Biography
A neurosurgeon-scientist, Nicholas Boulis, MD, PhD, has significant expertise in translational medicine, bridging the gap from proof-of-principle laboratory research to clinical trials and patient treatment. His research focus is on creating surgical techniques and therapeutics delivery strategies for diseases affecting brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.
Dr. Boulis is an associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and serves as director of the Gene and Cell Therapy for Neurorestoration Laboratory at Emory University School of Medicine. He is also on faculty at Georgia Tech’s Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience Center for Regenerative Engineering and Medicine.
Education
Dr. Boulis received his MD from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship and his residency in neurological surgery at University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Titles & Roles
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Professor, Department of NeurosurgeryEmory University School of Medicine
Research
Dr. Boulis has extensive expertise in the field of gene transfer to the nervous system. His lab pursues novel and advanced treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, as well as Parkinson’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy and refractory pain conditions. His lab also develops gene therapy vectors that deliver oncogenes and produce high-grade gliomas in the brain and spinal cord of rodents and large animals. These models are intended to serve as a testbed for new therapies for gliomas.
Grants
Publications
| Title/Journal | Authors | Publication Date |
|---|---|---|
|
Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons |
JT McMahon, R Raheb Khelo, BD Weinberg, NM Boulis | 04/13/2026 |
|
Journal of neuro-ophthalmology : the official journal of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society |
R Raheb Khelo, ML Mustroph, M Dattilo, NM Boulis, F Akbik | 02/24/2026 |
|
Schwannomatosis tumor modeling: progress and prospects for translational research. Journal of biological engineering |
MS Madison, H Xu, Y Gonzalez-Vargas, MG Yonk, CM Thompson, H Haney, D Babbitt, Y Du, AC Hirbe, NM Boulis, RY Bai, K Lei | 02/07/2026 |
|
Journal of neural engineering |
ER Cole, E Opri, SB Borgheai, Y Han, F Isbaine, N Boulis, JT Willie, N AuYong, RE Gross, S Miocinovic | 12/30/2025 |
|
Drug delivery and translational research |
MA Lim, MG Yonk, KB Hoang, AM Molinaro, M Raj, Y Du, NM Boulis, W Hassaneen, K Lei | 10/29/2025 |
|
The Future of Chemogenetics for the Treatment of Spasticity. Molecular diagnosis & therapy |
K Poth, RR Khelo, A Donsante, NM Boulis | 09/01/2025 |
|
medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences |
ER Cole, E Opri, SB Borgheai, Y Han, F Isbaine, N Boulis, JT Willie, N AuYong, RE Gross, S Miocinovic | 08/28/2025 |
|
Recurrent schwannomatosis with mosaic SMARCB1 loss: A case report. Experimental and therapeutic medicine |
Y Lakhina, MA Lim, MG Yonk, M Campbell, MS Tora, Y Du, S Koshkin, K Lei, NM Boulis | 07/01/2025 |
|
Cell reports |
Y Zaidi, R Tritz, N Zaidi, F Nabi, SAH Zaidi, A Morsy, V Harris, R Racine, FZ Hudson, Z Bordan, S Kennard, R Batori, Y Huo, G Csanyi, EJ Belin de Chantemèle, K Lei, NM Boulis, DJ Fulton, RH Khan, RB Caldwell, BK Stansfield | 05/27/2025 |
|
Adeno-associated viral vector targeted evolution for neurofibromatosis gene delivery. Trends in molecular medicine |
B Henshey, A Carneiro, K Lei, D Schaffer, NM Boulis | 04/01/2025 |
|
Neurosurgery |
RS Rindler, H Robertson, L De Yampert, V Khatri, P Texakalidis, S Eshraghi, S Grey, S Schobel, EA Elster, N Boulis, JA Grossberg | 10/11/2024 |
|
Improving glioma drug delivery: A multifaceted approach for glioma drug development. Pharmacological research |
MG Yonk, MA Lim, CM Thompson, MS Tora, Y Lakhina, Y Du, KB Hoang, AM Molinaro, NM Boulis, W Hassaneen, K Lei | 10/01/2024 |
|
Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society |
B Santyr, M Abbass, A Chalil, A Vivekanandan, M Tindale, NM Boulis, JC Lau | 12/01/2023 |
|
A novel antibody to treat SOD1-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Molecular therapy. Methods & clinical development |
NM Boulis, A Donsante | 06/08/2023 |
|
Current and emerging targeted therapies for spinal muscular atrophy. Expert review of neurotherapeutics |
Y Lakhina, NM Boulis, A Donsante | 01/01/2023 |
|
Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society |
K Gupta, P Texakalidis, NM Boulis | 08/01/2021 |
|
Contralateral C7 Nerve Transfer for Stroke Recovery: New Frontier for Peripheral Nerve Surgery. Journal of clinical medicine |
AM Alawieh, N Au Yong, NM Boulis | 07/29/2021 |
|
Chemogenetics: Beyond Lesions and Electrodes. Neurosurgery |
KM Poth, P Texakalidis, NM Boulis | 07/15/2021 |
|
Neurosurgical review |
MS Tora, D Xenos, P Texakalidis, NM Boulis | 08/01/2020 |
|
World neurosurgery |
EC Brown, P Texakalidis, B Stedelin, MS Tora, RS Rindler, JA Grossberg, RB Peterson, M Campbell, JS Cetas, NM Boulis, AM Raslan | 07/01/2020 |
