About Us
The Department of Neurological Surgery is devoted to the evaluation and treatment of both pediatric and adult neurosurgical disorders. Our programs in neurovascular surgery, neuro-oncology, epilepsy, spinal surgery, pediatric neurosurgery, functional and stereotactic neurosurgery are world renowned. Navigate our website to learn more about the Department and our exciting programs.
News
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Willis Tower to light up for CCM Awareness
On Monday, June 16thOn Monday, June 16, Willis Tower will light up from sunset to 11 PM in honor of Cavernous Malformation Awareness Month. The event, sponsored by the Alliance to Cure Cavernous Malformations, is a show of support for patients and families. UChicago Medicine is home to the nation's first accredited CCM Center of Excellence, led by Dr. Issam Awad, offering world-class care and groundbreaking research.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
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Dorothy Havlin
Nurse PractitionerCongratulations to Dorothy Havlin, who was selected to serve in an ad-hoc position on the APP Executive Council for the upcoming year. Each year, the council invites non-lead APPs to apply for this opportunity to contribute to leadership efforts across the institution.
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Dr. Omer Dororn
NewsLast week, we successfully launched the new LVO Stroke Program at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale—and this week, we treated our first patient, ensuring they avoided the devastating effects of a major stroke through timely, expert care. This achievement reflects true collaboration, and we are especially proud of Dr. Omer Doron, MD, PhD, whose leadership and dedication are helping expand access to high-level stroke care across the region.
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Dr. Issam Awad and Dr. Roberto Alcazar
We’re proud to share that Dr. Awad and Dr. Alcazar were contributors to the newly published 2025 Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Cavernous Malformations, led by the Alliance to Cure Cavernous Malformation. Their work helps shape national standards for the care of patients with these complex neurological conditions.
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Dr. Carmen Pons
New ArticleCongratulations on your new article. Read the full article here!
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2025 Dr. Javad Hekmat-Panah Award
Riley K. Driscoll, MS4We are thrilled to announce that Riley has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Dr. Javad Hekmat-panah Award for Outstanding Performance in Neurological Surgery.
This prestigious honor recognizes a graduating University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine student who has shown exceptional dedication, academic excellence, and contributions to the field of neurological surgery. -
Dr. Daniel Biro
Congratulations to Dr. Biro and the Functional Neurosurgery team on winning the Best Poster Prize in the Pediatric Section at the AANS 2025 Annual Meeting in Boston!
Their award-winning presentation, “Tractography Guided and Verified Laser Hemispherotomy”, highlights groundbreaking advances in pediatric neurosurgery.
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Dr. Martin Herman
delivered a Grand Rounds talk at Mayo Clinic Neurosurgery! We're proud to see his expertise recognized on such a prestigious stage.
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Dr. Javad Hekmat-panah
Dr. Javad Hekmatpanah was honored with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Interurban Neurosurgical Society. This prestigious award recognizes his over six decades of dedicated service in neurosurgery and neurology, highlighting his significant contributions to patient care, medical education, and research.
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Dr. Omer Doron
New ArticleCongratulations Dr. Doron for your new article title "Endovascular Management and Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke" in Springer Nature. Click here to read the full article.
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Dr. Omer Doron
Dr. Doron authored a chapter in Advanced Technologies in Vascular Neurosurgery, recently published by Springer Nature. The book highlights cutting-edge approaches in the field and is available here.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
New ArticleCongratulations on your new published article titled "Changes in anxiety after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis". Read the full article here!
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Dr. Issam Awad
Our brains contain more than 400 miles of blood vessels. Prof. Issam Awad's lab is researching ways to predict when these vessels could weaken and rupture. Find out more Inside the Lab →
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Dr. Issam Awad
New ArticleGroundbreaking Study on Cerebral Cavernous Malformations Published in The Lancet Neurology! A new study led by Issam Awad, MD, John Harper Seeley Professor of Neurological Surgery at UChicago Medicine, has been published in The Lancet Neurology. This first-in-disease clinical trial is the first to test a drug’s potential effect on bleeding in cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), a condition affecting over one million Americans The trial, conceived and executed at UChicago, builds on a decade of preclinical research led by Dr. Awad’s team. This milestone highlights UChicago Medicine’s leadership in neurosurgical innovation and the power of translational research. Read the full article here!
