About
As a neuropathologist, Dr. Miller is concerned with diseases of the nervous system. The main focus of his research deals with various aspects of central nervous system tumors, both in humans of all ages and in animals. He has also examined Alzheimer’s disease in animals. Additionally, he has studied the effects of blunt head trauma, particularly in children. His work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and other leading agencies. Dr. Miller has written three books and numerous articles which have appeared in scientific publications including Cancer and the Journal of Neurosurgery. His works have been cited more than 11,000 times.
Education & Training
Medical School
University of Miami
Residency
Neuropathology
- Massachusetts General Hospital
Pathology - Anatomic
- Massachusetts General Hospital
Post-Graduate School
Boards
Insurances
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Academic Information
Research Profile
The main focus of Dr. Miller's research deals with various aspects of central nervous system tumors, in human specimens and in animal models. This includes Dr. Miller's activities as a member of the Children's Oncology Group. This group’s CNS Disease Committee, Pathology Committee, and specific clinical trials committee, is currently focusing on treatment of children with medulloblastomas stratified by the genetic background of the tumor. Dr. Miller’s areas of focus includes clinicopathological case series in which he is currently completing a project regarding prognostic indicators in meningiomas in MU patients. In addition, Dr. Miller is studying a concept dealing with antibody-targeted nanoparticles to treat gliomas. Separately, he has a project ongoing regarding clinical and legal correlates of neuropathological and ophthalmological-pathological findings in head trauma in young children. Dr. Miller collaborates extensively with clinical and basic science colleagues in projects dealing with Alzheimer's Disease in animal models, in case reports and case series of CNS tumors, and in animal models of CNS tumors.
Research Interests
- Pathologic diagnosis and classification of central nervous system tumors, both adult and pediatric
- Pathological diagnosis of non‐neoplastic central nervous system diseases in neurosurgical specimens, including the neuropathology of medically intractable epilepsy
- Pathological diagnosis of Neurodegenerative Diseases at autopsy
- Pathological diagnosis of traumatic brain injuries at autopsy. Pathological diagnosis of spongiform encephalopathies at autopsy
- Neuropathological correlates in sudden infant and young child deaths (SIDS, SUDC)
- Neuropathology of Neurofibromatoses (NF1, NF2, and Schwannomatosis)
- General autopsy neuropathology
- General surgical neuropathology
- Neuropathological diagnosis in skeletal muscle biopsies
- Neuropathological diagnosis in peripheral nerve biopsies
- Ophthalmological surgical pathology
Areas of Expertise
- Pathology with clinical and imaging correlations of primary central nervous system tumors
- Neuropathology of blunt head trauma, especially in young children
- Neuropathology of Neurodegenerative Diseases and animal models thereof
- Surgical neuropathology of medically refractory epilepsy
- Neural stem cells and their roles in the biology of primary central nervous system tumors
Related Links
Awards & Honors
- Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation 1997 Jean and Nicholas Leone Grant Award (for “Differentiation, Proliferative Activity, and Prognosis in Pediatric Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors of the Central Nervous System”)
- “Ambassador”, United States-Canadian Academy of Pathology, 2002-2007
- Attending of the Year, NYU Department of Pathology, 2001-2002 academic year (teaching award voted on by the residents and fellows of the Department)
- Paul CJ Sun MD Distinguished Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Department of Pathology & Anatomical Sciences, April 29, 2011
- Outstanding Teacher Award, Department of Neurology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, 2012-2013
- Meritorious Service Award, The New York Association of Neuropathologists (“The Neuroplex”), November 2007
- First Prize, Neurology Books, 2010 British Medical Association Book Awards (for Modern Surgical Neuropathology, Cambridge University Press, 2009)
Publications
- Odem J, Matute Turizo, G, Miller DC. 6-year old girl with a left parietal lobe tumor. "Case of the Month-March 2014", Brain Pathology 24,415-416, 2014. PMID:25083534 doi:10.1111/bpa.12153
- Johannesen EJ, Williams T, Miller DC, Tuller E. Synchronous ovarian and endometrial carcinomas in a patient with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: A case report and review of the literature. Int J Gynecol Pathol 34, 132-135, 2015; PMID 25675181
- Ogles RL, Joshi CL, Miller DC, Litofsky NS, Travis MD. Leukoencephalopathy, cerebral calcifications, and cysts in two sisters. Pediatr Neurol 51, 576-579, 2014; PMID 25266624.
