Motorsports Safety Group Members
WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US AND WELCOME YOUR IDEAS
DR. JASON CORMIER
Dr. Cormier is a native of South Louisiana, where he graduated from St Thomas More High School in Lafayette, La. A former LSU basketball player and graduate of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, he went on to receive his medical degree from Louisiana State University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He became eligible for the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor society and served on several committees, including the LSU School of Medicine Admissions Committee, the LSU School of Medicine Dean’s Selection Committee and was the medical school’s representative to the Louisiana Board of Supervisors in 2004. He received a number of scholarships and was a member of many different societies. Dr. Cormier also dedicated his time on a monthly basis to the Student Run Homeless clinic in New Orleans, La. Dr. Cormier joins Acadiana Neurosurgery and its founder Dr. Alan Appley after his internship in general surgery and neurosurgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC and the completion of his training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham AL. During his training, he gained extensive experience in complex spinal surgery under the direction of Dr. Mark N. Hadley and associates. He also received special training in minimally invasive spinal surgery as well as open and endoscopic brain surgery. He has published articles in national journals involving several publications in the fields of Pediatric and Adult Neurosurgery. In 2005 he served on the Council of State Neurological Society in 2005 as a representative of Alabama to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He received the Resident Leadership Award from the Division of Neurological Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for “his dedication to promoting the art and science of Neurosurgery, demonstrating outstanding clinical skills, offering leadership by word and example and providing mentorship to junior residents.” Dr. Cormier maintains his interests to train Neurosurgeons of tomorrow and will be teaching both medical students and residents many innovative neurosurgical techniques including endoscopic pituitary and image-guided surgery, and minimally invasive complex spinal surgery. Dr. Cormier was named as one of “America’s Top Surgeons,” in the field of Neurosurgery, by the Consumers Research Council of America, Guide to America’s top surgeons. Dr. Cormier is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. In his own words, “It’s great to be back home. I have been truly blessed.”
BOARD CERTIFICATION Certified Diplomat, American Board of Neurological Surgery
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Member – Congress of Neurological Surgeons
Member - American Association of Neurological Surgeons
Member – Louisiana State Medical Society
Member - Lafayette Parish Medical Society
Member – American College of Surgeons
Member - Pituitary Network Association
Member - North American Neuromodulation Society
Member - International Council of Motorsport Sciences Information
Member – Society of Lateral Access Surgery
Member – Subcortical Surgery Group
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
2007 - Listed in the “Consumer Research Council of America’s Guide to Americas Top Surgeons”
2014 - Present Listed in the “Leading Physicians of the World” for Neurosurgery
PHYSICIAN AWARDS
Leading Physician of the World
Patients Choice Award Most Compassionate Doctor
American Cancer Society Spirit of Hope Honoree Award Recipient
HOBBIES/ INTEREST
Owner/ Franchise Orangetheory Fitness – Lafayette, La
Family outings
Racing
Physical Fitness
Running
Music
Drones
Dr. Appley is a native of southern California, where he graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1975. He graduated with honors from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA in 1979, and received his medical degree at Tulane Medical School in 1983. He was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and received the Norman Rogers Award for Meritorious Undergraduate Cancer Research. Dr. Appley completed his Neurosurgery Internship and Residency at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, one of the largest and most highly respected teaching hospitals in the United States. After finishing his training in 1989, he spent two years as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, VA. He was responsible for helping improve and refine the skills of neurosurgical residents. In March of 1991, Dr. Appley and his family moved to Orlando, FL to begin private practice. During that time, Dr. Appley gained extensive experience with a wide array of neurosurgical techniques including complex spinal instrumentation, stereotactic image-guided surgery and radiosurgery. He was the main driving force responsible for many neurosurgical advances in Orlando. In October of 2000, Dr. Appley was named one of “The Best Doctors in Orlando” by Orlando Magazine. In 2001 Dr. Appley, with his wife Cindy, a Louisiana native, moved to Lafayette to be close to their extended family. He founded Acadiana Neurosurgery and has been named one of “The Best Doctors in Louisiana” by Louisiana Life Magazine every year since 2009. Listed yearly in Who’s Who in American Medicine and Healthcare as well as Who’s Who in America, his accomplishments include:
Founding Medical Director of the Florida Hospital Neuroscience Institute (1998-1999).
