Dr. Peter Chiarelli Receives the Hydrocephalus Association Cynthia Solomon Resident’s Prize for Noninvasive Shunt Function Assessment Method
Dr. Peter A. Chiarelli, assistant professor of neurological surgery at the University of Southern California (USC) and attending neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), is the 2023 recipient of the Hydrocephalus Association Cynthia Solomon Resident’s Prize. The Resident’s prize is awarded each year to the most promising hydrocephalus-related research paper presented by a neurosurgical resident at the Pediatric Section meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons (AANS/CNS). The prize is designed to encourage young doctors to focus their research efforts on advancing treatment and care of individuals with hydrocephalus.
Dr. Chiarelli studied at the University of Oxford, where he graduated as a Rhodes Scholar with a Doctorate in Neuroscience. He continued at the Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts Institute of Technology joint program in medicine, where he earned his MD. His residency was completed at the University of Washington. Dr. Chiarelli specializes in treating children with tumors of the brain and spinal cord as well as hydrocephalus. His practice also encompasses a range of pediatric neurosurgical conditions, including Chiari malformation, cysts within the brain and spine, Moya Moya disease, spina bifida, and tethered spinal cord.
His recent study for which he was awarded the Resident’s Prize is entitled “Quantitative Non-Invasive Measurement of Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow in Shunted Hydrocephalus”. This work focuses on the evaluation of shunt failure, which is a concern in managing patients with shunts. He developed a quantitative phase-contrast (PC) MRI sequence to measure cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow through the shunt lumen. The work aims to demonstrate PC MRI as a valuable adjunct in the clinical monitoring of shunted patients.
At CHLA, he founded the CSF-flow Dynamics Group (CFDG), a collaborative effort dedicated to using advanced imaging and innovative techniques to address practical issues in hydrocephalus treatment. The group comprises physicians, surgeons, MRI physicists, nurses, and students, all committed to enhancing patient-centered care and advancing our understanding of fluid physiology in the brain. Dr. Chiarelli also founded the Nanoscaled Neuro-technology Research Group (NNRG) at CHLA. This lab focuses on designing nanotherapeutic modalities with the goal of making brain tumor surgery unnecessary in the future. As a board-certified pediatric neurosurgeon by the American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS), Dr. Chiarelli actively contributes to organizations such as the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, and the Pacific Pediatric Neuro-oncology Consortium.