News & Updates

Dr. Roger Härtl has been named the first winner of the new Hans Kraus Award for Muscle Pain Evaluation, presented by Foundation for Research and Advocacy for Muscle Pain Education (FRAME). Dr. Härtl, the Hansen-MacDonald Professor of Neurological Surgery and Director of Spinal Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and Co-director of Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian, was lauded for having championed the inclusion of soft tissue into spine evaluation and treatment protocols at the...

In an elegant celebration at the Plaza Hotel last night, Dr. Philip E. Stieg was presented with the 40th Maurice Greenberg Distinguished Service Award. The award, the highest honor at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, recognizes an outstanding individual for exceptional and longtime service. Dr. Stieg joins a distinguished list of prior winners, including Dr. Bronson Ray, who was chief of the Neurosurgery Division from 1943 to 1971; Dr. George Papanicolaou, a pioneer in...

Dr. Philip Stieg, Dr. Michael Kaplitt, and Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield are delighted to welcome Sergio Wesley Guadix and Marcus Valcarce-Aspegren as our two newest residents, who will begin the seven-year residency program with us in July.

“We met with an outstanding pool of candidates this year,” said Dr. Kaplitt, director of the residency program and executive vice chairman for research in the department of neurosurgery. “We could not be happier to have matched...

February 24 is this year's Thank a Resident Day, when we show our appreciation for the doctors in our seven-year-long training program. Thank a Resident Day was started in 2018 by the Gold Humanism Honor Society to show gratitude to residents and encourage the medical students who are tomorrow's residents. Look for our neurosurgery residents, and messages of thanks from their mentors, all day today on social media.

Nadia Dahmane, PhD, associate professor of developmental biology in neurological surgery and a key investigator at the Weill Cornell Medicine Children’s Brain Tumor Project, has been awarded a pilot NIH grant for deciphering the three-dimensional (3D) genome of pediatric brain tumors. In collaboration with Dr. Katherine Pollard of the Gladstone Institute and Dr. Adam Resnick of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Dahmane will be...

Dr. Ibrahim Hussain achieved a spine surgery milestone when he performed the first 3D navigation-guided endoscopic lumbar fusion (transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, or TLIF) ever performed in New York City in late 2022, becoming one of the few surgeons in the United States performing this procedure. The surgery was successful, and the patient is doing extremely well.

Dr. Andrew Garton, a fourth-year resident in neurosurgery and current enfolded fellow in interventional neuroradiology, has been awarded a Resident Traveling Fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery by the AANS/CNS Joint Pediatric Section. Dr. Garton will spend one month at the end of this year at the Boston Children’s Hospital under the mentorship of Dr. Edward R. Smith and Dr. Alfred Pokmeng See.

Only two of these traveling fellowships, which can be spent at any pediatric neurosurgery...

The Alumni Association of Weill Cornell Medical College has presented Dr. Mark Souweidane with an Honorary Fellowship Award in recognition of his contributions to the college. Since 1970, the award has been given annually by the Alumni Association Board of Directors to two outstanding (non-alumni) Weill Cornell Medicine faculty members “whose scholarship, dedication, and leadership have greatly enriched the life of the Medical College, its faculty, and students.”

The...

Congratulations are due to Dr. Mark Souweidane, who was honored by Augustine M.K. Choi, MD, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine, and Yoon Kang, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Education, as one of the winners of this year’s Excellence in Medical Education Awards. These annual awards are given to faculty members for outstanding contributions to the education of our medical students. Dr. Souweidane was honored for his excellence in the Areas of Concentration (AOC)...

Weill Cornell Medicine Brain and Spine Center research fellow Pravesh Gadjradj, MD, PhD, MSc, recently published two papers showing that endoscopic treatment for sciatica caused by disc herniation is just as effective as open microdiscectomy, at a lower total cost. The papers, which Dr. Gadjradj co-authored with his colleagues in the Netherlands, report on the results of a clinical trial of more than 600 patients with sciatica treated at four different hospitals in that country over the...

Dr. Joseph Carnevale has been named winner of the 2022 Michael L. J. Apuzzo Resident Literature Award for Creativity and Innovation. Dr. Carnevale, who is completing his fifth year of the seven-year neurosurgery residency program, was presented with the award at the resident graduation ceremony held Thursday evening. The award was for “...

