He specializes in vascular neurosurgery, which includes the surgery and management of patients with stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage and other vascular lesions of the brain. He also serves as chief of Neurological Surgery at the Baltimore Veteran's Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Simard is an experienced investigative scientist who is responsible for the original discovery of the Sur1-Trpm4 channel (previously, the Sur1-regulated NCCa-ATP channel) 15 years ago, and for initiating the work showing involvement of the channel in acute diseases of the CNS. He heads an active laboratory focused on acute CNS pathology that employs numerous scientists with expertise in patch clamp electrophysiology, molecular biology, transcriptional regulation, and preclinical models of disease. In recent years, the laboratory has focused heavily on studies of the Sur1-Trpm4 channel in acute CNS diseases including subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhage, stroke, hemorrhagic forms of encephalopathy of prematurity, and traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. His work on the Sur1-Trpm4 channel has led to the award of 21 US and international patents. Notably, these basic science discoveries have matured to the point that clinical trials are now underway to translate those basic discoveries into improved patient care.