UF Brain Team Saves U.S. Magistrate Judge

Charles Kahn credits UF’s Dr. Brian Hoh with restoring his health.

Charles Kahn, U.S. Magistrate Judge (left), and Dr. Brian Hoh, UF Health neurosurgeon and chair of the Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery (right).

It was an ordinary day for Charles Kahn, of Pensacola. As a U.S. Magistrate Judge, he routinely spent many hours at his office computer, and Sept. 9, 2014, was no different. But, within a few hours at his desk, he noticed that it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to press computer keys on the right side. He said he was “slightly disoriented—nothing really bad, just a little off.” After a Rotary luncheon, he decided to go home.

By the next morning, vertigo prevented Kahn from navigating the stairs in his home. His wife, Janet, insisted he see a doctor. Later that day, an MRI revealed a surprise.

The doctor found a “very serious bleed in my brain,” Kahn recalls, and recommended a specialist right away— Dr. Brian Hoh at the University of Florida. While Kahn wasn’t keen on traveling all the way to Gainesville, the doctor convinced him Hoh was an expert and his best hope. The hospital flew Kahn to UF Health Shands Hospital.

Kahn’s brain was bleeding on both sides and he needed an operation immediately, but not before Hoh took preliminary measures that simplified the surgery. Four days later, Hoh said Kahn could go home.

“It’s hard to imagine that I went from feeling slightly disoriented to a catastrophic brain bleed to a full return to work in just six days,” Kahn says. “I can’t put into words how incredible Dr. Hoh and his team are. Even at my worst, I had complete confidence in the ability of the UF Neuro team to restore my health and get me back to family and career.”

Kahn is one of the many patients who have benefitted from Hoh’s expertise.

In his laboratory, located in the McKnight Brain Institute, Hoh and his team are exploring what causes brain bleeds, aneurysms and strokes, and why they rupture. They are also testing how growth factors can promote healing following an aneurysm.

To aid his research, UF Health named Hoh the James and Brigitte Marino Family Endowed Professor in 2016. As the recipient of the Marino endowment’s annual interest, Hoh can use the added funds to pursue more solutions that are promising.

The results produced by Hoh and his team of physician-scientists are already changing the ways neurosurgeons approach and treat aneurysms and similar brain conditions, leading to lower mortality rates and a greater quality of life for survivors.

“The federal government, the largest source for biomedical research funding, only spends about 83 cents per year on brain aneurysm research for each person afflicted,” Hoh said. “That’s why generous gifts, such as those from the Marino family, are especially critical to finding a cure for this deadly disease.”

To learn how you can improve lives through a UF endowment, contact us UF's Office of Estate & Gift Planning at 352-392-5512, toll free at 866-317-4143 or giftplanning@uff.ufl.edu.