Dr. Roger Härtl and Dr. Rodrigo Navarro-Ramirez, along with a roster of world-class expert contributors, have published the ultimate resource for surgeons wishing to master minimally invasive techniques. The book, Essential Step-by-Step Techniques for Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery, was edited by Dr. Härtl and Dr. Rodrigo Navarro-Ramirez, a neurosurgeon from Mexico who has worked with Dr. Härtl since 2015.  Chapter authors include master spine surgeons from around the world who describe...

At the 2022 joint AANS/CNS Spine Summit, fifth-year neurosurgery resident Jacob Goldberg was named a 2022 Charlie Kuntz Scholar for work he’s done with Dr. Roger Härtl, Dr. Ibrahim Hussain, Dr. Carolin Melcher, and members of our resident training team. Dr. Goldberg also achieved top honors by winning the J.A.N.E. Award (Journalistic And Academic Neurosurgical Excellence) for top resident manuscript of the year.

The winning research project focused on the use of a high-...

A new multidisciplinary paper by researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine neurosurgery, radiation oncology, and radiology has been selected for the March 2022 cover of the journal Radiology: Imaging Cancer. The paper reports on significant findings that promise improved post-operative care for patients who have undergone brain surgery for a meningioma.

Meningiomas, which are the most common type of brain tumor, are typically treated with surgery. After...

The recent announcement that Dr. Michael Kaplitt has been awarded a three-year, $9 million grant to study Parkinson’s disease is the latest in a series of funding awards that are fueling innovation at Weill Cornell Medicine Neurological Surgery. Dr. Kaplitt’s grant, from the Aligning Sciences Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative, will put him at the helm of an ambitious and innovative...

Newsweek magazine has released its 2022 rankings of hospitals worldwide in 10 specialties, and the neurosurgery service at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center at NewYork-Presbyterian was ranked #1. More than 40,000 medical experts were asked to choose the top hospitals in the world for 10 specialties, and the combined neurosurgery service at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University emerged at the very top of the global list.

Thanks to a generous $3 million commitment from the Hansen-MacDonald family, the Executive Committee of the Board of Fellows of Weill Cornell Medicine has appointed Dr. Roger Härtl as the inaugural Hansen-MacDonald Professor of Neurological Surgery. The Hansen-MacDonald family established the endowed professorship to support Weill Cornell Medicine’s tripartite mission to care for patients, conduct research to advance the standard of care,...

On Saturday, June 12, 2021, the Weill Cornell Medicine Neurosurgery Department held a festive outdoor graduation celebration for Dr. Whitney Parker and Dr. Justin Schwarz, who have completed their seven-year training period in neurological surgery here. The graduation ceremony was especially celebratory this year after last year’s Zoom graduation, featuring the annual toasts and roasts to celebrate the freshly minted neurosurgeons.

“We are extremely pleased that our...

Dr. Philip E. Stieg, chairman, recently presented a Grand Rounds with the Seattle Science Foundation on AVMs, which is a topic on which he is an internationally renowned expert.  

After a months-long process of interviews and evaluations, the matches have been made: Nalini Tata and Natasha Kharas will join the neurosurgical residency program at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian this summer. In an unusual year of firsts due to Covid, including virtual interviews, informational videos, and live remote interactions to provide a personal sense of our program, this year our announcement includes a more historic first: Both of our new residents are women...

Dr. Roger Härtl is currently seeking candidates for a research assistant position. Ideal candidates are undergraduates seeking to enhance their resume before application to graduate school or medical school, or recent college graduates interested in neurosurgical research. A research background is preferred.

This is a full-time, one- to two-year position at Weill Cornell Medical College, Neurological Surgery, reporting to Dr. Roger Härtl, chief of spinal surgery....

Roberta Marongiu, PhD, has been awarded a two-year, $275,000 NIH-NIA R21 grant and an additional $125,000 administrative supplement to the NIH-NIA R21 to study the effects of menopause on the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (amyloid β, neurofibrillary tangles, synaptic and neuronal loss, and chronic gliosis) are laid down starting 20 years before clinical symptoms appear, at about the time of perimenopause in women. Yet very little is...

