Meet The Team

Dr. Christopher Gleis is the Pain Management Specialist at Genesis Brain Institute, is a physician executive, interventional spine specialist, and translational research leader whose career combines molecular and biotechnology research, high-acuity medicine, advanced procedural training, healthcare entrepreneurship, diagnostic imaging, and regenerative medicine. He currently serves as Chief Medical & Scientific Officer, Director of Translational Research, and Director of Interventional Pain Management at Genesis Brain Institute. His present work is focused on translating extensive clinical experience with regenerative biologics into prospective research designed to determine which therapeutic approaches produce reproducible clinical benefit, understand the mechanisms responsible for those effects, identify their limitations, and translate defensible findings into better patient care.

Dr. Gleis’s scientific background began before medical school. As an undergraduate at Colorado State University, he pursued independent molecular-virology research in the laboratory of Jonathan O. Carlson, PhD, investigating genetically modified Aedes aegypti densonucleosis virus (AeDNV) constructs used as transducing vectors to infect Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and investigate strategies to interfere with transmission of dengue virus to humans. His work included mutational analysis, PCR, molecular cloning and DNA manipulation, recombinant viral-construct development, and cell culture. During the same period, he was employed by the State of Colorado as nighttime supervisor of the large-animal facilities at the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, with
responsibility for facility operations and supervision of approximately seven employees. Separately, he volunteered with veterinary investigators studying chronic wasting disease in Colorado deer and elk populations. He subsequently joined Syntonix Pharmaceuticals, where his principal work focused on developing scalable protein purification methods for candidate therapeutic molecules using high-performance liquid chromatography and other chromatographic separation techniques.

Following medical school, Dr. Gleis completed an intensive internal-medicine year at Elmhurst Hospital Center through its academic affiliation with Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University, followed by anesthesiology residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he served as Chief Resident. His training included substantial critical-care and neurocritical-care experience, Level I trauma, transplantation, complex cardiac and thoracic anesthesia, neurovascular procedures, advanced airway management, and regional and neuraxial anesthesia. During residency, he performed well over 1,000 regional anesthetic procedures and completed formal ultrasoundguided regional anesthesia competency training, including documented completion of more than 150 ultrasoundguided blocks and formal ultrasound knowledge and core-competency assessments. He subsequently completed a Clinical Fellowship in Regional Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center under Jacques E. Chelly, MD, PhD, MBA. The fellowship was procedural in nature, with advanced training in regional and neuraxial anesthesia, acute interventional pain, ultrasound-guided procedures, continuous perineural and paravertebral catheter techniques, and additional fluoroscopically guided interventional spine procedures. He also provided procedural instruction to physicians in regional anesthetic techniques and received UPMC’s Outstanding Fellow Award for 2011-2012. After fellowship, Dr. Gleis entered practice as an attending anesthesiologist within the AdventHealth system, where he established an acute-pain and regional-anesthesia service, introduced continuous regional catheter techniques, and trained other attending anesthesiologists in advanced ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia. His career increasingly shifted toward interventional spine medicine, eventually becoming his full-time clinical focus. He developed a Level III office-based surgical facility from inception through regulatory inspection, operation, and recertification; established interventional-pain divisions within existing organizations; and in 2019 founded Advocate Health Partners, where he served as the sole treating physician in a high-volume interventional spine practice through 2025.

