Steven Gangloff, MD, is always looking for opportunities to learn and innovate. A high school baking project led to an interest in food dehydration and eventually, a series of cookbooks. As a resident, Gangloff built on a lifelong interest in technology to enhance telemedicine capabilities at his local Veteran’s Affairs (VA) center and create an educational platform to help other residents with their board exams. Now as one of our clinical neurophysiology fellows, he’s bringing that passion to help patients with epilepsy and other conditions at Duke and the Durham VAMC. In this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Gangloff talks to us about his many interests, how he decided to specialize in epilepsy, and looking forward to traveling once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
What are your current responsibilities as a clinical neurophysiology fellow? What does a typical day look like for you?
As a CNP – EEG fellow it is my job to interpret electroencephalogram (EEG) studies the VA and Duke's adult and children's hospitals, and to see patients with epilepsy in clinic. An EEG is used to look for seizures or other electrical changes in the brain that can occur secondary to brain injury or disturbance. There are many patients at Duke having these studies every day, both inpatient and outpatient. It's my job to notify other members of the care team when a patient is having a seizure or other concerning change in their brain pattern, so that we may act as a team to change their treatment plan.
My days typically start at 7 AM, where I review the studies in the morning, and then round with the teams until noon. In the afternoon, I sometimes go to clinic and sometimes review the EEG studies remotely. My colleagues and I take turns covering nights and weekends as well, so that the EEGs are always being watched, 24/7. Additionally, I often prepare surgical patient presentations for our Friday conferences and participate in various research projects in my down time.
How and when did you get interested in neurology? How did you decide to focus on clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy?
I first became interested in neurology during our neuroanatomy course in my second year of medical school. I had honestly never given it any thought prior to that. I was so fascinated by the complexities of the human brain and how physiologic and pathologic changes can manifest. Too, I greatly enjoyed being able to care for a patient population with neurological illnesses. Disorders of the brain can be a frightening thing for many patients and their families, and I felt that I was good at providing education and comfort with these hard diagnoses. Epilepsy was a natural subspecialty for me within neurology. I’ve always been interested in computers and technology and how it impacts our medical care, and epileptologists work with these technologies every day. I also enjoy that there are a lot of available treatments for patients with epilepsy, and it is a growing and exciting field.
In addition to your clinical expertise you also have interests in technology and entrepreneurship. How can each of these areas improve how we understand or treat neurological conditions?
Technology is tightly intertwined into everything we do as doctors, every day. Medicine has seen some incredible technological advances, but we still lag on the curve of innovation in many areas compared to even the general consumer world. I have been programming and building websites since high school, and I’ve found I’ve been able to use this knowledge on numerous occasions in the medical field. In residency I helped to establish telemedicine capabilities at the VA for remote EEG procedures. Also, in residency I established an educational platform, NowYouKnowNeuro, to prepare neurologists for RITE, Board, and Recertification exams. Now, I am working on a research project using artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze EEG tracings. I also recently completed Epic PowerUser and Builder training and am using these skills to work with the department of informatics and neurology department as a Provider Champion to help improve technologies at Duke.
You’ve written two cookbooks and have a website focusing on drying foods. How did you first become interested in this technique? What are some of your favorite dried or rehydrated foods?
Our family purchased our first dehydrator during my last year of high school, for the purpose of drying cake decorations more quickly. At the time, my mother was an avid cakemaker. I found the process of food dehydration so interesting, and eventually as a family we all began experimenting with dehydrating, well, everything! Having had an entrepreneurial eye most of my life, I quickly saw an opportunity. Home food dehydration can be beneficial for many families, yet there were no good resources teaching people how it is done. Most of the techniques we were using we invented through trial and error. I decided to launch a website and instructional videos online. Eventually, these videos became very popular and we were approached by a book publisher!
Dehydrated items are very versatile; I love to use them for protein shakes, infused waters, quick oats, and yogurts, just to name a few or my favorites. Also, you’ve never eaten an apple pie until you’ve had one made from dehydrated apples. The apples rehydrate to a perfect crispness that you can’t get any other way. No more mushy fruits or soggy pie bottoms.
What plans do you have for after you complete your fellowship? If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
My ideal job would be similar to what I am doing now actually; reading EEGs and providing recommendations for patients with epilepsy, and also advising on surgical epilepsy cases. Additionally, I have had interests in clinical informatics for years and want to have an informatics role in a hospital or organization, where I can improve patient care through advancing technologies. I also plan to continue my entrepreneurial side-ventures, and my ultimate goal in this realm is to start a medical software company with my brother!
What’s one experience from your time as a fellow so far that’s been especially memorable or useful for you?
I’ve already learned so many extremely valuable skills in this fellowship. I think involvement in the surgical epilepsy conferences using intracranial EEG and brain mapping software has been especially useful and interesting.
What are you most looking forward to once the COVID-19 pandemic is over?
Traveling! Our family never used to travel anywhere when I was a kid, so I always assumed I didn’t like to travel. It wasn’t until only the last couple of years that I learned how exciting it is to explore the world and learn from new people and cultures. In the last few years I have gotten a chance to travel out of the country a few times each year, and I can’t wait to start again! There are still so many places I have yet to see: Thailand? Australia?
What other passions or hobbies do you have outside of the Department?
Sometimes I think I have too many passions and hobbies. I love learning new things, so I have grown a lot of hobbies over the years, from playing musical instruments to photography to extreme sports. As mentioned, I also have a strong interest in entrepreneurship. I think it is so exciting to build something from nothing, and to watch it grow! Most recently, I am combining two of my passions; music and entrepreneurship, by starting a company with my friends that puts professional studio producer techniques and tools into the hands of homestudio makers. It has been so much fun working with artists and producers to build content for this upcoming launch!
In the photo above, Gangloff enjoys a (pre-COVID) vacation in Greece, while in the photo below enjoys quality time with a furry friend.