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Dr. Javad Hekmatpanah
We are delighted to congratulate Dr. Hekmatpanah on being inducted as a founding fellow of ACE. This distinction reflects his unwavering commitment to clinical excellence, compassionate patient care, and outstanding contributions to our medical community.
Please join us in celebrating Dr. Hekmatpanah and all the founding fellows for their remarkable dedication to advancing the art of medicine.
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Drs. Warnke and Satzer
Drs. Warnke and Satzer recently performed the first-ever cell therapy surgery for bilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, marking a major milestone in epilepsy treatment. The NRTX—1001 Inhibitory Neuron Cell Therapy releases the neurotransmitter GABA intending to stop neurons involved in generating epileptic seizures. This was the first case to go to surgery in the entire study, building on Dr. Satzer’s prior experience with a similar unilateral procedure. This groundbreaking effort, led by Drs. Warnke and Satzer represents a significant achievement for the department and a promising step forward in epilepsy research.
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Neurovascular Surgery Team
Neurovascular Surgery researchers presented six studies at the 2025 International Stroke Conference. Dr. Awad shared CCM rebleeding findings and spoke at the NINDS 75th Anniversary Symposium. Team posters covered microbleeds, radiation injury, AI in CCM bleeding, and microRNA in cerebrovascular disease.
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New Publication
from Awad Lab TeamThe Awad lab, with collaborators, published a study in Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism showing strong correlations between imaging changes and plasma biomarkers in cerebral cavernous malformations. This research, led by Stephanie Hage and Edward Bi, validates biomarkers for assessing bleeding, aiding clinical trial outcomes. Funded by the NIH.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
New ArticleCongratulations, Dr. Warnke, on your new paper published in the Magazine of Science titled "Tactile Edges and Motion via Patterned Microstimulation of the Human Somatosensory Cortex. Read the full article here!
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Dr. Carmen Pons
New ArticleCongratulations Dr. Pons for your new article titled: "Seizure network characterization by functional connectivity mapping and manipulation". Read the full article here.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
New ArticleCongratulations Dr. Warnke for your new article titled: "A novel robot-assisted method for implanting intracortical sensorimotor devices for brain-computer interface studies: principles, surgical techniques, and challenges". Click here to read the full article!
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Dr. Warnke and Dr. Satzer
New ArticleThe research group at the University of Chicago and University of Pittsburgh including Drs. Warnke and Satzer published some groundbreaking research on Brain-Machine Interface!
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Dr. Sophie Su
Clinical AssociateWe’re excited to welcome Dr. Sophie Su to the team! A highly skilled neurosurgeon with advanced training from Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Su specializes in complex cerebrovascular conditions, including aneurysms and vascular malformations, and brings experience in pediatric cases.
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Dr. Omer Doron
Clinical AssociateWe’re excited to welcome Dr. Omer Doron to our Neurosurgery team! A specialist in endovascular and cerebrovascular neurosurgery, he joins us from Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Doron brings expertise in treating aneurysms, strokes, and carotid disease using both minimally invasive and open techniques.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
Dr. Warnke and the incredible team have achieved a groundbreaking milestone! Last week, they performed their 50th laser capsulotomy for refractory OCD, officially making this the largest patient group treated with this advanced modality worldwide!
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Dr. Sean Polster
In 2024, Dr. Polster’s lab received the NIH NRCDP K Grant, bringing their funding to nearly half a million dollars. Supported by the American College of Surgeons and the North American Skull Base Society, they study how the gut microbiome impacts brain disease and the neurovascular unit under stress, including the effects of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Congratulations!
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Dr. Sean Polster
Dr. Polster’s lab is excited to announce that they will be presenting at the CNS conference in Houston! With three posters and three talks, their contributions are making a significant impact. One of their talks has received the prestigious Best Basic Science Award. A special thank you to Lin Cheng and Roberto Alcazar for their outstanding work and dedication.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
New ArticleCongratulations Dr. Warnke on your new article titled: Depth versus surface: A critical review of subdural anddepth electrodes in intracranial electroencephalographic studies. Read here!
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Dr. David Satzer
We are thrilled to welcome back Dr. David Satzer to our Department of Neurological Surgery as an Assistant Professor! He returns as specialist in surgery for epilepsy, movement disorders, pain, spasticity, and neuropsychiatric disease. For appointments: Call our call center at 773-702-2123.