By the time regenerative biologics became a major focus of his practice, Dr. Gleis had accumulated experience across tens of thousands of image-guided interventional spine procedures. Beginning in 2018, he progressively incorporated regenerative biologics into clinical practice. His experience has included multiple umbilical-cord-derived regenerative biologic products, initially including cellular preparations containing mesenchymal cells together with extracellular vesicles, growth factors, and other secreted biologic components. His practice subsequently evolved toward predominantly extracellular-vesicle/exosome-based therapy while retaining selected other biologic modalities according to tissue pathology, anatomical target, and clinical indication. Within this broader interventional experience, he has treated approximately 1,200 patients with regenerative biologic interventions involving the spine, including approximately 800 patients in whom extracellular vesicle/exosome products were the principal biologic intervention. His work has included image-guided spinal and musculoskeletal applications, selected neuraxial applications, and intravenous extracellular-vesicle/exosome administration for systemic disease processes. Christopher J. Gleis, MD – Executive Professional Biography. As his experience grew, two observations increasingly captured Dr. Gleis’s attention: the durability of the clinical responses and the range of conditions in which improvement was observed. In selected patients, these improvements were also accompanied by measurable changes in laboratory values, imaging, physical examination findings, or function. These observations led him to begin asking a different question – not simply whether these therapies could improve a patient’s condition, but what biological processes might explain the improvement and its persistence. He began tracking longitudinal clinical outcomes and increasingly reviewing the scientific literature on extracellularvesicle signaling, inflammatory modulation, macrophage polarization, and tissue-specific restorative mechanisms. Those observations ultimately became the foundation for the translational research program he is now developing. Dr. Gleis is now translating these clinical observations into prospective mechanistic research. His initial formal research program uses extracellular-vesicle treatment of cervical facet pathology as a clinical model through which to investigate biological processes that may underlie durable responses observed in practice. Clinical outcomes remain important endpoints, but the central scientific objective is to investigate whether measurable changes in inflammatory signaling and tissue-restorative pathways can explain the magnitude and persistence of those responses. Additional areas under development include systemic extracellular-vesicle therapeutics using intravenous administration and investigation of intrathecal extracellular-vesicle administration for neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s dementia. The long-term objective is to determine whether biological mechanisms suggested by years of clinical observation can be demonstrated reproducibly across different tissues and disease processes. In parallel with his clinical career, Dr. Gleis has repeatedly founded, developed, and operated healthcare enterprises and clinical programs. In 2015, he founded Gulf Coast MRI, LLC and developed the imaging center from concept through buildout, licensing and accreditation, staffing, standard operating procedures, operation, and later expansion.

The center now includes MRI, radiography, ultrasound, diffusion tensor imaging, and quantitative volumetric neuroimaging capabilities. This infrastructure provides an important platform for future clinical research by allowing longitudinal imaging, volumetric analysis, and objective quantitative endpoints to be incorporated into prospective studies without dependence upon outside imaging facilities.

Dr. Gleis’s current objective is to bring together clinical care, scientific rigor, advanced diagnostics, translational research, and operational capability in a model in which novel and promising therapies are evaluated on their merits. Conclusions should be
determined by reproducible evidence, free from external influence, commercial or institutional pressure, or predetermined expectations about what the results should show. His professional experience has placed him on multiple sides of that process: as a laboratory researcher, a high-acuity physician, a procedural specialist, a healthcare entrepreneur, an imaging-center owner, and a clinician whose observations have generated questions that now require formal scientific testing. His work is increasingly centered on building the clinical and research infrastructure necessary to answer those questions rigorously and, when the evidence supports it, translate those findings into meaningful improvements in patient care.

Gabriela Vieira is a board-certified Physician Assistant, Certified Brain Injury Specialist Trainer (CBIS-T), and UHMS-trained Advanced Hyperbaric Practitioner specializing in traumatic brain injury, neurorehabilitation, and integrative brain health. A retired U.S. Army Officer and former combat medic, Gabriela brings extensive clinical and leadership experience from top regional and national institutions, including training under leading brain injury physicians at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, serving with the Defense Health Agency TBI Center of Excellence, and holding executive leadership with the Brain Injury Alliance. At Genesis Brain Institute, she works with a collaborative team of professionals to combine objective neurodiagnostic insights—such as qEEG brain mapping and neurocognitive assessments—with individualized, compassionate treatment plans to help patients navigate complex neurological and psychiatric conditions and achieve meaningful, long-term recovery. Her mantra is that “God has no hands but our hands to do His work on Earth” and she seeks to honor the Divine Physician in all her patient encounters. In her free time, she raises her pack of hound dogs and farm animals with her husband, figure skates, and volunteers with various veteran service organizations.

Nichole Venegas is a dedicated mental health provider with a passion for creating a safe space for individuals to breathe, be heard, and reflect on life’s journey. Her counseling style is characterized by warmth, empathy, encouragement, and interactivity, employing a client-centered approach. Nichole incorporates various therapeutic modalities, including CBT, Motivational Interviewing, Person-Centered Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Exposure Therapy (ERP). Nichole is also EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) certified, further enhancing her ability to support clients through trauma-focused treatment.

