An ongoing commitment to research and mentorship

Founded in 2012 and currently led by Emad N. Eskandar, MD, the Neurosurgeon Research Career Development Program (NRCDP) is an NIH-funded K12 program whose mission is to develop a cadre of diverse neurosurgeon scientists at institutions throughout the country. In the nine years since its inception, the highly successful and expanding program has reviewed applications from 125 individuals at 60 different institutions and has supported 26 scholars. 

In a recent review, it was discovered that 85% of NRCDP scholars successfully obtained subsequent independent federal funding and continue to lead active, productive research efforts as neurosurgeon-scientists. This ethos animates the faculty, residents and students in the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery who collectively strive to improve patient outcomes through basic, translational and clinical research.

Basic and translational research

The Department of Neurological Surgery includes four outstanding scientists performing translational research to develop new understandings of specific neurological conditions. This research is aimed at understanding the basis of cognition and its impairment in Parkinson disease, understanding the mechanisms underlying learning and their derangement in substance use or behavioral addictions, developing neural prosthetics for the treatment of blindness and developing a better understanding of the biology and immunology of glioblastoma in an effort to develop more effective treatments.