Anthony L. Asher
2008, Orlando
Anthony L. Asher, MD, FACS, received his BA degree in Religion and Biology from Kalamazoo College in 1982. He graduated from Wayne State University Medical School in 1987 and while there was named to the original class of Howard Hughes Medical Institute-NIH Research Scholars. Dr. Asher returned to the NIH in 1989-91 as a staff fellow under Dr. Steven Rosenberg at the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute. He completed his training in neurological surgery in 1995 under the chairmanship of Dr. Julian Hoff at the University of Michigan. After residency, Dr. Asher joined the Charlotte-based Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates, where he maintains an active community-based practice with primary clinical interests in neuro-oncology and functional neurosurgery. He presently serves as the Director of Neurooncology at the Blumenthal Cancer Center of the Carolinas Medical Center, as Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Presbyterian Hospital, as Adjunct Professor of Biology and Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and as Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at Penn State University. Over the last several years, Dr. Asher has been honored to serve the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in a number of roles including Vice President, Editor-in-Chief of the Self Assessment in Neurological Surgery, and as Chairman of the Strategic Planning, Scientific Program, and Annual Meeting Committees. During his tenure on the CNS Executive Committee, Dr. Asher has been particularly committed to the development of novel educational programs. Dr. Asher has also been privileged serve on the Executive Committee of the Section on Tumors since 1998 and is presently Co-Chairman of the Section’s Community Collaborative Initiatives Subcommittee. Dr. Asher’s basic research has focused on tumor immunobiology. He is currently involved in brain tumor clinical research and has established cooperative cancer research programs with laboratory scientists at UNC. Dr. Asher is an RTOG principal investigator and a member of that organization’s brain tumor committee. He presently serves as Co-Director of the Carolina Center for Translational Neuroscience and Co-Chairman of the Brain Tumor Foundation for the Carolinas. Dr. Asher has a special interest in promoting community involvement in clinical research and is the recent past chairman of the Central Nervous System Organ Site Committee of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group. He is co-founder of the AANS/CNS Academic-Community Brain Tumor Initiative. Dr. Asher is also engaged in interdisciplinary educational research and the development of novel educational methods in medicine. Tony and Jill Asher were born and raised in Michigan and met in Ann Arbor while Dr. Asher was a resident neurosurgeon. They have been married for 17 years. Jill previously worked as an ICU nurse at the University of Michigan and earned her DDS degree from that institution in 1995. Tony and Jill live in Charlotte with their three energetic children Tony (13), Kyle (11), and Dayna (8). The entire Asher family enjoys travel and a wide variety of outdoor sports including tennis, swimming, lacrosse and cycling.