Overview

The Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh was founded 80 years ago with a strong commitment to patient care, education and research. Today, our department is the largest neurosurgical academic provider in the United States, performing more than 12,000 procedures annually.

Neurosurgeons at UPMC Presbyterian have remained focused on patient care. We know that each individual patient has a unique problem that requires carefully developed treatment options—sometimes surgical, sometimes not. Our facilities include the most technologically-advanced equipment—modern surgical microscopes, advanced image-guided brain and spine navigational tools, state-of-the-art monitoring techniques—improving patient outcomes by reducing operative complications.

Our patients spend less time in the hospital than almost any neurosurgical center in the world. In some cases, surgery that previously required seven-day in-hospital stays can now be done on an outpatient basis.

Our physicians are leaders in their field, pioneering advancements in brain, spine, neck and peripheral nerve care. Treatment is provided through our centers of excellence, each focusing on a specific disease and treatment technique.

Our surgeons and scientists perform unique, federally funded research into methods for improving clinical outcomes; they continually develop new tools and techniques to improve the status of patients with potentially life-threatening illnesses. We provide the most advanced training to future neurosurgeons from the United States and abroad.

2015 study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery showed that our department ranked among the top five neurosurgical residency programs in the country in terms of academic publishing output of faculty. Another Journal of Neurosurgery article, published in 2011, showed that our department ranked as the most productive residency program in the nation in terms of graduates remaining and contributing in academic neurosurgery. Still another article, published in informaHealthcare, showed that our stereotactic research effort was the most productive in the world.

Eighty years at the forefront of neurosurgical care have demonstrated that we are a proven international leader in patient care, research and education.