Meet The Team
The Hoag Epilepsy Center has a multidisciplinary approach to treatment.
The team includes highly specialized neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuropsychologists,
psychiatrist, nurse practitioners, nurses, neurodiagnostic technologists
and social workers to assist in the needs of each individual patient.
David Millett, M.D., Ph.D.
Program Director, Epilepsy
Dr. Millett is a board-certified neurologist specializing in seizures,
epilepsy and electroencephalography (EEG). He received his B.A. from the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and obtained both his M.D.
and Ph.D. in 2001 from the University of Chicago. Dr. Millett returned
to his native Southern California for his medical internship, neurology
residency and two-year subspecialty training fellowship in Epilepsy and
EEG at UCLA.
In 2007, Dr. Millett joined the faculty of Keck School of Medicine at
USC and was given the task of establishing an epilepsy monitoring program
to provide advanced epilepsy care for thousands of underserved patients
within the Los Angeles Department of Health Services. Under Dr. Millett's
guidance, the epilepsy program at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation
flourished, providing an array of services such as inpatient video-EEG
monitoring, intracranial video-EEG monitoring, neuroimaging, neurocognitive
evaluation, and epilepsy surgery. This program received a special Merit
Award from the County of Los Angeles in 2011, the same year Dr. Millett
was recognized as the Earl I. Feldhorn Pediatric Epilepsy Faculty at the
Keck School of Medicine at USC for his efforts to provide advanced epilepsy
care to children with epilepsy.
Dr. Millett relocated to the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute in
2014 where he is the director of the epilepsy program, and maintains an
active role in research and education through his position as Adjunct
Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology in the Keck School of Medicine
in USC. He is currently involved in numerous epilepsy-related research
studies and educational projects including the use of brain-computer interface
(BCI) technologies to analyze epileptogenic circuits in the human hippocampus
and the cortical control movement with colleagues at USC and UCI. Dr.
Millett is also completing a book on the role of electroencephaolography
in the historical development of neuroscience, and he is developing a
Web-based Atlas of EEG for training and education.
Charles Y. Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
Neurosurgeon
As Hoag Epilepsy Program’s principal epilepsy surgeon, Dr. Liu is
also the Surgical Director for the USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Center,
one of the highest-volume surgical epilepsy programs worldwide. He is
a member of the USC Cerebrovascular Team, adult brain tumor program, and
pituitary team, and also serves as the Director of the USC Center for
Neurorestoration. Within the LA County Department of Health Services,
he serves as an Associate Chief Medical Officer and Chair of the Department
of Neurosurgery and Orthopedic Surgery at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation
Medical Center.
Dr. Liu is a Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neurology, and Biomedical
Engineering and holds the Apuzzo Professorship for Advanced Neurosurgery
at the USC Keck School of Medicine and Viterbi School of Engineering.
He has also had a long-standing collaboration with researchers at Caltech,
where he serves as a Visiting Associate on the faculty of the Division
of Biology and Biological Engineering. Dr. Liu continues to hold a faculty
appointment as Guest Professor in Neurosurgery at Hua Shan Hospital, Fudan
University School of Medicine in Shanghai.
Playing an integral role in Hoag Epilepsy Program’s ongoing case
conferences, Dr. Liu’s principal research interests relate to restorative
neurosurgery involving elucidating strategies to restore function to the
nervous system after injury due to trauma, stroke, or neurodegenerative
disease. In addition, he is actively exploring unique strategies for patient-specific
non-invasive neuromodulation.
Program Director, Neurophysiology Services
Dr. Ly earned his medical degree from Chicago Medical School. He completed
his neurology residency at Los Angeles General Hospital–University
of Southern California Medical Center and completed a neurophysiology
fellowship at USC University Hospital.
Dr. Ly directs the Neurophysiology and Epilepsy testing services at Hoag
Hospital and brings an integrated approach to field epilepsy and seizure
disorders. He works with a multidisciplinary team at the Hoag Epilepsy
Center to provide an individualized comprehensive plan to the evaluation,
diagnosis, and medical and surgical treatments of epilepsy.
Dr. Ly also provides extensive experience and expertise in the area of
neurodiagnostic testing. This includes electromyelography and nerve conduction
studies (EMG/NCS) for the diagnosis and treatment of nerve and muscle
disorders. In addition, he leads a team in providing Intraoperative Monitoring
(IO M) services during spine and brain surgeries to preserve and minimize
neurological damage after surgery.