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MHFP Accepted Abstracts
CNS Annual Meeting, BMES and ISPNOThe MHFP creates research which helps to explore new treatments, therapies, and interventions for CNS Anomalies by applying their knowledge gained to improve health and well-being. Learn more about their recent accepted abstracts here!
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Dr. Roberto Alcazar
New ArticleUniversity of Chicago laboratory team led by Dr. Issam Awad, and collaborators at Duke University found mixed effects of Rapamycin on familial CCM, possibly increasing lesion burden. Further research is needed. Click here to read the full article.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
Thor Marchio, 18, is now seizure-free, thanks to a laser-guided brain surgery performed by Peter Warnke, MD. Read the full story here.
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2024 Gildenberg Award
Congratulations on winning the prestigious Gildenberg Award for your paper titled "Tessellation of artificial touch via microstimulation of human somatosensory cortex" authored by Dillan Prasad at AANS!
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Dr. Abhinav Srinath
successfully defended his PhD titled: 'Mechanistic Insights and Biomarker Candidates in Cerebral Microbleeds within the Aging Brain' on May 1st, 2024! Congratulations Abhi!
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Dr. Peter Warnke
His groundbreaking work and surgeries have been recognized by Arab Hospital Magazine published in MAR|APR 2024, shedding light on his international impact.
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Dr. Javad Hekmatpanah
New articleDr. Hekmatpanah dives into the correlation of cerebral microvascular circulation and vital signs in cerebral compression. Click here to read the full article.
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Amanda Johnson
DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC/ACprovided a comprehensive overview of pediatric neuroimaging during her presentation at The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
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Dr. Seif Gholampour
New ArticleCongratulations on the publication of your paper, 'Comprehensive Morphometric Analysis to Identify Key Neuroimaging Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Adult Hydrocephalus Using Artificial Intelligence.'
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Dr. Bakhtiar Yamini
New articleDiving into the groundbreaking world of cancer research! Excited to share the interim results of our multi-institutional Phase I study on Acetazolamide with Temozolomide in adults with newly diagnosed MGMT-methylated Malignant Glioma.
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The Neurovascular Research Team
including faculty (Awad, Polster and Girard), visiting scholar (Koskimaki), postdoctoral trainees (Alcazar and Hage) and predoctoral trainees (Bennett, Bindall, and Srinath) and Research Managers (Stadnick and Lightle) presented 5 papers at International Stroke Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, February 7-9, 2024.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
CongratulationsThe joint paper between Neurosurgery, Neurology and Pediatric Neurology, "Manifestation of Hippocampal Interictal Discharges on Clinical Scalp EEG Recordings" has been awarded the prestigious Cosimo Ajmone-Marsan Award by the Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology!
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Clinical Trial
NRTX-1001 Neural Cell Therapyis seeking participants with drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. This study investigates the safety and efficacy of inhibitory nerve cells. If you or someone you know is aged 18-65, experiencing uncontrolled focal seizures, and on a stable anti-seizure drug, contact Agnieszka Stadnik at astadnik@bsd.uchicago.edu. Let's make a difference together!
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Dr. Peter Warnke
New ArticleCongratulations Dr. Warnke on your new article titled: Paradigm found: Paradigm found: Epileptogenic zone identified by fMRI in ictal fixation off sensitivity
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Dr. Eric Thompson
$100,000 grantfor groundbreaking research in pediatric brain cancer, specifically focusing on Medulloblastoma and its leptomeningeal dissemination (LD). Their mission is to understand and target ABL1 and ABL2 as potential drivers of LD, with promising results showing improved overall survival in mouse models.
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New Position
Nurse Navigator - Full Time, DayBe a part of a world-class academic healthcare system at UChicago Medicine as an Epilepsy Nurse Navigator with our Neurosciences team in Hyde Park.
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Dr. Isaam Awad
Two New papersCongratulations for groundbreaking articles on cerebral cavernous malformations in the January 2024 issue of STROKE. The studies, part of an NIH-funded project, focused on trial readiness for rare cases of cavernous angiomas with symptomatic hemorrhage.
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Dr. Sean Polster
secured a $330,000 NIH K grant from the Neurosurgeon Research Career Development Program (NRCDP) at NIH. The grant supports research on the brain-gut-axis and endothelial biology, exploring how the gut microbiome influences brain microvasculature in conditions like radiation damage and brain bleeding.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
and team have enrolled the first patient into an innovative epilepsy study: A First-in-human, Multicenter, Open Label, Single Arm, Dose Escalation Study of Inhibitory Interneurons (NRTX-1001) in Drug-Resistant Unilateral Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (MTLE).
