Our Dedicated Team Focused on Helping Brain Tumor Patients

Farnaz Arabshahi, a support group facilitator for the SBTF, has served on the Board of Directors since 2010. As a certified nurse practitioner, Ms. Arabshahi has extensive experience in the field of (brain) cancer and palliative care.

Having over 15 years of diverse medical experience, most notably in the field of Hematology/Oncology, she is affiliated with many hospitals in the local Atlanta area.

Chris is Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and sees patients at St. Joseph’s Hospital in metro Atlanta as well as John’s Creek Hospital just north of the city. Chris specializes in the treatment of malignant and benign brain tumors using modern surgical techniques and often non-invasive procedures such as Gamma Knife Radiosurgery. He and his family moved from Pittsburgh to the Atlanta metro area in 2017 with the hope of providing compassionate, high quality care to the residents of Georgia and the entire southeast. As a member of the SBTF Board of Directors Chris hopes to increase the awareness of all types of brain tumors, increase access to reliable high quality resources and support groups as well as advancing critical research efforts to help cure and eradicate brain cancer.

As the Director for Neuro-Oncology and a founding physician of the Piedmont Brain Tumor Center, Dr. Dunbar is front and center with brain tumors and brain cancer. She is never too busy to listen to a patient and never too busy to provide words of inspiration and comfort.

Her active involvement in clinical trials as well as numerous educational outreach and support services are exemplified by her tireless efforts to service organizations like the SBTF. Through her efforts, we have partnered with, and participated in, monthly brain tumor support group meetings at Piedmont Atlanta, as well as patient education programs organized through the ABTA. Dr. Dunbar’s passion for serving others is unequaled.

Michelle Roback Kraynak is a brain tumor survivor and advocate. While a young twenty-something traveling abroad, she suffered a grand mal seizure and was subsequently diagnosed with a pilocytic astrocytoma in her front left temporal lobe. The surgery to remove the tumor was a success, and she has been a brain tumor advocate ever since.

She began volunteering with the SBTF in 2007 and served as the volunteer coordinator until she was elected to the board in 2011. Michelle has held various officer positions within the organization and also serves as its legal counsel, providing pro bono legal services. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and obtained her law degree from Emory University School of Law.

Peter Nicholas has been a member of the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2010 and was elected to the officer position of SBTF Vice President in December of 2016 and rose through the ranks. He is a graduate of the University of Florida with an aerospace engineering degree and became familiar with brain tumors in 2008 when his boss was diagnosed with, and subsequently passed away from, a GBM.

Peter was a member of the Board of Directors for only a year when he received his own brain tumor diagnosis in August of 2011. In addition to leading the SBTF’s Corporate Sponsorship Committee, Peter is also on the strategic advisory for the board of the McNair Center for Aerospace Innovation & Research in South Carolina. A huge sports fan, and one of the Foundations’ Top Fundraisers, Peter also has a great interest in the work of those associated with the Epilepsy Foundation.