Babacar Cisse, MD, PhD, has been awarded a Department of Defense grant to investigate how transcription factors regulate the development, function, and maintenance of microglia in glioma. The highly competitive Career Development Award is intended to support early-career cancer investigators as they conduct innovative studies under the mentorship of an experienced researcher. The three-year, $400,000 award will support Dr. Cisse’s novel work as he first investigates the normal...

Dr. Theodore Schwartz, Vice Chair for Clinical Research and David and Ursel Barnes Professor in Minimally Invasive Surgery, recently published a paper detailing the use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) to treat olfactory groove meningiomas (OGMs). Dr. Schwartz and his co-authors determined that an eyebrow incision keyhole craniotomy with endoscopic assistance was a safe and effective alternative to open...

Dr, Kai-Ming Fu, Director of the Spinal Deformity and Scoliosis Program as well as Chief of Neurosurgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan, was elected as a new member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, a publication of the Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group. This prestigious position gives Dr. Fu the responsibility of reviewing articles for this preeminent journal in the field of spinal neurosurgery. 

The Journal of Neurosurgery...

The Department of Neurological Surgery is extremely proud that four of our Physician Assistants were nominated this year for campus-wide awards. Three (Allison Basham, Beth Higgins,  and Chloe Holland)...

Our neurosurgery fellow in Tanzania, Dr. Beverly Cheserem, was spotlighted during the #BlackInNeuroWeek social media campaign. The #BlackInNeuroWeek campaign takes place from Monday, July 27 to Sunday, August 2 and aims to create a space dedicated to spotlighting success and supporting black professionals in the neurosciences.

Dr. Cheserem’s journey to neurosurgery started when she was working as a junior doctor in London. She was fascinated by the spectrum neurosurgery operated in,...

Dr. Caitlin Hoffman, the diversity and inclusion champion in the department of neurological surgery, has been named a faculty winner of the Dean’s Diversity and Healthcare Disparity Research Awards for her work with the PrIMES mentorship program she co-founded in 2018. The $50,000 grant will allow the program to develop technology to automate data collection and analysis as well as expand to serve additional populations and meet additional needs.

PrIMES (Program for Individualized...

At the resident graduation ceremony held Friday evening, Dr. Ibrahim Hussain was named winner of the 2020 Michael L. J. Apuzzo Resident Literature Award for Creativity and Innovation. Dr. Hussain, who is completing an enfolded fellowship in spinal neurosurgery this month,  won the award for “Transforaminal Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy and Foraminotomy with...

An April 2020 supplement to Global Spine Journal (GSJ), edited by Dr. Roger Härtl, spotlights “The 6 T’s of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery.” Written and edited by leading experts in minimally invasive spine surgery, the supplement explores the defining principles of MISS: Target, Technology, Techniques, Training, Testing, and Talent. As an internationally renowned expert in MISS, Dr. Härtl served as the invited editor of the supplement.

“It has been an honor for me to be...

Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna, Director of the Brain Metastases program at Weill Cornell Medicine, along with Dr. Rajiv Magge, Dr. Ali Baaj, and Dr. Jonathan Knisely have published a new textbook titled Central Nervous System Metastases, which provides a contemporary resource for the medical and surgical management of brain and spine metastases. This text represents an international collaboration of experts aimed...

In a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team of doctors and researchers including Dr. Michael Kaplitt describe the first-ever implantation of a patient’s own progenitor cells into the putamen region of the brain. The patient, who suffered from idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, was treated on both left and right sides of his brain, six months apart. At 18 month and 24 months post-treatment, he shows improvement or stabilization of his symptoms; since the...

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association has designated NewYork-Presbyterian as a "Blue Distinction Center" for Spine Surgery — the only New York City hospital selected for that designation. To be named a Blue Distinction Center, a facility must deliver high-quality, safe spine surgery, performed by skilled surgeons, and producing better outcomes.

“We are proud to carry this designation,” says Dr. Roger Härtl, chief of spine surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medicine...

