Ayub Ommaya

Ayub Khan Ommaya (1930 to 2008) was a Pakistani American neurosurgeon, best known as the inventor of the Ommaya reservoir, a device that delivers chemotherapy directly to the site of a brain tumor. He was also a leading expert in traumatic brain injury. His research gave engineers the experimental data needed to model head injury, and his centripetal theory became foundational to the biomechanics of traumatic brain injury, which in turn improved the design of automobile safety equipment. The cited article adds early work with the computed tomography scanner together with Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, pioneering spinal angiography with Di Chiro and Doppman, and one of the first reports of interventional neuroradiology through embolization of spinal cord arteriovenous malformations. He published over 150 articles, chapters and books, and his research ranged across cancer treatment, hydrocephalus, a cerebrospinal fluid artificial organ and the philosophy of mind.