Zabi Wardak, M.D.

Chief of Central Nervous System Radiation Oncology Service; Medical Director of Gamma Knife Program

Radiation Oncology
Radiation Therapy for Brain Tumors
Brain Metastases

New Patient Appointment Accepting Virtual Visits or 214-645-8525

Biography

Zabi Wardak, M.D., Associate Professor, Chief of Central Nervous System Radiation Oncology Service, and Medical Director of the Gamma Knife Program, earned his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University in New York and completed his residency training in radiation oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he served as Chief Resident. He has additional advanced training and certification in the use of Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and CyberKnife stereotactic radiotherapy.

Dr. Wardak specializes in treating benign and malignant brain and spinal cord tumors with a focus on stereotactic radiosurgery. His research interests include advancing the treatment of brain metastases with radiosurgery and computing improvements in the field of radiation oncology.

Meet Dr. Wardak

Stereotactic Radiosurgery Specialist in Dallas

Zabi Wardak, M.D., specializes in the treatment of adult and pediatric brain and spine cancer with particular interests in Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for:

High- and low-grade gliomas
Brain metastases
Meningioma
Pituitary tumors
Arteriovenous malformations
Trigeminal neuralgia
Acoustic neuroma (also known as vestibular schwannoma)

Growing up, Dr. Wardak always aspired to be a surgeon and loved cutting-edge technology. In his free time he would frequently be found taking apart and putting back together cars and computers. “I’ve always been big on technology and computing,” he says. “Once I discovered that we could use radiosurgery to deliver noninvasive cancer treatment to patients and achieve similar outcomes as surgery, I knew this is what I wanted to devote my practice to.”

Radiation treatment technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, Dr. Wardak notes, adding, “Patients benefit not just from advanced treatment machines but from a skilled team that understands how to use that technology to its maximal potential.”

Dr. Wardak says his No. 1 priority is treating cancer aggressively. He points out that patients who have been diagnosed with cancer may have many life changes to deal with all at once, so it is vital that they feel their cancer is being handled by an experienced professional who is dedicated to achieving the best possible outcome for them.

“My philosophy of cancer treatment incorporates my own approach to whole-body wellness, which includes mental and nutritional health as well,” Dr. Wardak says. “I encourage patients to take care of themselves, and I do my best to take care of the rest.”

Education & Training

Residency - UT Southwestern Medical Center (2013-2016), Radiation Oncology
Residency - Allegheny General Hospital (2012-2013), Radiation Oncology
Internship - Loma Linda University Medical Center (2011-2012), Surgery
Medical School - SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse (2007-2011)

