Ayub Khan Ommaya, MD, ScD (hc), FRCS, FACS (1930 - 2008) was a Pakistani American neurosurgeon and the inventor of the Ommaya reservoir. The reservoir is used to provide chemotherapy directly to the tumor site for brain tumors. Ommaya was also a leading expert in traumatic brain injuries.
Ommaya published over 150 articles, chapters, and books. His research focused on cancer treatment, traumatic brain injury, a CSF artificial organ, and philosophy of mind. Through discussions with Congressman William Lehman Chair of the House Appropriations Committee responsible for the Department of Transportation, he developed CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which as part of its mission focuses on traumatic brain injury. As part of this effort Ommaya commissioned the IOM report Injury in America. The report called for the creation of the CDC center.
Ommaya's research provided the experimental data needed to model traumatic brain injury. His Centripetal theory was foundational to the biomechanics of traumatic brain injury. This work allowed for improved modeling of brain injury by engineers in their design of safety equipment in automobiles.
Ommaya also did early work with the computed tomography (CT) scanner. His work with Sir Godfrey Hounsfield to determine the spatial resolution of the CT scanner opened the door for its use in stereotactic surgery. Spinal angiography was also pioneered by Ommaya, Di Chiro, and Doppman. This work allowed for the visualization of arteries and veins and allowed for understanding of spinal cord arteriography. The same team reported the treatment of spinal cord AVMs by percutaneous embolization of an intercostal artery using stainless steel pellets. This was one of the first reports of interventional neuroradiology. Ommaya made several significant contributions to many areas that concern neurological surgeons, treatment of cancer, hydrocephalus, traumatic brain injury, and arterio-venous malformations.
Professional history
Ommaya received his medical degree from King Edward Medical College in Pakistan in 1953 and completed his graduate work in Physiology, Psychology, and Biochemistry at the University of Oxford (Balliol College) as a Rhodes Scholar (M.A.) in 1956. Ommaya won a national swimming competition in Pakistan in 1953 and also established himself as a champion debater and trained as an operatic singer. In 1961, Dr. Ommaya immigrated to the United States. He became a US citizen in 1967. Ommaya received his honorary Doctor of Science degree from Tulane University, School of Engineering Sciences in 1981.
From 1961 to 1980, he joined the staff of the National Institute of Health and became Chief of Neurosurgery, studying treatment of malignant neoplasms, the biomechanics and mechanisms of brain injury, and memory. He also served as Chief Medical Advisor to the U.S. Department of Transportation (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) from 1980 until 1985. He was a clinical professor at George Washington University from 1980 until 2003. He returned to Pakistan in 2005 after diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in 2004.
He held patents in devices for drug delivery to the brain, protective systems for neck and head injuries and an artificial organ for treatment of diabetes.
He was Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Ommaya was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan in 1982.
Neurosurgical career
Ommaya completed his neurosurgical training under Dr. Joseph Pennybacker at Nuffield College of Surgical Sciences in London and at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. After his neurosurgical training, Ommaya came to America and began working as a researcher and clinician at the Surgical Neurology Branch of the NIH. He rose to the rank of Chief of Neurosurgery at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Health. He also was a clinical professor at George Washington University.
Ommaya was well known for his surgical skill and in 1977 he completed a difficult removal of a spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM) which received attention in the press. During the 18-hour operation the patient was placed in total body hypothermia and total circulatory arrest for 45 minutes. The hypothermia was needed to slow metabolism and protect the brain and organs from reduced oxygen supply while Ommaya surgically embolized and removed an AVM which was located near the medulla. Ommaya was the honorary physician to the President of Pakistan. Ommaya also appeared with Peter Ustinov, Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon in the movie Lorenzo's Oil released in 1992.