- Raychaudhuri R, Hackman S, Norregaard T, Miller DC. Intracranial Rosai-Dorfman Disease in pregnancy: a case report and review of the literature. Int J Neuropathol 2, 8-16, 2014; doi:10.7726.ijn.2014.1002.
- Poretti A, Denecke J, Miller DC, Schiffman H, Buhk JH, Grange DK, Doherty D, Boltshauser E. Brainstem disconnection: two additional patients and expansion of the phenotype. Neuropediatrics 46, 139-144, 2015; PMID 25671339
- Campbell J, Miller DC, Cundiff D, Feng Q, Litofsky NS. Neural stem/progenitor cells react to non-glial cns neoplasms. SpringerPlus, 4, 53- , 2015 DOI:10.1186/s40064-015-0807-z; PMID 25713758
- Miller DC, Fatterpekar G. Cerebral Intra-Axial Mass Lesions. Chapter 8 in Neuropathologic and Neuroradiologic Correlations: A Differential Diagnostic Text and Atlas, M Gokden, M Kumar, eds. Cambridge University Press, in press 2015.
- Cohen BH, Geyer JR, Miller DC, Curran JG, Zhou T, Holmes E, Ingles SA, Dunkel IJ, Hilden J, Packer RJ, Pollack IF, Gajjar A, Finlay JL. Pilot study of intensive chemotherapy with peripheral hematopoietic cell support for children less than 3 years of age with malignant brain tumors, the CCG-99703 Phase I/II study. A report from the Children’s Oncology Group. Pediatr Neurology, 53, 31-46, 2015. PMID: 26092413 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j/pedoatrneurol.2015.03.019
- Menon MP, Nicolae A, Meeker H, Raffeld M, Xi L, Jegalian AG, Miller DC, Pittaluga S, Jaffe ES. Primary CNS T-cell lymphomas: a clinical, morphologic, immunophenotypic, and molecular analysis. Am J Surg Pathol,39, 1719-29, 2015. PMID 26379152; DOI 10.1097/PAS.0000000000000503
- Lee E-J, Rath P, Liu J, Ryu D, Pei L, Noonepalle SK, Shull AY, Feng Q, Litofsky NS, Miller DC, Anthony DC, Kirk MD, Laterra JJ, Xin H, Wang X, Choi J-H, Shi H. Identification of global DNA methylation signatures in glioblastoma-derived cancer stem cells. J Genet Genomics, 42, 355-371, 2015. PMID: 26233891
- Miller DC. (In Memorium) Gleb N. Budzilovich, MD. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol, 74, 943-944, 2015. DOI: 10.1097/NEN.0000000000000232; PMID: 26506633
- Litofsky SN, Martin S, Diaz J, Ge B, Petroski G, Miller DC, Barnes SL. The negative impact of anemia on outcome from traumatic brain injury. In press, World Neurosurgery 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2016.02.076 PMID: 26921698
- Puricelli MD, Gilley DR, Coberly JS, Lin J, Rivera A, Bien AG, Zitsch RP, Miller DC. Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the jugular foramen. Otology Neurootology, 2016. DOI: 10: 1097/MAO.0000000000001047; PMID 27223674
- Spurgeon A, Le V, Konakondla S, Miller DC, Hopkins T, Litofsky NS. High-grade glioma of the ventrolateral medulla in an adult: case presentation and discussion of surgical considerations. Case Rep Neurol Med, 2016, Article ID 6813089 (9 pages). DOI: 10.1155/2016/6813089; PMID: 27242937
- Schmidt RL, Chute DJ, Colbert-Getz JM, Firpo-Betancourt A, James DS, Karp JK, Miller DC, Milner DA Jr, Smock KJ, Sutton AT, White KL, Walker BS, Wilson AR, Wojcik EM, Yared MA, Factor RE. Statistical literacy among pathologists. Arch Pathol Lab Med, in press 2016
- Cress M, Spurgeon A, McLaughlin MF, Remsen T, Miller DC, Robertson JD, Pevsner PH. Crossing the blood-brain barrier with antibody-labeled, gold-coated nanoconjugates: A preliminary step in targeting and eradicating brain tumors. J Nanomat Molec Nanotechnol, in press 2016.
- Miller DC. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, A Real Disease, But Not A New One. AANS Neurosurgeon 25 (3), on-line only, 2016.
- Barth PG, Aronica E, Fox S, Fluiter K, Weterman MAJ, Poretti A, Miller DC, Boltshauser E, Harding B8, Santi M, Baas F. Deregulated expression of EZH2 in congenital brainstem disconnection. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol, in press, 2016. doi: 10.1111/nan/12368' PMID: 27886392