Neurology & Neurosurgery
Michael Podell, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology)
Dr. Podell is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Neurology). Dr. Podell has over 18 years of experience as a board-certified neurologist with specialized training in neurosurgery. He received his BA in Psychology with Honors at the University of North Carolina, a Masters of Science from Tel-Aviv University, and his DVM degree from Tufts University in 1988. He then completed his internship at The Animal Medical Center in New York City in 1989 and his neurology residency at The Ohio State University in 1992.
Dr. Podell served as a full professor and the Director of the Comparative Neurology Service at The Ohio State University prior to starting the first full-time neurology and neurosurgery practice in Chicagoland in 2002.
Dr. Podell currently is an Adjunct Full Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Academy of Neurology, and has published numerous articles and book chapters and lectured worldwide on various topics in veterinary neurology and neurosurgery. He enjoys spending his free time with his family, including his dogs, Phoebe and Julie, cats, Lucy and Desi, and turtle, Crush.
Zachary Niman, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology)
Dr. Niman was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He received his B.A. in Biology from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1999 and his DVM from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 2005. Dr. Niman completed a 1-year rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery in 2006 as well as a 1-year directed neurology internship in 2007 at the Animal Emergency and Referral Center in the northern suburbs of Chicago. He completed a three year residency in neurology and neurosurgery at the North Carolina State University and became board certified in neurology in 2011.
Dr. Niman enjoys all aspects of neurology and has special interests in managing cases of refractory epilepsy as well as inflammatory central nervous system disorders. In his free time, Dr. Niman spends time with his wife, Natalie, and their family of 2 dogs and 2 cats, and he remains an avid Baltimore area sports fan.
