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Richard G. Everson, MD

  • Brain and Tumor Neurosurgery|
  • Neurosurgery
Westwood Neurosurgery | 300 Stein Plaza Suite 420, Los Angeles, CA 90095

About

Dr. Richard Everson specializes in neurosurgical oncology, the treatment of benign and malignant tumors of the brain, spine, and skull base. He practices at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood and at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance. He is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Dr. Everson was recruited to UCLA to provide expertise in complex surgery for tumors affecting the central nervous system. He employs the full spectrum of neurosurgical techniques to ensure that tumors are removed as completely and safely as possible. He offers the strategic use of minimally invasive, laser ablation, image-guidance, endoscopic, microsurgery, awake brain mapping, conventional-open and reconstruction techniques.

As a member of the UCLA Brain Tumor Center, Dr. Everson collaborates with other UCLA experts in the fields of neuroradiology, neuropathology, radiation-oncology, neuropsychology, basic and translation science, neuro-rehabilitation and care coordination to offer the world’s most advanced treatment options for patients suffering from central nervous system tumors. Unique at UCLA, Dr. Everson possesses an advanced fellowship training from MD Anderson Cancer Center which provides him with the insight of how to best combine surgery as part of a comprehensive care plan for neuro-oncology patients who may require combination therapies such as chemotherapy or radiation. His involvement in laboratory science allows him to be a co-investigator on several active clinical trials and translate information learned "from bench to bedside" and back again.

Dr. Everson developed his interest in neurosurgery during his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan where his thesis on central nervous system regeneration earned him honors for his degree in molecular biology. His long-standing interest in brain tumor immunotherapy began as a medical student at Duke University. There, he worked under the mentorship of Drs. Matthias Gromeier and John Sampson to identify the mechanisms governing the ability of the oncolytic polio virus (now in clinical trials) to selectively kill tumor cells as well as to identify ideal immunotherapy targets for cancer vaccines, respectively. He was awarded the prestigious Eugene A. Stead scholarship for these research efforts.

During his neurosurgical residency at UCLA, Dr. Everson continued his research in brain tumor immunotherapy with Drs. Linda Liau and Robert Prins where he helped conduct clinical trials of dendritic cell vaccines and advance engineered T-cell immunotherapy for CNS tumors. He received multiple grants and awards including the NIH R25, AANS NREF, and JCCC Seed Grant. Dr. Everson has been invited to and presented his research findings at numerous scientific society meetings nationally. Since becoming faculty at UCLA, he has continued to advance care for patients both in the operating room and by continuing laboratory investigations to develop next-generation immunotherapy treatments for central nervous system cancers.

Dr. Everson has been named to the Southern California Super Doctors® Rising Stars 2019 and 2020 lists.

Professional Memberships

  • American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • Congress of Neurological Surgeons
  • American Association for Cancer Research
  • Society for Neuro-Oncology
  • Journal of Neuro-Oncology (Reviewer)
  • Surgical Neurology International (Consulting Editor)

Languages

English

Education

Medical Board Certification

Neurological Surgery, American Board of Neurological Surgery, 2021

Fellowship

Neurosurgical Oncology, University of Texas - M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 2017

Residency

Neurosurgery, UCLA School of Medicine, 2016

Internship

General Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine, 2010

Degree

MD, Duke University School of Medicine, 2009

Recognitions

  • Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars 2021
  • Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars 2020
  • Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars 2019

Locations

West Los Angeles

Westwood Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery| Brain and Tumor Neurosurgery| Pediatric Neurosurgery +3 more specialties

Hospital Affiliations

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center

Videos

Profile
Meet Richard G. Everson, MD

Research

Interests

Dr. Everson's research is focused on:

  • Clinical trials for patients with central nervous system tumors
  • Evaluating the makeup of individual patient tumors including next generation sequencing to identify targetable mutations (by both targeted therapies and immunotherapy) establishing treatment models (cell lines, avatars) and using flow cytometry and cytoff to understand the immune cell populations within a tumor
  • Developing next-generation immunotherapy treatments included engineered T-cell therapies for cancers in the central nervous system
  • Understanding the causes of, and determining treatments for, tumor genetic syndromes such as neurofibromatosis and schwannomatosis

