By BARBARA CARBAUGH

He quietly does much more than could be expected from just one man – that's how his colleagues and friends characterize Dr. Jogi V. Pattisapu.

Pattisapu currently serves as chairman of the department of neurosurgery and a foundation board member at Florida Children's Hospital; as medical director of pediatric neurosurgery at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women; as medical director at Wade's Center for Hydrocephalus Research at the Health Research Institute, part of Orlando Regional Healthcare System; and as an associate professor for the Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Central Florida (UCF) – all while maintaining the full-time clinical practice he established here in 1990, Pediatric Neurosurgery, PA.

Yet this is not what makes Pattisapu so remarkable. It is his integrity and humility that make him so extraordinary.
Pattisapu does just as many surgical procedures as his partners, yet he finds time to get involved with community and public service causes, both locally and overseas. He is the founder of the Hydrocephalus Family Support Group of Central Florida and vice-chairman of SAFE Kids of Greater Orlando and he volunteers with Shepherd's Hope Medical Clinic, Camp Boggy Creek's spina bifida camp, Russell Home and the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida.

Over the next several months, Pattisapu will travel with colleagues to the Ukraine to perform craniofacial reconstructions on needy children and to the CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda to assist in performing endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) procedures for the treatment of hydrocephalus.

He is the only neurosurgeon in the United States who is performing a procedure known as selective motor faciculotomy (SMF) that causes an improvement in spasticity. Pattisapu learned the procedure from a colleague who runs a cerebral palsy/spasticity clinic in India.

In addition, Pattisapu has developed a specialized procedure, percutaneous endoscopic recanalization of the catheter (PERC) that allows some patients who have difficulty with their shunts to avoid standard open revision surgery. Not all patients meet the specific criteria necessary for PERC, but those who do have had very favorable outcomes.

Even though he spends much of his time working directly with patients and families, Pattisapu still finds time for research at his lab at UCF. The primary focus of his research is to develop new strategies and novel therapies to cure hydrocephalus by investigating therapeutic interventions, alternative pathways and molecular alterations in the rodent model of hydrocephalus.

Pattisapu's passion is to find a better way of treating hydrocephalus. He wants to understand brain fluid homeostasis. "Once the shunt was invented, physicians and scientists stopped looking for answers," he said. "I want to find a better way."

Pattisapu serves on the curriculum committee and as an associate professor for the Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences. He has been in Orlando for more than 16 years and feels the medical school will have a positive impact on the community and the economy.

"I know what my duty is," Pattisapu said. "The good Lord has given me so many gifts; I have to use them to serve others. I feel so blessed."

His compassion and empathy are ever present. "I don't know how my patients' parents do it," Pattisapu said. "I couldn't walk a day in their shoes; they put me to shame."

The practice staffs three board-certified pediatric neurosurgeons and four physician assistants. They use a team approach to patient care with clinical meetings to discuss the plan for difficult cases. In addition to their standard practice, they run a spasticity clinic, a spina bifida clinic, a craniofacial clinic, a helmet clinic for torticollis patients and an oncology clinic for brain tumor patients.

Many would find Pattisapu's schedule to be exhausting, but he feels that he performs best under pressure. "Though others may describe my surroundings as noisy, busy, chaotic, I am usually pretty focused," he said. "Things may seem hectic, but I feel calm."

Employees and colleagues are continually amazed by his strength and dedication. "He never appears tired or grumpy," Kimberlee Antonetti, research coordinator, said. "He always has a kind word for the patients and their families and treats his employees with kindness and respect."

Cards and letters from patients' families offer praise and gratitude for Pattisapu and his staff. The Curley family wrote, "Thank you for inventing the procedure that saved our son from going through a shunt replacement. Thank you for your excellent care."

"He held our daughter's life in his hands and he knew exactly what to do. We thank God for Dr. Pattisapu," the Moss family wrote.

Born in India, Pattisapu came to the United States when he was 11 years old. He describes his scientist father as optimistic and intelligent. His mother earned a doctorate in philosophy. He remembers a happy childhood with his older brother and younger sister.

Pattisapu and his wife, Annapurna, also a physician, recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. They were introduced at a wedding in India and became pen pals. They spent three years apart while he finished medical school and then she joined him in Texas. Nowadays, even with two busy schedules, they manage to spend quality time together.

Even though they have no children of their own, Pattisapu considers his patients to be his children. His practice sees all patients regardless of insurance or ability to pay. They keep toys on hand for patients whose visits fall on or around their birthdays. Their patient support group, the only one of its kind in Florida, meets monthly to help patients and their families cope.

Pattisapu quietly goes about his business, and the children whose lives he has improved are testaments to his many accomplishments.