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Dr. Peter Warnke
and team have opened the NIH-funded Placebo-controlled Effectiveness of Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Shunting Study as well as the REMASTER Trial in brain metastasis.
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Dr. Isaam Awad
New ArticleRoberto Alcazar and Robert Shenkar and other members from the Awad Lab helped team at U Penn assess the effect of mTOR inhibitor Rapamycin on CCM development in adult mice, published in the journal Stroke.
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Issam A. Awad
MD, MSc, FACS, MA (hon)co-wrote an invited commentary in JAMA Open, on safety questions raised with computer assisted management of external ventricular drain for intraventricular hemorrhage, and the continued need of human supervision of complex care paradigms.
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Dr. Issam Awad
New ArticleYing Li and others from the Awad Lab published a review article in Brain Sciences, on inflammatory mechanisms in cerebral cavernous malformations and implications on pathobiology, biomarkers and therapeutic targeting.
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Dr. Issam Awad
New ArticleRomuald Girard and others from the Awad Lab worked closely with the Duke team on demonstrating hidden loss of heterozygocity in cerebral cavernous malformations human lesion specimens collected at U Chicago, using advanced single nucleus sequencing. The paper was published in the prestigious journal, Nature Communications
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Issam A. Awad, MD, MSc, FACS, MA (hon)
The John Harper Seeley Professor of Neurological Surgery and Director of Neurovascular Surgerywill serve as part of the Trial Innovation Network, funded by the National Institutes of Health/ National Center for Advancing Translational Research (NIH/NCATS).
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$3.999 Million NIH Grant
Congratulations on the R01 grant achievement! Dr. John Downey, in collaboration with Dr. Peter Warnke and Dr. Nicho Hatsopoulos, has successfully secured a noteworthy NIH grant amounting to $3.999 million.
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Amanda Johnson
DNP APRN, CPNP-PC/ACCongratulations Amanda for being a 2023 Distinguished APP Award Winner!
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Dr. Isaam Awad
received an NIH grantof $201,800 for research on Multiomic Biomarkers of Cavernous Angiomas with Symptomatic Hemorrhage [CASH], optimizing data for Machine Learning [ML] analyses. Exciting advances in brain bleeding diagnosis and prediction!
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Dr. Peter Warnke
New ArticleCongrats Dr. Warnke for your new article titled: " Ambulatory Local Field Potential Recordings from the Thalamus in Epilepsy: A Feasibility Study"
Read the full article here!
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Dr. Issam Awad
has been appointed to the Board of University PublicationsThe appointment begins on July 1st, 2023, and be for a three-year term.
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Chief Resident Announcement for 2023-2024
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ahmadpour, who is the incoming Neurosurgery Chief Resident for 2023-2024!
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Dr. Javad Hekmat-Panah Award
We are delighted to announce Je Yeong (Jae) Sone, MD, a distinguished medical student, as the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Javad Hekmat-Panah.
Read more here!
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Martin Herman, MD
New ArticleCongratulations Dr. Herman for your new article titled: "In-vivo testing of a novel wireless intraspinal microstimulation interface for restoration of motor function following spinal cord injury"
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Peter Warnke, MD
New ArticleCongrats Dr. Warnke for your new article titled: "Seizure onset patterns predict outcome after stereo-electroencephalography-guided laser amygdalohippocampotomy."
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Romuald Girard, PhD
New GrantDr. Girard from Awad's Lab was awarded a Pilot Grant entitled “Circulating miRNA’s as distinct and common biomarkers brain vascular malformations”, through the Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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Dr. Peter Warnke
A New NIH GrantTitle: “Development of an EMG-controlled BCI for biomimetic control of hand movement in humans”, in collaboration with Northwestern University and Department of Anatomy and Organismal Biology at the University of Chicago.
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Dr. Stephanie Hage
New ArticleCongratulations Dr. Stephanie Hage (from Dr. Awad's lab) for your new article: "Impact of Socioeconomics and Race on Clinical Follow-up and Trial Enrollment and Adherence" in Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases.
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Dr. Eric Thompson
New ArticleCongratulations Dr. Thompson for publishing a new article titled: "Recombinant polio-rhinovirus immunotherapy for recurrent paediatric high-grade glioma: a phase 1b trial."
