Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nervous system, and cerebrovascular system. Neurosurgery as a medical specialty also includes non-surgical management of some neurological conditions.
The study of neurology and neurosurgery dates back to prehistoric times, but the academic disciplines did not begin until the 16th century. The formal organization of the medical specialties of neurology and neurosurgery are relatively recent, taking place in Europe and the United States only in the 20th century with the establishment of professional societies distinct from internal medicine, psychiatry and general surgery. From an observational science they developed a systematic way of approaching the nervous system and possible interventions in neurological disease.
Gail Linskey Rosseau is Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, D.C. Prior to this position, she was Associate Chairman of Inova Fairfax Hospital Department of Neurosciences. She previously served as director of skull base surgery of NorthShore University HealthSystem. She is board-certified and has been an examiner for the American Board of Neurological Surgery. She has been elected to the leadership of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, and the Société de Neurochirurgie de Langue Française.
Philip E. Stieg is an American academic physician and neurosurgeon. He has been the Neurosurgeon-in-Chief of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center since 2000.
Karin Marie Muraszko is an American pediatric neurosurgeon.
Griffith Rutherford Harsh IV is an American neurosurgeon, Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, Davis, and former Julian R. Youmans Endowed Chair of the department. Dr. Harsh also led the UC Davis School of Medicine and UC Davis Health faculty as Chair of the Council of Department Chairs. Currently, he maintains his academic appointment at UC Davis and holds visiting professorships at the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University, while living in Nairobi with his wife, Meg Whitman, the US Ambassador to Kenya.
Roger Härtl is an American neurological surgeon at Weill-Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He is the Director of Spinal Surgery at the Weill Cornell Brain & Spine Center. Härtl has been named by Becker's Spine Review as one of the Top 50 Spine Surgeons in the United States as well as one of the Top 10 Spine and Neurosurgeon Leaders at Non-Profit Hospitals. He was named one of New York's Top Doctors by New York Magazine after he saved the life of New York firefighter Eugene Stolowski.
Albert Loren Rhoton Jr., was an American neurosurgeon and a professor specializing in microsurgical neuroanatomy. He was on the editorial boards of six surgical journals, and worked as professor and chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Florida. He was also president of organizations such as the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, among other surgical organizations.
Michael L. J. Apuzzo is an American academic neurological surgeon, the Edwin M. Todd/Trent H. Wells, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Neurological Surgery and Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics at the Keck School of Medicine, of the University of Southern California. He is also editor emeritus of the peer-reviewed journals World Neurosurgery and Neurosurgery. He is distinguished adjunct professor of neurosurgery at the Yale School of Medicine, distinguished professor of advanced neurosurgery and neuroscience and senior advisor, at the Neurological Institute, Wexner Medical School, The Ohio State University, and adjunct professor of neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, Department of Neurological Surgery & Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center.
Aaron A. Cohen-Gadol is a professor of clinical neurological surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
Endoscopic endonasal surgery is a minimally invasive technique used mainly in neurosurgery and otolaryngology. A neurosurgeon or an otolaryngologist, using an endoscope that is entered through the nose, fixes or removes brain defects or tumors in the anterior skull base. Normally an otolaryngologist performs the initial stage of surgery through the nasal cavity and sphenoid bone; a neurosurgeon performs the rest of the surgery involving drilling into any cavities containing a neural organ such as the pituitary gland. The use of endoscope was first introduced in Transsphenoidal Pituitary Surgery by R Jankowsky, J Auque, C Simon et al. in 1992 G.
James Rutka is a Canadian neurosurgeon from Toronto, Canada. Rutka served as RS McLaughlin Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto from 2011 – 2022. He subspecializes in pediatric neurosurgery at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), and is a Senior Scientist in the Research Institute at SickKids. His main clinical interests include the neurosurgical treatment of children with brain tumours and epilepsy. His research interests lie in the molecular biology of human brain tumours – specifically in the determination of the mechanisms by which brain tumours grow and invade. He is the Director of the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at SickKids, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurosurgery.
Antonio Bernardo is an Italian-American neurosurgeon and academic physician. He is a professor of Neurological Surgery and the Director of the Neurosurgical Innovations and Training Center for Skull Base and Microneurosurgery in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. He has gained significant notoriety for his expertise in skull base and cerebrovascular surgery, and has published extensively on minimally invasive neurosurgery. He is a pioneer in the use of 3D technology in neurosurgery and a strong advocate for competency-based training in surgery.
Ashish Suri is an Indian neurosurgeon, medical academic and a professor at the Department of Neurosurgery of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. He was one of the group of surgeons who performed the first 3D brain surgery and the first surgery to implant a spinal cord stimulator in India. Known for his work in Endoscopic endonasal surgery and neurooncology and is a member of the executive committee of the Indian Society of Neuro-Oncology. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2014.
Viviane Tabar is an American neurosurgeon, the Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York since 2017.
Nelson M. Oyesiku is a Nigerian-American professor of neurosurgery and endocrinology. With a specialty in pituitary medicine and surgery, currently, he is the chair of the department of Neurological Surgery and Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology) at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. he has been editor-in-chief of Neurosurgery, Operative Neurosurgery, and Neurosurgery Open. He was previously chair of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, among other organizations.
Dr. Basant Kumar Misra is a neurosurgeon specialising in treating brain, spine, cerebrovascular and peripheral nervous system disorders, injuries, pathologies and malformations. He is the Vice-President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, and the former President of the Asian Australasian Society of Neurological Surgeons, and the Neurological Society of India. He is a recipient of Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest medical honour in India.
Gabriel Zada is Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Southern California. He is known for his expertise in brain tumor and pituitary tumor surgery and as an innovator in minimally invasive cranial surgery. Zada is the director of the USC Brain Tumor Center, USC Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery Program and USC Radiosurgery Center. He is also an NIH-funded principal investigator at the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute. He specializes in endoscopic and minimally invasive neurosurgical techniques. During his career, he has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles on various neurosurgical topics, and holds numerous U.S. patents pertaining to minimally invasive neurosurgery and surgical devices.
Claire Karekezi is a Rwandan neurosurgeon at the Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda. As the first female neurosurgeon in Rwanda, and one of the eight Rwandan neurosurgeons serving a population of 14 million, Karekezi serves as an advocate for women in neurosurgery. She has become an inspiration for young people pursuing neurosurgery, particularly young women.
Sandi Lam is a Canadian pediatric neurosurgeon and is known for her research in minimally invasive endoscopic hemispherectomy for patients with epilepsy. Lam is the Vice Chair for Pediatric Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University and the Division Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Lurie Children's Hospital. She has spent her career advancing pediatric brain surgery capabilities globally through her work in Kenya performing surgeries as well as training and mentoring local residents and fellows.