Books & Publications

Publications
- Novel radiotherapeutic strategies in the management of brain metastases: Challenging the dogma
  Palmer JD, Perlow HK, Lehrer EJ, Wardak Z, Soliman H Neuro-oncology 2024 Mar 26 S46-S55
- Single-Fraction Versus Fractionated Preoperative Radiosurgery for Resected Brain Metastases: A PROPS-BM International Multicenter Cohort Study
  Prabhu RS, Akinyelu T, Vaslow ZK, Matsui JK, Haghighi N, Dan T, Mishra MV, Murphy ES, Boyles S, Perlow HK, Palmer JD, Udovicich C, Patel TR, Wardak Z, Woodworth GF, Ksendzovsky A, Yang K, Chao ST, Asher AL, Burri SH International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 2024 Mar 118 650-661
- Modeling gamma knife radiosurgical toxicity for multiple brain metastases
  Hsu EJ, Yan Y, Timmerman RD, Wardak Z, Dan TD, Patel TR, Vo D, Stojadinovic S Radiotherapy and Oncology 2023 Nov 188
- Impact of Cochlear Dose on Hearing Preservation Following Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Treatment of Vestibular Schwannomas: A Multi-Center Study
  Chang SD, Muacevic A, Klein AL, Sherman JH, Romanelli P, Santa Maria PL, Fuerweger C, Bossi Zanetti I, Beltramo G, Vaisbush Y, Tran E, Feng A, Teng H, Meola A, Gibbs I, Tolisano AM, Kutz JW, Wardak Z, Nedzi LA, Hong R, MacRae D, Sohal P, Kapoor E, Sabet-Rasekh P, Maghami S, Moncada PX, Zaleski-King A, Amdur R, Monfared A World neurosurgery 2023 Oct 178 e24-e33
- Risk Factors for Progression and Toxic Effects after Preoperative Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Patients with Resected Brain Metastases
  Prabhu RS, Akinyelu T, Vaslow ZK, Matsui JK, Haghighi N, Dan T, Mishra MV, Murphy ES, Boyles S, Perlow HK, Palmer JD, Udovicich C, Patel TR, Wardak Z, Woodworth GF, Ksendzovsky A, Yang K, Chao ST, Asher AL, Burri SH JAMA Oncology 2023 Aug 9 1066-1073
- Ensemble learning for glioma patients overall survival prediction using pre-operative MRIs
  Yang Z, Chen M, Kazemimoghadam M, Ma L, Stojadinovic S, Wardak Z, Timmerman R, Dan T, Lu W, Gu X Physics in medicine and biology 2022 Dec 67
- Impact of CDKN2A/B, MTAP, and TERT Genetic Alterations on Survival in IDH Wild Type Glioblastomas
  Hsu EJ, Thomas J, Maher EA, Youssef M, Timmerman RD, Wardak Z, Dan TD, Patel TR, Vo D Discover Oncology 2022 Dec 13
- Socioeconomic and demographic determinants of radiation treatment and outcomes in glioblastoma patients
  Hsu EJ, Thomas J, Timmerman RD, Wardak Z, Dan TD, Patel TR, Sanford NN, Vo D Frontiers in Neurology 2022 Nov 13
- Hearing Preservation After Intervention in Vestibular Schwannoma
  Yancey KL, Barnett SL, Kutz W, Isaacson B, Wardak Z, Mickey B, Hunter JB Otology and Neurotology 2022 Sep 43 E846-E855
- Neutrophilia and post-radiation thrombocytopenia predict for poor prognosis in radiation-treated glioma patients
  Hsu EJ, Thomas J, Maher EA, Youssef M, Timmerman RD, Wardak Z, Lee M, Dan TD, Patel TR, Vo D Frontiers in Oncology 2022 Sep 12
- Rare solid and cystic presentation of hemangiopericytoma/ solitary fibrous tumor: A case report
  Hayenga HN, Cai C, Fetzer D, White S, Kuban J, Wardak Z, Benjamin RS, Pan E, Strauss J, Gao B, Minna J, Martin-Broto J, Hinshaw JL Current Problems in Cancer: Case Reports 2022 Jun 6
- Dose kernel decomposition for spot-based radiotherapy treatment planning
  Chen M, Yang Z, Wardak Z, Stojadinovic S, Gu X, Lu W Medical physics 2022 Feb 49 1196-1208
- Vestibular Schwannoma Tumor Size and Growth Rate Predict Response with Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery
  Killeen DE, Tolisano AM, Isaacson B, Kutz JW, Barnett S, Wardak Z, Hunter JB Journal of Neurological Surgery, Part B: Skull Base 2022 Feb 83 11-18
- Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Enabled Total Body Irradiation (VMAT-TBI): Six-year Clinical Experience and Treatment Outcomes
  Zhang-Velten ER, Parsons D, Lee P, Chambers E, Abdulrahman R, Desai NB, Dan T, Wardak Z, Timmerman R, Vusirikala M, Patel P, Simms-Waldrip T, Aquino V, Koh A, Tan J, Iqbal Z, Zhang Y, Reynolds R, Chiu T, Joo M, Hrycushko B, Ouyang L, Lamphier R, Yan Y, Jiang SB, Kumar KA, Gu X Transplantation and Cellular Therapy 2022 Feb 28 113.e1-113.e8
- Deep-learning and radiomics ensemble classifier for false positive reduction in brain metastases segmentation
  Yang Z, Chen M, Kazemimoghadam M, Ma L, Stojadinovic S, Timmerman R, Dan T, Wardak Z, Lu W, Gu X Physics in medicine and biology 2022 Jan 67
- Preoperative Radiosurgery for Resected Brain Metastases: The PROPS-BM Multicenter Cohort Study
  Prabhu RS, Dhakal R, Vaslow ZK, Dan T, Mishra MV, Murphy ES, Patel TR, Asher AL, Yang K, Manning MA, Stern JD, Patel AR, Wardak Z, Woodworth GF, Chao ST, Mohammadi A, Burri SH International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 2021 Nov 111 764-772
- A general algorithm for distributed treatments of multiple brain metastases
  Chen M, Wardak Z, Stojadinovic S, Gu X, Lu W Medical physics 2021 Apr 48 1832-1838
- Margin-Free Fractionated Stereotactic Radiation Therapy for Pediatric Brain Tumors
  Mohamad O, Wardak Z, Bowers DC, Le AH, Dan T, Abdulrahman R, Gargan L, Klesse L, Weprin B, Swift D, Price A, Ding C, Stojadinovic S, Sklar F, Braga B, Timmerman R Practical Radiation Oncology 2020 Nov 10 e485-e494
- The reintroduction of radiotherapy into the integrated management of kidney cancer
  Dohopolski M, Hannan R, Wardak Z, Hammers H, Garant A Cancer Journal 2020 Sep 26 448-459
- A web-based brain metastases segmentation and labeling platform for stereotactic radiosurgery
  Yang Z, Liu H, Liu Y, Stojadinovic S, Timmerman R, Nedzi LA, Dan T, Wardak Z, Lu W, Gu X Medical physics 2020 Aug 47 3263-3276
- Extraneural metastatic anaplastic ependymoma: A systematic review and a report of metastases to bilateral parotid glands
  Umbach G, El Ahmadieh TY, Plitt AR, Aoun SG, Neeley OJ, Lyon KA, Fonkem E, Raisanen JM, Bishop JA, Wardak Z, Patel TR, Myers L, Mickey BE Neuro-Oncology Practice 2020 Mar 7 218-227
- Considerations of target surface area and the risk of radiosurgical toxicity
  Stojadinovic S, Yan Y, Leiker A, Ahn C, Wardak Z, Dan T, Nedzi LA, Timmerman R, Patel T, Barnett S, Mickey B, Meyer JJ PloS one 2019 Oct 14
- Inflammatory Reaction Secondary to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy Mimicking a Post-Operative Brain Abscess
  Patel AR, Connors S, Wardak Z, Brugarolas J, Patel TR World neurosurgery 2019 Sep 129 354-358
- MRI-only brain radiotherapy: Assessing the dosimetric accuracy of synthetic CT images generated using a deep learning approach
  Kazemifar S, McGuire S, Timmerman R, Wardak Z, Nguyen D, Park Y, Jiang S, Owrangi A Radiotherapy and Oncology 2019 Jul 136 56-63
- Fractionated CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Perioptic Pituitary Adenomas
  Plitt AR, El Ahmadieh TY, Aoun SG, Wardak Z, Barnett SL World neurosurgery 2019 Jun 126 e1359-e1364
- A Phase 2 Clinical Trial of SABR Followed by Immediate Vertebroplasty for Spine Metastases
  Wardak Z, Bland R, Ahn C, Xie XJ, Chason D, Morrill K, Stehel E, Nedzi LA, Ding C, Medin P, Boike T, Abdulrahman R, Folkert MR, Iyengar P, Kim N, Choy H, Bagley C, Timmerman R International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 2019 May 104 83-89
- H3 K27M Mutations in Thalamic Pilocytic Astrocytomas with Anaplasia
  El Ahmadieh TY, Plitt A, Kafka B, Aoun SG, Raisanen JM, Orr B, Pan E, Wardak Z, Nedzi LA, Patel TR World neurosurgery 2019 Apr 124 87-92
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Multiple Brain Metastases From Renal-Cell Carcinoma
  Wardak Z, Christie A, Bowman A, Stojadinovic S, Nedzi LA, Barnett SL, Patel TR, Mickey BE, Whitworth LA, Hannan R, Brugarolas JB, Timmerman R Clinical Genitourinary Cancer 2019 Apr 17 e273-e280
- Improved Survival Outcomes for Kidney Cancer Patients With Brain Metastases
  Bowman IA, Bent A, Le T, Christie A, Wardak Z, Arriaga YE, Courtney K, Hammers H, Barnett S, Mickey B, Patel T, Whitworth LA, Stojadinovic S, Hannan R, Nedzi LA, Timmerman R, Brugarolas J Clinical Genitourinary Cancer 2019 Apr 17 e263-e272
- Intraspinal Dissemination and Local Recurrence of an Intracranial Hemangiopericytoma
  Hayenga HN, Bishop AJ, Wardak Z, Sen C, Mickey BE World neurosurgery 2019 Mar 123 68-75
- A recursive ensemble organ segmentation (REOS) framework: Application in brain radiotherapy
  Chen H, Lu W, Chen M, Zhou L, Timmerman R, Tu D, Nedzi L, Wardak Z, Jiang S, Zhen X, Gu X Physics in medicine and biology 2019 Jan 64
- Neoadjuvant Stereotactic Radiosurgery Before Surgical Resection of Cerebral Metastases
  Patel AR, Nedzi L, Lau S, Barnett SL, Mickey BE, Moore W, Bindal S, Wardak Z, Dan T, Timmerman R, Patel TR World neurosurgery 2018 Dec 120 e480-e487
- In Reply
  Wardak Z, Iyengar P JAMA Oncology 2018 Sep 4 1296-1297
- Consolidative radiotherapy for limited metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: A phase 2 randomized clinical trial
  Iyengar P, Wardak Z, Gerber DE, Tumati V, Ahn C, Hughes RS, Dowell JE, Cheedella N, Nedzi L, Westover KD, Pulipparacharuvil S, Choy H, Timmerman RD JAMA Oncology 2018 Jan 4
- Multistage stereotactic radiosurgery for large cerebral arteriovenous malformations using the Gamma Knife platform
  Ding C, Hrycushko B, Whitworth L, Li X, Nedzi L, Weprin B, Abdulrahman R, Welch B, Jiang SB, Wardak Z, Timmerman RD Medical physics 2017 Oct 44 5010-5019
- A deep convolutional neural network-based automatic delineation strategy for multiple brain metastases stereotactic radiosurgery
  Liu Y, Stojadinovic S, Hrycushko B, Wardak Z, Lau S, Lu W, Yan Y, Jiang SB, Zhen X, Timmerman R, Nedzi L, Gu X PloS one 2017 Oct 12
- Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) or Alternative Fractionation Schedules
  Laine AM, Wardak Z, Folkert MR, Timmerman RD 2017 171-202
- Improving treatment options for brain metastases from ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer
  Wardak Z, Choy H Journal of Clinical Oncology 2016 Dec 34 4064-4065
- Automatic metastatic brain tumor segmentation for stereotactic radiosurgery applications
  Liu Y, Stojadinovic S, Hrycushko B, Wardak Z, Lu W, Yan Y, Jiang SB, Timmerman R, Abdulrahman R, Nedzi L, Gu X Physics in medicine and biology 2016 Nov 61 8440-8461
- An integrative somatic mutation analysis to identify pathways linked with survival outcomes across 19 cancer types
  Park S, Kim SJ, Yu D, Peña-Llopis S, Gao J, Park JS, Chen B, Norris J, Wang X, Chen M, Kim M, Yong J, Wardak Z, Choe K, Story M, Starr T, Cheong JH, Hwang TH Bioinformatics 2016 Jun 32 1643-1651
- Pre-treatment factors associated with detecting additional brain metastases at stereotactic radiosurgery
  Wardak Z, Augustyn A, Zhu H, Mickey BE, Whitworth LA, Madden CJ, Barnett SL, Abdulrahman RE, Nedzi LA, Timmerman RD, Choe KS Journal of Neuro-Oncology 2016 Jun 128 251-257
- Resonancia magnética en la planificación de la braquiterapia intracavitaria para el tratamiento del cáncer de cérvix localmente avanzado
  Oñate Miranda M, Pinho DF, Wardak Z, Albuquerque K, Pedrosa I Radiologia 2016 Jan 58 16-25
- Functional Anatomy of the Spine
  Wardak Z, Lavelle ED, Lavelle WF 2016 Jan 1-2 43-50
- Precision hypofractionated radiation therapy in poor performing patients with non-small cell lung cancer: Phase 1 dose escalation trial
  Westover KD, Loo BW, Gerber DE, Iyengar P, Choy H, Diehn M, Hughes R, Schiller J, Dowell J, Wardak Z, Sher D, Christie A, Xie XJ, Corona I, Sharma A, Wadsworth ME, Timmerman R International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 2015 Sep 93 72-81
- Adrenal insufficiency after stereotactic body radiation therapy for bilateral adrenal metastases
  Wardak Z, Meyer J, Ghayee H, Wilfong L, Timmerman R Practical Radiation Oncology 2015 May 5 e177-e181
- Phase II trial of stereotactic body radiation therapy combined with erlotinib for patients with limited but progressive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer
  Iyengar P, Kavanagh BD, Wardak Z, Smith I, Ahn C, Gerber DE, Dowell J, Hughes R, Abdulrahman R, Camidge DR, Gaspar LE, Doebele RC, Bunn PA, Choy H, Timmerman R Journal of Clinical Oncology 2014 Dec 32 3824-3830
- Molecular pathways and potential therapeutic targets in glioblastoma multiforme
  Wardak Z, Choe KS Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy 2013 13 1307-1318
- Giant cell tumor of a lumbar vertebra in a 7-year-old child: A case report
  Metkar U, Wardak Z, Katz DA, Lavelle WF Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 2012 Dec 32 e76-e80
- Risk of venous thromboembolism in bone and soft-tissue sarcoma patients undergoing surgical intervention: A report from prior to the initiation of SCIP measures
  Damron TA, Wardak Z, Glodny B, Grant W Journal of Surgical Oncology 2011 Jun 103 643-647
- Immunization of nonautoimmune mice with DNA binding domains of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase I results in production of anti-dsDNA and anti-Sm/RNP antibodies
  Sciascia S, Robson K, Zhu L, Garland M, Grabosch S, Kelamis J, Messamore W, Bradley T, Sourk A, Westberg L, Goodnight W, Tongson K, Holloway N, Wardak Z, Sudyka M, Masrani S, Chintalapati S, Cagaanan M, Brown John JC, Stetler DA Autoimmunity 2007 Feb 40 38-47