Prateek Agarwal, MD, MBA joined the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery residency program in July 2020 after earning a dual MD/MBA degree from the Perelman School of Medicine and Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. At the Perelman School of Medicine, he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and received the Spencer Morris Prize, the School of Medicine’s highest academic honor. Prior to medical and business school, he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University in 2015 with an AB in Molecular and Cellular Biology and secondary field in Economics.
Dr. Agarwal is currently pursuing an enfolded neuroendvoascular fellowship at UPMC, under the mentorship of Bradley Gross, MD, with plans to complete a post-residency open cerebrovascular fellowship at the University of Miami, under the direction of Adib Abla, MD.
Dr. Agarwal’s research focuses on clinical cerebrovascular neurosurgery outcomes and employing system-level interventions to improve patient outcomes while reducing costs. During medical school, he investigated the use of behavioral economics principles to reduce neurosurgical postoperative infections and implant costs, which was awarded the 2018 Neurosurgery Paper of the Year in Socioeconomics, Health Policy, and Law, and evaluated the association of overlapping neurosurgery with patient outcomes at Penn Medicine. More recently, Dr. Agarwal demonstrated the association of prophylactic non-β-Lactam antibiotic use with surgical site infections, which was published in JAMA Surgery.
He has also performed translational research on injectable hydrogels for intervertebral disc regeneration, supported by the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF). His undergraduate basic neuroscience research in olfaction resulted in publications in Nature Neuroscience and Nature Communications.
Dr. Agarwal is active in organized neurosurgery. He currently serves as a Council of State Neurological Societies (CSNS) Northeast Quadrant Caucus member. Previously, he served as a CSNS Socioeconomic Fellow for 2023-24, an early career member on the AANS Education Committee in May 2022, a member on the Young Neurosurgeons Committee (YNC) in 2021, and as the 2018 YNC MISSION fellow.
He is also passionate about entrepreneurship and co-founded the medical device startup Sanguis, which won 1st place at the 2018 Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship Startup Challenge.
Dr. Agarwal was born and raised in New Jersey. Outside of neurosurgery, he enjoys aviation, swimming, water polo, tennis, and spending time with his wife, family, and friends.
Specialized Areas of Interest
Professional Organization Membership
Education & Training
- AB, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 2015
- MD, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, 2020
- MBA, Health Care Management, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, 2020
Honors & Awards
- Runner-Up Presentation Award, Stuart Rowe Research Day, 2025
- Highest American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS) Score Award, UPMC, 2025
- Spencer Morris Prize, Perelman School of Medicine, 2020
- Palmer Scholar, The Wharton School, 2020
- Alpha Omega Alpha, Perelman School of Medicine, 2019
- Neurosurgery Paper of the Year in Socioeconomics, Health Policy, and Law, 2018
- MISSION Fellowship, Young Neurosurgeons Committee, 2018
- Department of Neurosurgery Research Prize, Perelman School of Medicine, 2017
- NREF Medical Student Summer Fellowship, 2016
- Guggenheim Family Neurosurgery Scholarship, Perelman School of Medicine, 2016
- Summa Cum Laude, Harvard University, 2015
- Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard University, 2015
Selected Publications
- Ma L, Jacobs RC, Agarwal P, Doheim MF, Al-Bayati AR, Nogueira RG, Lang MJ, Gross BA. The “CSDH” Grading Scheme for Middle Meningeal Artery Embolization: Stratified Risk of Surgical Rescue. Neurosurgery. Published online ahead of print July 9, 2026.
- Agarwal P, Kumar RP, Oleksiuk LM, Crall V, Petrov AA, McCreary EK, Holder-Murray J, Chang YF, Agarwal N, Hamilton DK, Friedlander RM. Non-β-Lactam Antibiotic Use, β-Lactam Allergy, and Surgical Site Infections. JAMA Surgery. 2025;160(11):1260-1267.
- Agarwal P, Zaki MM, Kumar RP, Eckmann MA, Shuman WH, Adogwa O, Zalatimo OA, Schirmer CM, Zipfel GJ, Selden NR, Ratliff JK, Lonser RR, Orrico KO, Chiocca EA. Neurosurgical faculty and resident perspectives on collective bargaining efforts by resident physicians in the United States. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2025;143(4):1059-1067.
- Agarwal P, Beale OM, Zhang X, Sandlesh P, Jaman E, Amankulor N. Machine Learning Identification of Immunotherapy Targets in Low-Grade Glioma using RNA Sequencing Expression Data. World Neurosurgery. 2022;163:e349-362.
- Agarwal P, Gaba F, Agarwal N, Crall V, Mazurkiewicz A, Friedlander RM. Physician Awareness Combined with Perioperative Infection Prevention Bundles Results in Durable Neurosurgical Infection Control and Cost Saving. Neurosurgery. 2025;97(4):780-785.
- Agarwal P, Sharma N, Nayar G, Jacobs RC, Al-Bayati A, Lunsford LD, McDowell MM, Greene S. Long-term outcomes of deep pediatric arteriovenous malformations. Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics. 2023;33(1):22-28.
- Agarwal P, Ramayya AG, Osiemo B, Goodrich S, Glauser G, McClintock SD, Chen HI, Schuster JM, Grady MS, Malhotra N. Association of Overlapping Neurosurgery with Patient Outcomes at a Large Academic Medical Center. Neurosurgery. 2019;85(6):E1050-E1058.
- Albeanu DF*, Provost AC*, Agarwal P*, Soucy E, Murthy VN. Olfactory marker protein regulates refinement of the olfactory glomerular map. Nature Communications. 2018;9(1):5073. (*co-first authors)
- Agarwal N*, Agarwal P*, Mazurkiewicz A, Tempel ZJ, Friedlander RM, Gerszten P, Hamilton DK, Okonkwo DO, Kanter AS. Implementation of an Infection Prevention Bundle and Increased Physician Awareness Improves Surgical Outcomes and Reduces Costs Associated with Spine Surgery. Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. 2018;29(1):108-114. (*co-first authors)
- Gullbrand SE, Schaer TP, Agarwal P, Bendigo JR, Dodge GR, Chen W, Elliott DM, Mauck RL, Malhotra NR, Smith LJ. Translation of an Injectable Triple-Interpenetrating-Network Hydrogel for Intervertebral Disc Regeneration in a Goat Model. Acta Biomaterialia. 2017;60:201-209.
- Agarwal N*, Agarwal P*, Querry A, Mazurkiewicz A, Whiteside B, Marroquin OC, Koscumb SF, Wecht DA, Friedlander RM. Reducing Surgical Infections and Implant Costs via a Novel Paradigm of Enhanced Physician Awareness. Neurosurgery. 2018;82(5):661-669. (*co-first authors)
- Kapoor V, Provost AC, Agarwal P, Murthy VN. Activation of raphe nuclei triggers rapid and distinct effects on parallel olfactory bulb output channels. Nature Neuroscience. 2016;19(2):271-282.
Dr. Agarwal's publications can be reviewed through the National Library of Medicine's publication database.