Dr. J. Marc Simard, MD, PhD

Expert Publications

• Multiple connexins form gap junction channels in rat basilar artery smooth muscle cells.
• K(+) inward rectifier currents in reactive astrocytes from adult rat brain.
• Anticoagulation in neurosurgical patients.
• Inward rectifier K(+) channel Kir2.3 (IRK3) in reactive astrocytes from adult rat brain.
• Gamma knife radiosurgery for the treatment of brain metastases.
• Chronic nicotine alters NO signaling of Ca(2+) channels in cerebral arterioles.
• Inhibition of DNA transcription using cationic mixed monolayer protected gold clusters.
• Cell swelling and a nonselective cation channel regulated by internal Ca2+ and ATP in native reactive astrocytes from adult rat brain.
• Connexin45 gap junction channels in rat cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells.
• Transforming growth factor-beta 1 regulates Kir2.3 inward rectifier K+ channels via phospholipase C and protein kinase C-delta in reactive astrocytes from adult rat brain.
• Increase in Cx45 gap junction channels in cerebral smooth muscle cells from SHR.
• Mislocalization of eNOS and upregulation of cerebral vascular Ca2+ channel activity in angiotensin-hypertension.
• Chlorotoxin-sensitive Ca2+-activated Cl- channel in type R2 reactive astrocytes from adult rat brain.
• Some physiological aspects of analysis of frequency spectra of the EEG.
• Vascular smooth muscle proliferation as a target for therapeutic intervention.

Media Releases

Get to know Neurosurgeon Dr. J. Marc Simard, who serves patients in Baltimore, Maryland.

Being a board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Simard specializes in vascular neurosurgery, which includes the surgery and management of patients with intracranial hemorrhages and other vascular lesions of the brain. As such, he is actively involved in the treatment of brain tumors, stroke, and related disorders with special emphasis on carotid endarterectomy, aneurysm, and arteriovenous malformations treated by advanced microsurgical techniques and Gamma Knife.

At present, he serves in various roles, including Professor of Neurosurgery, Pathology and Physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine & Chief of Neurological Surgery at the Baltimore VA Hospital, both of which are located in Baltimore, Maryland. 

As a modern health care facility, the Baltimore VA Medical Center offers Veterans state-of-the-art technology and a full range of inpatient, outpatient and primary care services. As a surgical specialty care facility, the medical center serves as the neurosurgery referral center for the VA Capitol HealthCare Network.

Recognized as an experienced investigative scientist, Dr. Simard is responsible for the original discovery of the Sur1-Trpm4 channel (previously, the Sur1-regulated NCCa-ATP channel), and for initiating the work showing involvement of the channel in acute diseases of the CNS. He actively manages a large NIH-funded laboratory with over 15 scientists with expertise in patch clamp electrophysiology, molecular biology, transcriptional regulation, and preclinical models of disease. 

A 1980 graduate of the Creighton University School of Medicine, Dr. Simard completed his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Florida. He completed his fellowship at the Physiologisches Institut at the Universitat des Saarlandes in Germany. 

A testament to his success and drive, the doctor is board-certified in neurological surgery by the American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS). The broad aim of the ABNS is to encourage the study, improve the practice, elevate the standards and advance the science of neurological surgery and thereby serve the cause of public health.

Named a “Top Doctor” in the specialty of Neurosurgery by Baltimore magazine in 2016, his research interests include basic molecular mechanisms of secondary injury in animal models of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhage, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and hemorrhagic forms of encephalopathy of prematurity.

Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, surgical treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system. Neurosurgeons are doctors who diagnose and treat problems with the nervous system, often by performing surgery on the brain or spine. They treat strokes, tumors, cervical and lumbar disc disease, infections, and head or spinal cord injuries.

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