Dr. Emily Kalambaheti is the Director of Rehabilitation at Genesis Brain Institute. Known affectionately as “Dr. K” or “Dr. Emily,” she has extensive training in functional neurology, clinical neuroscience, and neurochemistry through the Carrick Institute, where she also serves as a regular lecturer on neurological receptor-based rehabilitation.
She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Neurology, a Fellow of the American College of Functional Neurology, a Functional Medicine Hyperbaric Clinician, and a licensed Diplomate of Quantitative Electroencephalography.

Sandi is a highly skilled and dedicated Registered Nurse (RN) with over 30 years of experience in the field. She has consistently demonstrated a passion for helping others and has made a significant impact on the lives of her patients throughout her career. Sandi’s extensive experience, compassion, and commitment to excellence make her a trusted and respected healthcare professional.

Gregory T. Heckroth, Founder of Genesis Brain Institute, brings over 30 years of healthcare experience and a visionary perspective. He noticed alarming trends in mental health, prompting him to take action. With a mission of “Not One More,” he spearheaded the establishment of one of the world’s first comprehensive Brain Labs. Gregory’s commitment earned him the 2022 Member of the Year award from “Business By The Book” Christian business group. He actively serves on the boards of Tampa Fellowship Christian Athletes and Trinity Security Allies, reflecting his dedication to community service. Through Genesis Brain Institute and his involvement in various organizations, Gregory demonstrates a holistic approach to mental healthcare, blending chaplaincy and mental health coaching to uplift individuals and communities.

Dr. James Majorana is a distinguished chiropractor and a graduate of Life University. He possesses extensive expertise in diverse clinical environments. His professional journey has taken him to multi-disciplinary clinics and urgent care medical facilities, where he has adeptly managed musculoskeletal conditions ranging from soft tissue injuries to disk-related problems. As one of the owners of Genesis Brain Institute, Dr. Majorana has played a pivotal role in transforming lives through innovative therapies. His profound personal experience fuels his dedication; when his son was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the tender age of 7, undergoing two years of chemotherapy led to severe psychological challenges, including PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Witnessing the immense impact of GBI therapy on his son’s recovery, Dr. Majorana became deeply committed to the institute’s mission. Today, his son Jake has triumphed over his psychological struggles, a testament to the effectiveness of GBI therapy, and a driving force behind Dr. Majorana’s unwavering involvement with the company.

As Chief Marketing Officer and Director of Research at Genesis Brain Institute, Mike works closely with the medical and clinical team to help translate complex brain health research, emerging technology and real patient insights into information people can understand and use.

His work is driven by a simple belief: people deserve better answers about their brain, their health and what may still be possible.

As Director of Research, Mike focuses on the data behind patient outcomes, looking for patterns in testing, treatment and progress that can help Genesis better understand what is working, where opportunities exist and what deserves deeper study.

Mike shares what the Genesis team is learning, why it matters and how new approaches to brain health are creating A New Beginning of Hope for individuals and families.

Courtney Mallan has over eight years of healthcare experience and holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of South Florida with a double major in Social and Behavioral Health Sciences and Health Information Technology. She is also a Certified Medical Biller and Coder with expertise in billing, coding, insurance management, and practice operations.

Passionate about brain health and functional neurology, Courtney is dedicated to delivering exceptional patient experiences through efficient operations, clear communication, and compassionate, patient-centered care.

Rob is out in the community building strong relationships with doctors, healthcare professionals, and trusted referral partners. He helps more people learn about Genesis Brain Institute and connects families with the testing, care, and support they may need.

Strength behind the mission. Strategy behind the movement.
With more than 17 years of legal leadership across corporate, nonprofit and ministry environments, Sean has guided boards, managed legal departments, handled thousands of cases and led companies with over 200 employees.
Sean protects our vision, reinforces our foundation and ensures we advance with wisdom, biblical conviction and confidence. When decisions matter, we make them with clarity and with counsel.