Michael Travis Caton, MD

Michael “Travis” Caton, MD is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Mount Sinai Health System and interventional neuroradiologist at the Cerebrovascular Center at Mount Sinai South Nassau. Dr. Caton specializes in treatment of vascular disorders of the brain, neck, and spine including acute stroke, aneurysms, arteriovenous fistulas, carotid artery stenosis, and venous sinus stenosis.

Dr. Caton’s academic and clinical focus includes the diagnosis and treatment of pulsatile tinnitus, spontaneous intracranial hypotension/spinal CSF leak, pseudotumor cerebri (idiopathic intracranial hypertension), and minimally-invasive spine interventions. He also has extensive experience in the treatment of retinoblastoma in infants and treatment of lymphatic and venous malformations with sclerotherapy. He is a collaborator on multiple projects harnessing artificial intelligence platforms to aid in the diagnosis of stroke and brain aneurysms.

Dr. Caton graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010 and from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2014, where he was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society and served as Medical School Class President. He completed advanced training in diagnostic neuroradiology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) where he developed an interest in spinal intervention and management of CSF leaks. He then completed a two-year neuroendovascular fellowship, also at UCSF, with comprehensive training in endovascular neurointervention in children and adults.

Dr. Caton is an avid clinical and translational researcher. He has presented at multiple national conferences and published over 50 peer reviewed articles on a wide range of topics including spinal degenerative disease, spontaneous intracranial hypotension, dural arteriovenous fistulas, pulsatile tinnitus, and advanced neuroimaging techniques. His current research interests include endothelial biology of vascular malformations and techniques for improving diagnosis of CSF-venous fistula of the spine. His research has been recognized by multiple awards including the Senior Resident Research award at Brigham and Women’s/Harvard Medical School in 2019 and the Outstanding Scientific Presentation at the American Society of Neuroradiology Meeting in 2021.

Dr. Caton is a committed teacher and strives to clarify the complexity of cerebrovascular diseases for patients and their families. He designed and implemented a multi-disciplinary neuroimaging education platform during residency and co-designed the first focused training pathway for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence for medical residents. Outside of work, he enjoys medical illustration, world history, and linguistics. Most of all, he loves spending time with his young children and his wife, Julia Caton, MD.