Vernon Rowe, MD
President and CEO, Rowe Neurology Institute, Lenexa, KS,
President and CEO Neurrow Pharamceuticals, Inc
Adjunct Professor of Neurology, University of Kansas School of Medicine
My time at Duke, Hopkins, and the NIH helped hone a vision for what a physician scientist can be. After completion of my Neurology residency at Hopkins in 1977 I joined the faculty of the University of Kansas School of Medicine, combining clinical practice with a basic research program using primary cultures of pineal cells and sympathetic neurons. After rising through the academic ranks, I founded the independent Rowe Neurology Institute, in Lenexa, KS.
The Rowe Neurology Institute has three arms: what is now a clinical concierge neurology practice; a non-profit research foundation which does basic and clinical research (I have been the PI on over 150 clinical trials over the past 25 years); and a pharmaceutical and device development incubator. The clinical practice is a tertiary referral center specializing in Multiple Sclerosis, Headache, Sleep Medicine, and Hypermobility Syndrome, the latter arising from our observed links among migraine, sleep disorders and joint hypermobility.
With my wife Elizabeth Rowe, Ph.D., MBA, I founded Verrow Pharmaceuticals, Inc, which recently sold to Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc, and its first product, a kidney safe iodinated contrast agent, has now completed Phase I clinical trials. Neurrow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. the most recent product of our incubator, is focused on neurodegenerative disease. Betsy and I have two sons and five grandchildren and our hobbies include flying, sailing, bluegrass music, cowboy mounted shooting, and writing. Board Certifications include Neurology, Sleep Medicine, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, Neuroimaging, and EEG.
See Dr. Rowe’s presentation at Kansas University Medical School Neurology Grand Rounds Why Medicine Needs Physician Scientists and How to Train Them
Selected Publications
1. Rowe, V.D., and Parr, J.: Developmental Changes in the Stimulation of Serotonin N-Acetyltransferase Activity and Melatonin Synthesis in the Rat Pineal in Monolayer Culture, Journal Pharmacol Exp Ther 218:(1):97-102, 1981.
2. Rowe, V.D. Sea Creatures and Other Poems, Whirlybird Press, 1995.
3. Rowe, V., Use of Regularly Scheduled High Dose Intravenous Methotrexate
Therapy, with Interim Administration of Immunomodulatory Agents, to Treat Multiple Sclerosis and Other Diseases of the Central Nervous System. (US Patent 6,903,100 B2; 2005)
4. Rowe, V., Compositions Useful for Reducing Nephrotoxicity and Methods of Use Thereof. (US Patent No.: 7,658,913 B2, 2010) (also granted in Europe and other countries)
5. Rowe, V., Compositions Useful for Reducing Toxicity Associated with Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents. (Patent No.: US 20090155181 A1)
6. Rowe, V.D .The Ride, Whirlybird Press, 2011.
7. Rowe, E.S., Rowe, V.D., Biswas, S., Mosher, G., Insisienmay, L., Ozias, M.K., Gralinski, M.R., Hunter, J.H., Barnett, J.S.: Preclinical Studies of a Kidney Safe Iodinated Contrast Agent. Journal of Neuroimaging, 26:511-518, September 2016.
Haseeb Ahmed, DO, FACP, MHA
Dr. Haseeb Ahmed currently works with the Institute as a clinical research physician. He is the co-founder of Health Suite 110 Direct Primary Care and the founder of the St. Luke’s Anemia Clinic. When he is not working with RNI, he primarily serves as a board-certified Internal Medicine Physician at his primary care practice. He also serves as an Assistant Professor at the UMKC School of Medicine and the Medical Director at the Jackson County Correction Center. He has authored various review articles, research studies, and a book.
Dr. Ahmed has a bachelor’s degree from Creighton University in Health Administration and Policy. He received his DO and completed his masters degree in Health Administration at Des Moines University, then completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Abraham Rafie, M.D.
Dr. Abraham Rafie received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 2004. Following an internship at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, he completed a diagnostic radiology residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. In 2010, Dr. Rafie completed an emergency radiology fellowship at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. Since then Dr. Rafie has been in private practice with a mixed inpatient and outpatient practice.
Arlene Oshea, APRN
Arlene Oshea works with Dr. Vernon Rowe’s team in the sleep disorders center. A native of the Philippines, Oshea graduated from the University of Missouri Kansas City’s adult nurse practitioner program. She received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Kansas. She is also board certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Leigh Kreshel, MS
Exercise Physiologist Leigh Kreshel has a bachelor’s degree in science and wellness from Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska and a masters in health and exercise sciences from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has worked at the Institute since 2004. Kreshel has participated in conducting numerous research studies.
Dan Magee, CCRC
Dan Magee is a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator who has been working at RNI since 2017. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Biology at Pittsburg State University in 2016. Magee has previous experience working in clinical research administration and coordination.
Carol Carlton, CRC
Carol G. Carlton is a Clinical Research Coordinator at RNI. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri and studied Cytogenetics at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Carlton has extensive basic science laboratory experience and has been involved in research since the 1980’s. She has published research in various fields in basic science.
Tammy Tubbs, BA, RT(R)(CV)(MR)
Tammy Tubbs manages the Imaging Center at Rowe Neurology Institute, where MRI, X-ray, ultrasound, and ocular coherence tomography (OCT) procedures are performed to assist the doctors in diagnosis.
Tammy earned her Radiology degree at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. From there she attended the Interventional Radiology School at the University of Virginia Medical Center to advance her degree. She worked at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City on the stroke team, which performed interventional radiology procedures on stroke victims to greatly improve patients’ future quality of life.
Tammy also became an educator in her field by starting a Special Procedures Radiology School at Saint Luke’s Hospital. She became the school coordinator and taught most classes. During this time she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in healthcare management.
John Hunter, PsyD
Dr. John A. Hunter is a Senior Administrator of RNI and takes a strong interest in research. He completed his undergraduate education at CBC in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduate studies in psychology at Illinois State University and Roosevelt University in Chicago. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the Forest Institute in Chicago. He has managed healthcare organizations since the 1970’s and has been a business consultant to both public and private companies. Prior to joining the MidAmerica Neuroscience Institute, he was the chief executive officer and hospital administrator for a hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. He has published research on multiple sclerosis, sleep, psychological assessments and stroke.
Elizabeth Rowe, PhD, MBA
Dr. Elizabeth Rowe combines her extensive research experience in basic science and savvy business skills as a Senior Scientific Advisor for the Foundation. She believes that with the help of our community and excellent basic science research, a breakthrough in multiple sclerosis research is forthcoming.
Dr. Rowe received her B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in biochemistry at Duke University, and postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University. She then joined the faculty at the University of Kansas Medical School and the Kansas City Veterans Administration Medical Center. She also received an M.B.A. degree from the University of Kansas. During her more than twenty years as an academic researcher in the area of alcohol-brain effects, she obtained more than $2.5 million in funding from peer-reviewed agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the Veterans Administration. She has published research and presented her work at numerous national and international meetings.