Started, with the help of the American Cancer Society and others, H.O.P.E. (Helping Other Patients Endure), the first brain tumor support group in Central Florida.
Introduced the Gamma Knife® to Orlando and the CyberKnife® to Lafayette. These are highly specialized tools used to precisely focus high doses of radiation to intracranial and, in the case of the CyberKnife, spinal targets. He served as the founding Medical Director of the Florida Hospital Gamma Knife Center for almost five years (1996-2000) and performed over 400 of the Center’s 700 procedures.
As Medical Director of the CyberKnife Center – Louisiana, located at Lafayette General Medical Center (LGMC), Dr. Appley has been involved in hundreds of these procedures and has proctored several other surgeons during their training on this device.
Has performed over 100 deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgeries with excellent outcomes as well as the first “frameless” DBS surgery for tremor and Parkinson’s disease in Louisiana in 2002.
Performs the majority of his spinal surgeries through minimally invasive approaches. In addition, he has the region’s most extensive experience with total disc replacement which, for appropriate patients, allows for motion preservation and can be an alternative to spinal fusion.
Performs many brain tumor resections using an awake minimally invasive approach and uses a multidisciplinary team approach with ENT surgeons for endoscopic removal of pituitary and anterior skull base tumors.
The first surgeon in Louisiana to use the Nico BrainPath® system for minimally invasive resection of deep-seated tumors and evacuation of intracerebral hematomas. •
Founding Medical Director for Neurosurgery of the Neuroscience Center of Acadiana at LGMC (2015-present).
Dr. Appley is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and has been elected to fellowship in the American College of Surgeons. He has been involved with teaching medical students and neurosurgery residents by serving as Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at the Tulane University School of Medicine. As a Gratis Clinical Faculty member at LSUHSC New Orleans, Dr. Appley is also involved in the education of surgical and medical residents as they rotate through LGMC. He is a member of the Lafayette Parish Medical Society, the Louisiana State Medical Society, Louisiana Neurosurgical Society, AANS and many other national and international specialty societies.
Dani S. Bidros, MD, FAANS, FACS - specializes in both brain and spine surgery including minimal access spine therapyDr. Bidros grew up and attended school in Lafayette, Louisiana. After obtaining top honors at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, he began medical school at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. Early in medical school, he became intrigued with neuroscience, and began his pursuit to becoming a neurosurgeon. He completed his intern year in General Surgery residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans which provided him with the knowledge and skills to treat critically ill patients. After completing internship, he began his Neurological Surgery training at Louisiana State University in New Orleans, rotating at both Charity Hospital and at the Ocshner Clinic Foundation. He was trained by the esteemed Neurosurgeon and Harvey Cushing Medal recipient Dr. David Kline. His training in his home state was cut short however by Hurricane Katrina. During the storm, Dr. Bidros spent six days at Charity hospital caring for patients and helping in the relief efforts.
He resumed and completed his neurosurgical training at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, training under the top professors in the field of Neurosurgery. He completed a combined Orthopaedic and Neurosurgical Surgery Spine Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic under the guidance of Drs. Ed Benzel and Richard Schlenk. During the one year fellowship he gained experience in the latest techniques of complex spine deformity and spine oncology.
Additional training in Pituitary Surgery was completed under Dr. Robert Weil and Stereotactic Brain and Spine Radiosurgery was completed under Dr. Lilyana Angelov. Stereotactic Spine Radiosurgery, a revolutionary treatment modality, has changed the way we approach and treat metastatic disease of the spine. During residency, he also received special training in Gamma Knife Radiosurgery.
For two years following completion of residency, Dr. Bidros practiced Neurosurgery in Princeton, New Jersey before he and his family decided to relocate back to his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana. It was always his intention to practice neurosurgery in his hometown of Lafayette and to provide excellent and compassionate care to the people in his community.
Dr. Bidros has performed hundreds of cranial and Spinal Radiosurgical cases. He has also conducted clinical research and published several articles and book chapters in the neurosurgical literature. He has presented at several neurological society meetings. Dr. Bidros' clinical interests include complex spine surgery, cranial and spinal oncology.
