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 BA from the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and obtained boh his MD and
PhD 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
fourished, providing an array of services such as inpatient video-EEG
monitoring, intracranial video-EEG minotoring, neuroimaging, neurocognitive
evaluation, and epilepsy surgery. This program received a speical 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 chidren with epilepsy.
Dr. Millett relocated to the Hoag 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.
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.
Nurse Navigator
Sheena Dhiman, R.N., B.S.N., M.B.A.
Neurosciences Nurse Navigator
To view all Hoag 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 Hoag 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.