|
Neurosurgical review |
N Hardcastle, P Texakalidis, P Nagarajan, MS Tora, NM Boulis | 06/01/2020 |
|
Microsurgery |
P Texakalidis, N Hardcastle, MS Tora, NM Boulis | 02/01/2020 |
|
Lot-to-Lot Variation in Adeno-Associated Virus Serotype 9 (AAV9) Preparations. Human gene therapy methods |
DM O'Connor, C Lutomski, MF Jarrold, NM Boulis, A Donsante | 12/01/2019 |
|
Clinical neurology and neurosurgery |
P Texakalidis, D Xenos, MS Tora, JS Wetzel, NM Boulis | 07/01/2019 |
|
High cervical spinal cord stimulation for occipital neuralgia: a case series and literature review. Journal of pain research |
P Texakalidis, MS Tora, P Nagarajan, OP Keifer, NM Boulis | 01/01/2019 |
|
Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery |
P Texakalidis, MS Tora, NM Boulis | 01/01/2019 |
|
Progress in gene and cell therapies for the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses. Expert opinion on biological therapy |
A Donsante, NM Boulis | 07/01/2018 |
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SpinoBot: An MRI-Guided Needle Positioning System for Spinal Cellular Therapeutics. Annals of biomedical engineering |
A Squires, JN Oshinski, NM Boulis, ZTH Tse | 03/01/2018 |
|
AAV gene delivery to the spinal cord: serotypes, methods, candidate diseases, and clinical trials. Expert opinion on biological therapy |
N Hardcastle, NM Boulis, T Federici | 03/01/2018 |
|
The challenges of developing a gene therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Expert review of neurotherapeutics |
MS Tora, OP Keifer, JJ Lamanna, NM Boulis | 04/01/2017 |
|
Regenerative cellular therapies for neurologic diseases. Brain research |
M Levy, N Boulis, M Rao, CN Svendsen | 05/01/2016 |
|
Introduction: Neurorestoration: re-animating the CNS. Neurosurgical focus |
CY Liu, B Lee, N Boulis, AR Rezai | 05/01/2016 |
|
Gene, Stem Cell, and Alternative Therapies for SCA 1. Frontiers in molecular neuroscience |
JL Wagner, DM O'Connor, A Donsante, NM Boulis | 01/01/2016 |
|
Gene Therapy for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) |
ZT McEachin, A Donsante, N Boulis | 01/01/2016 |
|
Gene therapy for neurodegenerative diseases. Trends in molecular medicine |
DM O'Connor, NM Boulis | 08/01/2015 |
|
Neurosurgery clinics of North America |
OP Keifer, JP Riley, NM Boulis | 10/01/2014 |
|
Introduction to neuropathic pain syndromes. Neurosurgery clinics of North America |
J Gutierrez, S Raju, JP Riley, NM Boulis | 10/01/2014 |
|
Gene and protein therapies utilizing VEGF for ALS. Pharmacology & therapeutics |
OP Keifer, DM O'Connor, NM Boulis | 03/01/2014 |
|
Progress in gene therapy for neurological disorders. Nature reviews. Neurology |
M Simonato, J Bennett, NM Boulis, MG Castro, DJ Fink, WF Goins, SJ Gray, PR Lowenstein, LH Vandenberghe, TJ Wilson, JH Wolfe, JC Glorioso | 05/01/2013 |
|
Update on gene and stem cell therapy approaches for spinal muscular atrophy. Expert opinion on biological therapy |
EM Donnelly, NM Boulis | 11/01/2012 |
|
Gene therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurobiology of disease |
T Federici, NM Boulis | 11/01/2012 |
|
Neuroscience letters |
DM O'Connor, NM Boulis | 10/11/2012 |
|
Translating cellular therapies from bench to bedside for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Personalized medicine |
J Riley, CV Hurtig, N Boulis | 08/01/2012 |
|
Stem cell therapy for the spinal cord. Stem cell research & therapy |
EM Donnelly, J Lamanna, NM Boulis | 07/09/2012 |
|
Translational stem cell therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Nature reviews. Neurology |
NM Boulis, T Federici, JD Glass, JS Lunn, SA Sakowski, EL Feldman | 12/13/2011 |
|
Treatment of Harlequin syndrome by costotransversectomy and sympathectomy: case report. Neurosurgery |
EA Sribnick, NM Boulis | 07/01/2011 |
|
Clinical problem-solving: aneurysm or spinal arteriovenous fistula-bait and switch. Neurosurgery |
JF Lastfogel, BR Bendok, NM Boulis, AA Cohen-Gadol | 03/01/2011 |
|
Surgical approach and safety of spinal cord stem cell transplantation. Neurosurgery |
N Boulis, T Federici | 02/01/2011 |
|
Pain in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a neglected aspect of disease. Neurology research international |
CR Handy, C Krudy, N Boulis, T Federici | 01/01/2011 |
|
Gene therapy: a potential approach for cancer pain. Pain research and treatment |
CR Handy, C Krudy, N Boulis | 01/01/2011 |
|
Viral vector-mediated gene transfer for CNS disease. Expert opinion on biological therapy |
BR Snyder, NM Boulis, T Federici | 03/01/2010 |
|
Neurosurgery |
T Federici, NM Boulis | 10/01/2009 |
|
Neurosurgery |
JM Henderson, T Federici, N Boulis | 05/01/2009 |
|
Clinicopathological review: esthesioneuroblastoma. Neurosurgery |
TM Bragg, J Scianna, A Kassam, B Emami, HG Brown, L Hacein-Bey, JI Clark, K Muzaffar, N Boulis, VC Prabhu | 04/01/2009 |
|
Clinical problem solving: lightning never strikes twice? Neurosurgery |
MA Lopez-Gonzalez, J Riley, NM Boulis, K Burchiel | 03/01/2008 |
|
Neurosurgical focus |
J Riley, W Sweeney, N Boulis | 01/01/2008 |