Dr. Sivakumar Jaikumar

I am an academic adult and pediatric neuro-oncologist who helps lead The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke. I am the author of more than 500 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters, and I have presented extensively at both international and national meetings. I am a committed educator who is a member of the executive and super-executive committees of the Duke University School of Medicine, which are responsible for the recruitment, screening and selection of medical students. I have reviewed grants for the National Institutes of Health for over 15 years, in a spectrum of different study sections. I am the senior editor of CNS Oncology and a reviewer for over 25 academic journals. I serve on the advisory board of a number of organizations, including Voices Against Brain Cancer, the Tug McGraw Foundation, Pinnacle Care, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, the National Children’s Cancer Society, and the American Brain Tumor Association. Dr. Friedman is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Embryonal Tumor with Multilayered Rosettes. His top areas of expertise are Glioma, Astrocytoma, Glioblastoma, and Brain Tumor.

What we specialize in at The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center is compassionate care – we take care of our patients. It’s complete care. The patients don’t have to go out and find a radiologist. We have the radiation oncologist, the chemotherapy, the surgery, the radiology, we have all kinds of nursing people as well as help getting physical therapy and getting in-the-home assistance. Patients also can expect cutting-edge care because we run such a terrific science program here. I really like working with the patients. No question about it. It’s not that I’m doing some trivial procedure six times a day. When someone comes in with a brain tumor, there’s usually some bonding, and instead of running away from that, I really enjoy it. Dr. Friedman is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Embryonal Tumor with Multilayered Rosettes. His top areas of expertise are Astrocytoma, Glioma, Glioblastoma, Awake Craniotomy, and Laminectomy.

My primary focus is patient care and clinical research. My clinical research focuses on providing innovative and aggressive therapies to adults with primary brain tumors. I always keep the patient's quality of life foremost in my practice. I completed my residency in adult neurology at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec. I finished a two-year fellowship in neuro-oncology at The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke. Upon completion of my fellowship in 2005, I joined the Center as faculty. I am a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. Dr. Desjardins is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Embryonal Tumor with Multilayered Rosettes. Her top areas of expertise are Gliosarcoma, Embryonal Tumor with Multilayered Rosettes, Glioblastoma, and Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT).