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 214-645-8300

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
- 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 24
- Hearing Preservation After Intervention in Vestibular Schwannoma.
  Yancey KL, Barnett SL, Kutz W, Isaacson B, Wardak Z, Mickey B, Hunter JB, Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology 2022 09 43 8 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 DT, Frontiers in oncology 2022 12 1000280
- Corynebacterium glutamicum as an Efficient Omnivorous Microbial Host for the Bioconversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass.
  Mhatre A, Shinde S, Jha AK, Rodriguez A, Wardak Z, Jansen A, Gladden JM, George A, Davis RW, Varman AM, Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology 2022 10 827386
- 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 83(1):11-8.
- Dose kernel decomposition for spot-based radiotherapy treatment planning.
  Chen M, Yang Z, Wardak Z, Stojadinovic S, Gu X, Lu W. Medical physics 2022 49(2):1196-208
- Primary Tumor Fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxydglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) Is Associated With Cancer-Associated Weight Loss in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Portends Worse Survival.
  Olaechea S, Gannavarapu BS, Alvarez C, Gilmore A, Sarver B, Xie D, Infante R, Iyengar P, Frontiers in oncology 2022 12 900712
- 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 DT, Frontiers in neurology 2022 13 1024138
- 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 RD, Dan T, Wardak Z, Lu W, Gu X, Physics in medicine and biology 2021 Dec
- 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 2021 Nov
- 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 May
- 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 4 1832-1838
- Expanded Radiosurgery Capabilities Utilizing Gamma Knife Icon™.
  Mendel JT, Schroeder S, Plitt A, Patel A, Joo M, Stojadinovic S, Dan T, Timmerman R, Patel TR, Wardak Z, Cureus 2021 Mar 13 3 e13998
- Risk Factors for Fat Necrosis After Stereotactic Partial Breast Irradiation for Early-Stage Breast Cancer in a Phase 1 Clinical Trial.
  Rahimi A, Zhang Y, Kim DW, Morgan H, Hossain F, Leitch M, Wooldridge R, Seiler S, Goudreau S, Haley B, Rao R, Rivers A, Spangler A, Ahn C, Stevenson S, Staley J, Albuquerque K, Ding C, Gu X, Zhao B, Timmerman R, International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2020 Nov 108 3 697-706
- 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 - Dec 10 6 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 (Sudbury, Mass.) 2020 Sep/Oct 26 5 448-459
- A web-based brain metastases segmentation and labeling platform for stereotactic radiosurgery.
  Yang Z, Liu H, Liu Y, Stojadinovic S, Timmerman R, Nedzi L, Dan T, Wardak Z, Lu W, Gu X, Medical physics 2020 Aug 47 8 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 2 218-227
- Bevacizumab and re-irradiation for recurrent high grade gliomas: does sequence matter?
  Palmer JD, Bhamidipati D, Song A, Eldredge-Hindy HB, Siglin J, Dan TD, Champ CE, Zhang I, Bar-Ad V, Kim L, Glass J, Evans JJ, Andrews DW, Werner-Wasik M, Shi W Journal of neuro-oncology 2018 Sep