally from Minnesota, she received her bachelor's degree from East Carolina University. Kristen began her career at Duke University Medical Center in a cardiac unit. From there, she became a travel nurse where she had the pleasure of working at many top university hospitals across the United States before returning to school to pursue higher education. In her free time, Kristen enjoys spending time with her family, the outdoors, and traveling.
Enrique Gomez, RN, MSN, AGACNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner
Enrique Gomez is a board-certified nurse practitioner specializing in acute care. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where he attended nursing school and graduated with his bachelor's degree at West Coast University in Los Angeles. From there, he specialized in critical care and worked in various intensive care settings including medical, surgical and trauma, as well as the pre-hospital setting as a critical care transport nurse. He received his master's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and joined Sierra Neuroscience Institute shortly after. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, riding his motorcycle, and enjoying the outdoors.
Oliver Rago, MSN, RN, NP, AGACNP-BC, CCRN
Nurse Practitioner
Oliver Rago is a board-certified nurse practitioner specializing in adult-gerontology acute care. He was born and raised in Southern California. He received his Associate’s degree in Nursing from Mount Saint Mary’s College, his Bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fullerton, and his Master’s degree from California State University, Long Beach. Oliver worked in critical care for thirteen years prior to joining Sierra Neuroscience Institute. He also has experience as a nursing clinical instructor, a critical care transport nurse, and a nurse practitioner specializing in outpatient neurology. In his free time Oliver enjoys playing basketball, travelling, music festivals, and spending time with his wife, Erin, and their two dogs, Viggo and Bambi.