Jonathan Bekenstein, MD PhD

Biography

Breakthrough brain research to improve patient treatment
Dr. Jonathan Bekenstein was born in the hospital where he works today. At the time, his father was completing his residency. But it wasn’t long until the young boy started shadowing his father, a practicing pediatrician for 56 years until he retired at age 87.

“I always enjoyed rounding with my father in the hospital and making house calls with him when I was in grad school,” Dr. Bekenstein says. “By middle school, I knew I wanted to be a doctor. And by high school, I knew I wanted to be a neurologist or neurosurgeon.”

And he never missed a step. His first stop was Amherst College, in the world’s first undergraduate neuroscience program. Finding equal passions for research and treating patients with neurological conditions, he spent two summers working for geneticist Marshall Nirenberg, a Nobel Prize laureate whose lab was based at the National Institutes of Health. Bekenstein brought that experience with him as he completed the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Virginia, earning both his medical degree and Ph.D.

His fellowship training prepared him to treat epilepsy patients and read their EEGs, a diagnostic tool that gives doctors insights into a brain’s electrical activity. His Ph.D. in neuroscience focused on brain development and neuropharmacology, or how medications work in the nervous system.

As he developed as a researcher and clinician, Dr. Bekenstein gained more specialty expertise: Recording brain tissue surgically removed from patients with epilepsy. Surgery evaluation and device therapy for epilepsy. Treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis, headaches, brain tumors, Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Precision injections to reduce headaches and face pain. Diagnosing and treating small fiber neuropathy.

The common denominator? The human brain.

“Brains are fascinating. It’s obvious that a heart pumps and a kidney filters blood, but you can’t tell what the brain and spinal cord do just from looking at them,” he says. “How the brain produces creativity, emotions, movement and behavior is not obvious and requires a deep curiosity. There is a great deal of art and beauty in studying the nervous system.”

Over the past 35 years, research has generated deeper understanding of brain development, genetics and physiology. “The biggest strides have been in stroke care, where intervention has advanced tremendously in the past decade,” Dr. Bekenstein says. “Neuro-imaging has helped with diagnoses. We are close to finding the cure for multiple sclerosis. And finally, this is the golden age of headache prevention and treatment,” noting the world saw significant breakthroughs in 2018 alone.

Such a higher standard of care is part of the integrated patient-care model in Neurology at VCU Health. The program brings together specialists – including those in neurosurgery, neuroradiology and oncology, just to name a few – to find answers and provide evidence-based care that is tailored to each person. “We’re able to provide services that other facilities cannot,” Dr. Bekenstein says. “We take seriously patients’ advance directives, and we treat everyone the same, regardless of finances. We train our residents and medical students to understand that every individual has value.”

Dr. Bekenstein is an avid cyclist and member of the VCU Health Rams that Ride team, which trains together for charity rides. He has biked countless miles to raise money for multiple sclerosis research, the Massey Cancer Institute, the Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia, rehabilitation services for wounded veterans at the McGuire VA Hospital, and the Powhatan Free Clinic. He’s also a member of the Richmond Area Bicycling Association, whose charities are Bikes for Kids, Soles4Souls and the Brain Injury Association of Virginia.

Research Interests

Epilepsy, including models and clinical studies, and happiness in patients with neurological conditions