Publications

  1. Everson RG, Fomchenko EI, Foulad DS, Lisiero DN, Liau LM. Immunotherapy for Malignant Gliomas In: Malignant Gliomas: Radiation Medicine Rounds Volume 3. Editors: Chakravarti A, Fuss M, Charles R.Demon; 2012. p. 289-316.
  2. Prins RM, Wang X, Soto H, Young E, Lisiero DN, Fong B, Everson R, Yong WH, Lai A, Li G, Cloughesy TF, Liau LM. Comparison of glioma-associated antigen peptide-loaded versus autologous tumor lysate-loaded dendritic cell vaccination in malignant glioma patients. Journal of immunotherapy. 2013 Feb;36(2):152-7.
  3. Everson RG, Jin RM, Wang X, Safaee M, Scharnweber R, Lisiero DN, Soto H, Liau LM, Prins RM. Cytokine responsiveness of CD8(+) T cells is a reproducible biomarker for the clinical efficacy of dendritic cell vaccination in glioblastoma patients. Journal for immunotherapy of cancer. 2014;2:10.
  4. Everson RG, Antonios JP, Lisiero DN, Soto H, Scharnweber R, Garrett MC, Yong WH, Li N, Li G, Kruse CA, Liau LM, Prins RM. Efficacy of systemic adoptive transfer immunotherapy targeting NY-ESO-1 for glioblastoma. Neuro Oncol. 2016 Mar;18(3):368-78.
  5. Everson RG, Liau LM. Malignant Gliomas In: Neuro-Oncology: The Essentials 3ed. Editors: Bernstein M, Berger MS. Thieme; 2015. p 289-301
  6. Everson RG, Malone CC, Erickson KL, Fomchenko EI, Prins RM, Liau LM, Kruse CA. Genetically Engineered T Cell Immunotherapy for Gliomas and Other Solid Tumors In: Cancer Immunotherapy- Mechanisms of cancer immunity, engineering immune-based therapies and developing clinical trials: Editor: Song J. Bentham Science; 2015 p105-122
  7. Hsu M, Sedighim S, Wang T, Antonios JP, Everson RG, Tucker AM, Du L, Emerson R, Yusko E, Sanders C, Robins H, Yong WH, Davidson TB, Li G, Liau LM, Prins RM. TCR sequencing can identify and track glioma-infiltrating T cells after DC vaccination. Cancer Immunol Res. 2016 May;4(5):412-8.
  8. Antonios JP, Soto H, Everson RG, Orpilla J, Moughon D, Shin N, Sedighim S, Yong WH, Li G, Cloughesy T, Liau LM and Prins RM. PD-1 blockade enhances the vaccination-induced immune response in glioma. JCI Insight 2016 Jul 7;1(10).
  9. Everson RG, Antonios JP, Tucker AM and Liau LM. Dendritic Cell Therapy for Brain Tumors. In: Translational Immunotherapy Gliomas. Editor: Sampson JH. Elsevier; 2017. P 301-321
  10. Antonios JP, Soto H, Orpilla J, Shin N, Everson RG, Moughon D, Sedighim S, Yong WH, Du L, Li G, Ellingson B, Radu C, Liau LM and Prins RM. Immunosuppressive tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells mediate adaptive immune resistance via a PD-1/PD-L1 mechanism in glioblastoma. Neuro-Oncology (2016) Neuro Oncol. 2017 Jan 23.
  11. Antonios JP, Soto H, Everson RG, Moughon DL, Wang AC, Orpilla J, Radu C, Ellingson BM, Lee JT, Cloughesy T, Phelps ME, Czernin J, Liau LM, Prins RM.Detection of immune responses after immunotherapy in glioblastoma using PET and MRI.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Sep 19;114(38):10220-10225.
  12. Everson RG, Antonios JP, Liau LM Cell-Based Immunotherapy of Gliomas In:. Progress in Neurological Surgery: Contemporary Management of Intracranial Gliomas. Part III-Innovative Treatment Modalities p 90-100 Editors: Chernov MF, Muragaki Y, Kesari S, McCutcheon IE. Karger; 2017
  13. Zuckerman SL, Rao G, Rhines LD, McCutcheon IE, Everson RG, Tatsui CE. Interbody distraction and vertebral body reconstruction with polymethylmethacrylate for the treatment of pathological fractures.J Neurosurg Spine. 2017 Dec;27(6):700-708.
  14. Everson RG, Hashimoto Y, Freeman JL, Hodges TR, Huse J, Zhou S, Xiu J, Spetzler D, Sanai N, Kim L, Kesari S, Brenner A, De Monte F, Heimberger A, Raza SM. Multiplatform profiling of meningioma provides molecular insight and prioritization of drug targets for rational clinical trial design. J Neurooncol. 2018 Sep;139(2):469-478
  15. Freeman JL, Kaufmann AB, Everson RG, DeMonte F, Raza SM. Evidence-Based Optimization of Post-Treatment Surveillance for Skull Base Chordomas Based on Local and Distant Disease Progression. Oper Neurosurg (Hagerstown). 2018 Apr 18
  16. Everson RG, Rhines LD. Review of: Feasibility and Safety of En Bloc Resection for Primary Spine Tumors: A Systematic Review by the Spine Oncology Study Group. In: The Fifty Essential Articles that Every Spine Surgeon Should Know. P 61-64 Editors: Vaccaro AR, Wilson JR, Fisher CG. CMC Press 2018

Link to complete list of publications >

Recognitions

  • Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars 2021
  • Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars 2020
  • Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars 2019