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Available APPs Positions
We have two positions available! Click here to apply!
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Executive Administrator
Please join us to welcome Iliana Rodriguez, our new Executive Administrator.
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2023 Matches
We are excited to announce our 2023 Matches
Carmen Pons Torres &
Je Yeong (Jae) Sone
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New Article
Congratulations to Dr. Satzer and Dr. Warnke!
Enhancing cortical feedback for bionic hands - see the new preprint here!
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New Article
Many congratulations to Yasmine Alkhalid, MD and Zeena Darji, MSN, RN for publishing a new article in Vascular Medicine.
See the full article here!
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New Article
Breakthrough discovery of plasma metabolites reflecting the transcriptome and gut microbiome of cavernous angiomas. Published in the Nature journal Communications Medicine on 3/3/23!
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New Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Polster for receiving a grant entitled "the influence of the gut microbiome on radiation necrosis".
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New Article
Congratulations to Dr. Mendoza-Elias, Dr. Satzer and Dr. Warnke for their new published article titled: Tailored Hemispherotomy Using Tractography-Guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy.
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Comer Children's Hospital Annual Review
Novel laser hemispherotomy ends debilitating seizures and restores lives! Dr. Peter Warnke is featured in Comer Children's Hospital Annual Review.
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RNS System NAUTILUS Study
Do you know anyone who has generalized seizure? NAUTILUS Study could help them!
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CCM Grant Award
The Neurovascular Surgery Research team received an award of grant CCM
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International Stroke Conference 2023
Dr. Awad's team presented 13 original papers at the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference in Dallas, Texas.
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MHFP Translational Research Grant Program
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Dr. Peleg Horowitz
did a complex brain tumor surgery at Silver Cross helps New Lenox grandmother resume active life!
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The American Epilepsy Society
Dr. Warnke and Epilepsy surgery group at the UChicago runs a workshop at the American Epilepsy Society on Dec 2-6, 2022!
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Safadi Pilot Grants 2023
This application is closed! Application due December 1, 2023 for Pilot Awards commencing January 1, 2024. Stay tuned for the application.
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Eric C. Leuthardt, M.D., FNAI
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Lawrence Lenke, MD
Vertebral Column Resection (VCR) for the Treatment of Severe Spinal Deformity
Wednesday October 19 @ 7:30 am
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Postdoc Appreciation Week
September 19-23, 2022
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Grand Rounds Series
Douglas L. Brockmeyer, M.D., F.A.A.P.Wednesday, September 21 @ 7:30 am
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Neurosurgery team performs laser hemispherectomy on child with epilepsy
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Brain Cancer: What to watch out for and other FAQs
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Predicting brain bleeds with smart blood tests
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After semitrailer crash, a trucker receives life-changing brain tumor diagnosis and 'awake' operation
Programs
The history of neuroscience here at the University is one that we pride ourselves on. The Department of Neurological Surgery is committed to excellence in patient care, research, and teaching.
We are devoted to the evaluation and treatment of both pediatric and adult neurosurgical disorders. The Department of Neurological Surgery has been divided into subspecialty programs to better identify our expertise within neurosurgery. We invite you to take a deeper look at our surgical specialties, including our clinical specialty programs, esteemed faculty, and neurosurgical research.
Education
Our faculty and staff are committed to providing the most comprehensive training to the brightest minds in medicine.
Our goal is to educate future physician-scientists who will advance the future of academic neurosurgery and make a lasting contribution to the care of neurosurgical patients. Our training programs offer the opportunity to obtain both outstanding clinical and basic science research experience in one of the top academic medical centers located in the city of Chicago.
Quick Links
Research
The Department of Neurological Surgery is leading the way in neurosurgical research and development.
Currently, the Department supports ongoing investigations into treatments for brain tumors, epilepsy, CNS congenital anomalies, and neurovascular disease. Use the links below to learn more about our research programs and faculty-led research.
Quick Links
Patient Care
Our patients are seen by a team of interdisciplinary specialists who are dedicated to the finest tradition of care.
The Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine is devoted to the evaluation and treatment of pediatric and adult diseases of the central nervous system. We use a full range of neuro-medical and neurosurgical technologies to provide the most up-to-date and effective treatments for the entire spectrum of neurological disease.