Department of Neurosurgery

The Department of Neurosurgery is dedicated to advancing the field of neurosurgery, providing leading-edge, compassionate clinical care and conducting unparalleled research for the full range of neurosurgical conditions. The department offers the full spectrum of surgical treatment options, including many minimally invasive procedures, and is developing promising protocols for neurological conditions that are difficult to treat with conventional therapies.

The Department of Neurosurgery provides adults and children with medical, surgical and neuro-oncologic care for:

  • Achondroplasia
  • Acoustic neuroma
  • Astrocytoma tumors
  • Brain aneurysms
  • Brain cancer
  • Brain tumors
  • Chiari I and chiari II malformations
  • Epilepsy
  • Glioblastoma multiforme
  • Hydrocephalus
  • Malignant and benign primary and secondary brain tumors
  • Meningiomas
  • Oligodendrogliomas
  • Pituitary tumors
  • Spinal cord dysraphia
  • Spinal deformities
  • Tethered cord
  • Trigeminal neuralgia

Research

The Department of Neurosurgery's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute is the hub of research and education programs. Research lab members are divided into several groups, each focusing on a separate research area including the blood-brain barrier, immunology, gene therapy and gene discovery.

Among the significant discoveries made at the Institute are the following:

  • The discovery of several mechanisms through which the immune system interacts with brain tumors including development of an anticancer vaccine, known as dendritic-cell immunotherapy. The Institute is also working with the National Institutes of Health to launch a multi-institutional clinical trial for the vaccine.
  • The discovery that a naturally occurring peptide, bradykinin, can temporarily open the blood-brain barrier to improve anti-cancer drug delivery into a tumor by more than 1,000 percent without exposing healthy brain tissue
  • Development of new strategies for treating intracranial tumors by modifying brain tumors to make them more vulnerable to attack either by the immune system or by chemotherapeutic drugs
  • Use of gene arrays, a technology that can evaluate up to 20,000 genes in a single tissue sample, to discover and analyze genes that appear to be involved in the genesis and growth of brain tumors. Researchers have discovered 13 genes that are expressed differently in certain types of malignant brain tumors compared to normal tissue. Investigators are now breaking down the genetic codes of those 13 genes in order to explore the role that each plays in tumor development.

Conducting and managing clinical trials to treat brain tumors is the goal of the Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Brain Tumor Center. When a promising discovery is made in the laboratory, the center streamlines the translational process between research findings and patient care.

Other research projects include exploring innovative approaches to the treatment of glioblastoma, a highly aggressive form of brain cancer with a median survival rate of just one year, and diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and ALS.

Cedars-Sinai is also a national leader in pituitary disease research and treatment, offering the most advanced treatment options through the Pituitary Center. Novel therapies for pituitary tumors are being developed through the use of endoscopic surgery. The research group includes more than two dozen scientists and physicians recruited from top institutions around the world.

Education

The Department of Neurosurgery offers a residency in neurological surgery and fellowships in neuro-oncology and surgical neuro-oncology.

The neurological surgery residency program provides access to an outstanding faculty, state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, leading edge research facilities and a renowned regional Level 1 trauma center with a high volume and variety of patients.

The neuro-oncology fellowship provides intensive exposure and extensive experience to the full spectrum of diseases and problems encountered in neuro-oncology, including rotations between the inpatient (hospital) and outpatient (clinic) departments. Fellows also receive formal training in clinical research and have opportunities to participate in laboratory research through the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute laboratory.

The surgical neuro-oncology fellowship position is a one- to two-year fellowship designed to familiarize the fellow in surgical procedures to treat brain and spinal cord neoplasms. The fellow has full attending privileges and has an opportunity to join one of several projects in brain tumor research at the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute.

Cedars-Sinai also offers the Pauletta and Denzel Washington Family Gifted Scholars Program in Neuroscience which provided funded internships for two high-achieving students – up to $7,500 for a graduate-level researcher and up to $6,000 for an undergraduate. Recipients work under the direction of respected physicians, neurosurgeons and scientists at Cedars-Sinai and prepare a scientific abstract or paper to submit to a national neuroscience, cancer or neurosurgery organization.

Leadership

Keith L. Black, MD
Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery
Director, Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute
Ruth and Lawrence Harvey Chair in Neurosciences


Faculty