Episode

059- Dr. Frank Scali – Upper Cervical Spine and Myodural Bridge

Dr Frank Scali

In this interview, Dr. Scali discusses with me the upper cervical spine and myodural bridge (connective tissue between suboccipital muscles and the cervical spinal dura mater). Dr. Frank Scali grew up in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York, and studied Neuroscience at Stony Brook University. In 2009, he received his Doctorate in Chiropractic at Logan University in Chesterfield, Missouri. During his time in medical school, Dr. Frank Scali professionally prosected cadaveric specimens for Gray’s Anatomy and illustrated for multiple journals and textbooks, including the Oxford Handbook of Bariatric Surgery. While attending medical school, he published multiple non-variant anatomical findings in the medical literature and served as an Ad Hoc Reviewer in Journals such as The Spine Journal, The Anatomical Record, Surgical and Radiological Anatomy, and others. In 2018, he graduated with his MD from AUC School of Medicine with fifty-four publications, including textbook contributions and a patent for a medical device.

Dr. Scali is board certified in Chiropractic and Medicine. His current title is Assistant Professor of Medical Education and Anatomy at the California University of Science and Medicine. At CUSM, Dr. Scali serves as the Director of the ATLAS Lab Center, is the Director of the USMLE Board Preparation, and is the Course Director for MSK/Derm, Surgical Anatomy, and the Step 1/2CK Board Prep course. He was inducted into the Sigma Xi Scientific Research & Honor Society in 2020 and serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Medicine since 2019. As Assistant Professor of Medical Education, Dr. Scali has achieved dozens of teaching awards in Medical Foundations, MSK/Derm, Neuroscience, Reproductive Medicine, and Medical Board Preparation courses. Because of his innovative teaching style, in 2021, Dr. Scali became the inaugural recipient of the Robert Suskind & Leslie Lewinter-Suskind Pre-Clinical Faculty of the Year award.

Visit Dr. Scali’s research at researchgate.net and view his faculty page.

Here are the articles we discuss during this episode:

1.Anatomical connection between the rectus capitis posterior major and the dura mater.Scali F, Marsili ES, Pontell ME.Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2011 Dec 1;36(25):E1612-4. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e31821129df.PMID: 21278628
2.Investigation of meningomyovertebral structures within the upper cervical epidural space: a sheet plastination study with clinical implications.Scali F, Pontell ME, Nash LG, Enix DE.Spine J. 2015 Nov 1;15(11):2417-24. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2015.07.438. Epub 2015 Jul 22.PMID: 26210227
3.Histological analysis of the rectus capitis posterior major’s myodural bridge.Scali F, Pontell ME, Enix DE, Marshall E.Spine J. 2013 May;13(5):558-63. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2013.01.015. Epub 2013 Feb 11.PMID: 23406969
4.The Posterior Atlantooccipital Membrane: The Anchor for the Myodural Bridge and Meningovertebral Structures.Scali F, Ohno A, Enix D, Hassan S.Cureus. 2022 May 30;14(5):e25484. doi: 10.7759/cureus.25484. eCollection 2022 May.PMID: 35686279 Free PMC article.
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048- Drs. Imran Niazi and Kelly Holt Discuss Chiropractic, Neuroplasticity and Falls

Drs. Imran Niazi and Kelly Holt

Drs. Imran Niazi and Kelly Holt discuss with me their research on chiropractic, falls risk, and neuroplasticity in various populations. Imran Khan Niazi received his B.Sc. degree in Electrical engineering (specialisation: Biomedical Engineering) from the Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2005, and his  Masters in biomedical engineering from University & FH Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany in 2009. Later he got his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dario Farina from Center of sensory-motor interaction, Health Science Technology Department, University of Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark in 2012. After working as a postdoc for a year, he moved to New Zealand in 2013, where he is currently working as Senior Research Fellow at New Zealand College of Chiropractic. He has an adjunct position in Aalborg University, Denmark and Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.

Dr. Niazi is interested in studying and understanding the altered mechanism of motor control and learning in neurological disorder to develop various technologies that can enhance the QOL of these patients. He has successfully co-supervised 4 PhD and 31 master thesis and currently has 4 active PhD students. He has authored 46 peer-reviewed journal papers and 82 conference papers (proceedings and extended abstracts including). His work has been cited more than 1100 times, and have an h-index of 16 according to google scholar. Over the last ten year, he has received funding worth around US $ 1.5 million from various sources. He is currently working as a review editor for Frontiers in Robotics and AI (Biomedical Robotics) and reviewer for more than 25 engineering/neuroscience journals.

Dr. Kelly Holt was a member of the 1998 inaugural graduating class of the New Zealand College of Chiropractic. Besides his chiropractic degree he also holds a Bachelor of Science majoring in physiology and a PhD in Health Science from the University of Auckland. His PhD focused on the effects of chiropractic care on sensorimotor function and falls risk in older adults. He has published work in a number of peer reviewed journals that investigated the effects of chiropractic care on nervous system function and the reliability of vertebral subluxation indicators and has won a number of international research awards. Kelly worked in private practice as a chiropractor for 10 years following graduation and has taught at the New Zealand College of Chiropractic since 2000 and is currently the Dean of Research at the College.   Kelly was named ‘Chiropractor of the Year’ by the New Zealand College of Chiropractic Alumni Association in 2012 and by the New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association in 2014.

View Dr. Imran Niazi’s research at researchgate.net and Dr. Kelly Holt’s research at researchgate.net.

In addition to Drs. Imran Niazi and Kelly Holt, you might also be interested in listening to the previous episode with Dr. Heidi Haavik, also from New Zealand College of Chiropractic discussing “brain adjustments”.

Below are the studies that we discuss in this interview.

1. The effects of a single session of chiropractic care on strength, cortical drive, and spinal excitability in stroke patients.
  Holt K, Niazi IK, Nedergaard RW, Duehr J, Amjad I, Shafique M, Anwar MN, Ndetan H, Turker KS, Haavik H.
  Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 25;9(1):2673. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-39577-5.
  PMID: 30804399 [PubMed – in process] Free PMC Article
  Similar articles
2. The effects of a single session of spinal manipulation on strength and cortical drive in athletes.
  Christiansen TL, Niazi IK, Holt K, Nedergaard RW, Duehr J, Allen K, Marshall P, Türker KS, Hartvigsen J, Haavik H.
  Eur J Appl Physiol. 2018 Apr;118(4):737-749. doi: 10.1007/s00421-018-3799-x. Epub 2018 Jan 11.
  PMID: 29327170 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE] Free PMC Article
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3. Effectiveness of Chiropractic Care to Improve Sensorimotor Function Associated With Falls Risk in Older People: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
  Holt KR, Haavik H, Lee AC, Murphy B, Elley CR.
  J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2016 May;39(4):267-78. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2016.02.003. Epub 2016 Apr 2.
  PMID: 27050038 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
  Similar articles
4. Changes in H-reflex and V-waves following spinal manipulation.
  Niazi IK, Türker KS, Flavel S, Kinget M, Duehr J, Haavik H.
  Exp Brain Res. 2015 Apr;233(4):1165-73. doi: 10.1007/s00221-014-4193-5. Epub 2015 Jan 13.
  PMID: 25579661 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
  Similar articles
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