Dr. Polster is a board-certified, fellowship-trained neurosurgeon who has made significant contributions to the field of neurosurgery. His journey began with an undergraduate degree in Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development from the University of Minnesota, where he began studying vascular biology and completed his honors Thesis on genomic changes influencing microvascular biology. He then pursued his medical doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, followed by Neurosurgery Residency at the University of Chicago. During his residency, he embarked on an enfolded fellowship under the guidance of Professor Issam Awad, focusing on the neurovascular unit and brain bleeding. He further honed his skills with a Clinical Fellowship in skull base and cerebrovascular neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Polster was subsequently recruited back to the University of Chicago in 2022 as in a Physician-Scientist role to again work alongside Dr. Awad in further developing the neurovascular surgery program. In this capacity, he established a research laboratory studying the brain-gut axis and the neurovascular unit. The Polster Laboratory collaborates with the Duchossois Family Institute, the Microbiome Center, and the Center for Research Informatics. His research is funded by the Neurosurgeon Research Career Development Program (NRCDP) of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Polster's work has been published in prestigious journals, including Nature Communications, Blood, Neurosurgery, Stroke, Journal of Neurosurgery, Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases, and Neurocritical Care.
Currently, Dr. Polster's team, along with the neurovascular surgery program, is focused on understanding neurovascular biology in response to stress, particularly when the brain is exposed to therapeutic radiation. Our lab is the first to define genetic changes that underpin brain bleeding after radiosurgery. We are also the first to demonstrate that the gut microbiome can influence the effects of stereotactic radiosurgery. This groundbreaking research aims to improve treatments for neurovascular diseases, cancer, and age-related conditions. By defining the fundamental physiology of the brain-gut axis and the blood-brain barrier, Dr. Polster's lab seeks to elucidate clinical variations observed among individuals with the same disease or in their responses to treatment.