Vivek Mehta, M.D.
Neurosurgeon
Dr. Vivek Mehta is a neurosurgeon with expertise in complex and minimally
invasive brain and spine surgery. He is a member of the Hoag Epilepsy
Surgery Program at the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute. Dr. Mehta
was raised in Orange County and completed medical school with Alpha Omega
Alpha Honors at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
In college, Dr. Mehta was named to the
USA Today All-Academic First Team as one of the top 20 college students in the United
States. After completing medical school, Dr. Mehta completed advanced
training in neurosurgery at the University of Southern California under
Drs. Michael Apuzzo, Martin Weiss, Gordon McComb and Steven Giannotta;
and in Epilepsy and Stereotactic Neurosurgery with Dr. Charles Liu. Prior
to joining Hoag, Dr. Mehta was on staff at the University of Southern
California as an attending neurosurgeon at Los Angeles County and USC
Medical Center, the nation’s busiest Level 1 neurosurgery trauma
center. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurosurgery
at the USC Keck School of Medicine.
Program Director, Neurophysiology Services
Dr. Muir is a neurologist with special training and interest in epilepsy,
sports neurology and nerve/muscle disorders. He attended medical school
at the USC Keck School of Medicine after receiving his undergraduate degree
at Occidental College where his interests included Biology and Neurobiology.
Subsequently, he trained in internal medicine at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn
before returning to USC Keck School of Medicine to complete residency
training in Neurology and subspecialty fellowship training in Neurophysiology.
During his Neurophysiology fellowship, Dr. Muir was directly involved
with the care of epilepsy patients; guiding them through the evaluation
to determine treatment options including new or experimental drug therapies,
surgical treatment of epilepsy, or mechanical device implantation such
as a neurostimulator. Additionally, he worked closely with Dr. Laura Kalayjian
at LAC-USC Medical Center to manage and treat epilepsy during pregnancy.
Working with fellow neurologist Dr. Andrew Ly, Dr. Muir is now serving
as the Director of Neurophysiology Services at Hoag Hospital.
Suzanne Pach, M.S.N., FNP-C, S.C.R.N.
Nurse Practitioner, Neurology
Suzanne Pach, M.S.N., FNP-C, S.C.R.N., has been working at Hoag as a Nurse
Practitioner in the Epilepsy Program with the Pickup Family Neurosciences
Institute since October 2017. Prior to coming to Hoag, she worked as a
nurse practitioner with the Comprehensive Stroke Program and the Orthopedic
Spine and Joint Replacement Programs at the Medical University of South
Carolina since 2011. She received her Masters of Nursing and Family Nurse
Practitioner degree from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
in 2009. She also completed a Master of Science in Health Professional
Education from MUSC in 2000. She received her Bachelors of Science in
Nursing from MUSC in 2006 in addition to a Bachelors of Science in Medical
Technology degree in 1994. Her undergraduate work was at Erskine College,
Due West, South Carolina in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science degree in
Biology. Suzanne is very passionate about patient advocacy which allowed
her to win the Daisy award for Nursing excellence at MUSC in 2009. She
always strives to reach the best possible patient outcome and she is very
happy to bring her high level of service to the Hoag family.
James Park, D.O.
Neurologist and Epileptologist
James Park, D.O., is a board-certified neurologist and epileptologist –
a neurologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of seizures.
He completed his fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in
Philadelphia, one of the top epilepsy programs in the country. While there,
he encountered some of the most complex cases and honed his skills in
the evaluation and planning of epilepsy surgeries. He brings that passion
and expertise to the Hoag Epilepsy Program, where he works to provide
the most comprehensive and compassionate care for the patients of Orange County.
He received his medical degree at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
in New York City. He completed his neurology residency at University of
Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore and then both a clinical neurophysiology
and epilepsy fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Nurse Navigator
Sheena Dhiman, R.N., B.S.N., M.B.A.
Neurosciences Nurse Navigator
To view all Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute Nurse Navigators.
Sheena Dhiman, R.N., has been working as a nurse at Hoag since 2008. She
worked in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit for seven years before taking
over responsibilities as a Nurse Navigator with Pickup Family Neurosciences
Institute. She received her Healthcare Executive MBA from University of
California, Irvine in 2012 and her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from
Mount St. Mary’s College in 2008. Sheena has extensive experience
taking care of patients with various neurological and spine disorders,
as well as in critical care.