Dr. Michael Kaplitt of Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Ali Rezai of West Virginia University, and a team of researchers from the United States and Israel have released a new study that validates the use of focused ultrasound to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The paper, “Noninvasive Hippocampal Blood-Brain Barrier Opening in...

Neurosurgeon Louis Chang, MD, has been appointed to the faculty of the Weill Cornell Medical College Department of Neurological Surgery. Dr. Chang, a board-certified neurosurgeon with fellowship training in minimally invasive spine surgery and navigation, was previously the Chief of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center in Baltimore , Adjunct Assistant Professor in Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center, and Clinical...

The Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medicine have appointed Neurosurgeon-in-Chief Philip E. Stieg, PhD, MD, as the first Margaret and Robert J. Hariri, MD ’87, PhD ’87 Professor of Neurological Surgery. The endowed fellowship was made possible through a $3 million gift from Dr. Robert Hariri (MD ’87, PhD ’87) and his wife, Margaret. The endowment will support continued groundbreaking research in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine.

In announcing the...

To further our commitment to mentorship, the Weill Cornell Medicine Brain and Spine Center hosted a group of students from nearby Vanguard High School for a day of education and discovery. The 11th-grade students participated in tours, presentations, and demonstrations about the many different careers available in a wide range of occupations that are essential to the day-to-day operations of a hospital.

The students began their day with a tour of our Molecular Neurosurgery and...

A case from Dr. Ali Baaj and spine fellow Dr. Ibrahim Hussain was recently featured in the Spine Universe Case Study library. The online library places spine cases from around the country in front of fellow spine surgeons for discussion and review.

The featured case focused on a 30-...

Dr. Michael L.J. Apuzzo was recently invited to spend a week as a visiting professor at the University of Toronto, where he presented a variety of seminars and lectures, led a Town Hall meeting with residents and fellows, and delivered the annual Alan and Susan Hudson Lecture. Dr. Alan Hudson is widely credited with having transformed the delivery of health care in Canada; the prominent neurosurgeon spent a decade as president and CEO of the University Health Network in Toronto — a...

Dr. Ali A. Baaj recently released a new book titled Revision Spine Surgery: Pearls and Pitfalls. Co-authored with Dr. Gregory D. Schroeder and Dr. Alexander R. Vaccaro from the world-renowned Rothman Orthopedic Institute,...

Dr. Ali A. Baaj, Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery and Co-Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Brain and Spine Center’s Spinal Deformity and Scoliosis Program, has accepted an invitation to serve on the education committee of the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) for the 2019-2020 term. The SRS, considered one of the top international spinal deformity organizations, has traditionally...

Dr. Kai-Ming Fu, Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery in Spinal Surgery and Co-Director of the Spinal Deformity and Scoliosis Program, has been appointed to the Board of Directors at the NeuroPoint Alliance (NPA) and has been named chair of the organization’s Ad Hoc Committee for the 2019-2020 year. In this role, Dr. Fu will lead the efforts of the committee to improve patient care through the development and evaluation of outcomes data.

The NPA...

Fifth-year neurosurgical resident Thomas Link, M.D., has been named the winner of the 2018 Michael L. J. Apuzzo Resident Literature Award for Creativity and Innovation for “Middle Meningeal Artery Embolization for Chronic Subdural Hematoma: A Series of 60 Cases". The Apuzzo Award, established in 2017, recognizes outstanding work by a Weill Cornell Medicine neurosurgery resident that most exemplifies original thinking and creativity.

Dr. Link’s paper explores an innovative procedure for...

From a new publication in the prestigious journal Brain, Dr. Theodore Schwartz and his lab team, in partnership with Dr. Catherine Schevon of Columbia University, describe laboratory findings that may have important implications for epilepsy in humans. The report, “Role of inhibitory control in modulating focal seizure spread", explains an observation that has long confounded epilepsy researchers: the distance between a seizure’s focus, where it originates and where intense activity can be...

The 2018 National Residency Match is complete and we are pleased to announce that Maricruz Rivera and Gary Kocharian will be joining our program in June. They have both already distinguished themselves in their young careers as future clinician-scientist leaders in our field and impressed us with their maturity, compassion and drive. We are proud to have the opportunity to train these two outstanding physicians.