Mass General Brigham Neurosurgery Spine Fellowship
Call: 617-732-8719
Email: cegilligan@bwh.harvard.edu
Overview
The Mass General Brigham Spine Neurosurgery Fellowship is designed to train future leaders in academic and clinical spine surgery. Spanning Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, the fellowship provides unmatched exposure to complex spine pathology across all domains: degenerative, oncologic, traumatic, deformity, and endoscopic spine surgery. Fellows rotate across both campuses and work closely with a team of fellowship-trained spine neurosurgeons whose combined expertise covers every facet of modern spine care. The fellow will actively participate in the operative management of a wide range of spinal disorders with progressive responsibility, gaining proficiency in open and minimally invasive techniques, complex reconstruction, spinal instrumentation, and cutting-edge endoscopic approaches. With one of the highest operative volumes of any spine fellowship in the country, the program ensures that graduates are exceptionally well prepared to lead spine programs at top academic institutions.
Requirements
Fellows must have completed an ACGME accredited program or the equivalent in their home country. They must have a valid Massachusetts State Medical License.
Curriculum
The twelve-month clinical fellowship is spent in intensive clinical and operative training in spinal neurosurgery under the direct mentorship of designated spine faculty across both Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Fellows rotate through all spine subspecialty services and gain hands-on experience in degenerative, oncologic, deformity, trauma, and endoscopic spine surgery. Progressive independence in patient care is tailored to the fellow’s demonstrated knowledge, technical skill, and clinical judgment. The fellowship includes substantial outpatient clinic experience providing preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative continuity of care. Fellows serve as key educators for the largest neurosurgery residency cohort in the country, actively contributing to resident and medical student teaching through dedicated spine conferences, case-based learning sessions, and intraoperative instruction. The program supports leadership development in spine education and provides funding for travel to national and international conferences.
Research Experience
Research is a cornerstone of the fellowship experience. Fellows have access to the vast research infrastructure of the Mass General Brigham ecosystem, including the Computational Neurosurgical Outcomes Center, Spinal cord injury research lab, spinal stenosis and back pain laboratories, biomechanics laboratories, translational research programs, and collaborative networks spanning Harvard Medical School. Clinical, anatomic, biomechanical, outcomes, and translational research are integrated into the fellowship, with dedicated time and resources provided for the successful completion of scholarly projects. Fellows are expected to present at national meetings and contribute to peer-reviewed publications, building a strong academic foundation for a career in academic spine surgery.
How to Apply
Send CV, personal statement to Drs. Yi Lu & Ganesh Shankar
Once initial screens are accepted, 3 letters of LOR will be requested.
Fellowship and Faculty Contact
Yi Lu, MD, PhD
Neurosurgeon & Fellowship Co-Director
Ylu4@bwh.harvard.edu
Dr. Lu is a spine surgeon and an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. Additionally, Dr. Lu serves as the Director of Neurosurgical Trauma at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Lu completed medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He went on to complete his training at Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and he completed his Spine Fellowship at the University of Miami Department of Neurosurgery.
Dr. Lu’s clinical practice is focused on minimally invasive spine surgery, spinal deformity and scoliosis correction, complex revision spine surgery, spinal tumor (primary and metastasis), and spinal trauma. His research involves 1) spinal cord injury, namely the axon regeneration and locomotion recovery after spinal cord injury and 2) molecular basis of spinal degeneration and low back pain. Dr. Lu is committed to putting his patients first and treating his patients as if they were his own family.
Ganesh Shankar, MD, PhD
Neurosurgeon & Fellowship Co-Director; Chief of Spine
Gshankar@mgh.harvard.edu
Dr. Ganesh Shankar is a board-certified neurosurgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed his neurosurgery residency at Mass General and a fellowship in complex spine surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. His clinical specialization encompasses the evaluation and surgical management of all spine pathologies, ranging from degenerative disorders, primary and metastatic spine tumors, intradural pathologies, spine infections, and spine trauma. His surgical approaches include minimally invasive techniques. He specializes in complex spine procedures requiring revision surgery and correction of spine deformities.
Dr. Shankar also performs research on bone biology and molecular determinants of primary and metastatic spine neoplasms. He serves as the Neurosurgical Director of Biospecimen Banking for the Department of Neurosurgery. His research has been recognized by awards from the American Association of Neurologic Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, and AO Spine North America.
John Chi, MD, MPH
Neurosurgeon; Director of BWH Spine Neurosurgery
Jchi@bwh.harvard.edu
Dr. Chi is the Director of Neurosurgical Spinal Cancer in the Department of Neurosurgery and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. He strives to approach each of his patients with individualized care to maximize positive recovery and surgical outcomes. Dr. Chi is motivated by seeing firsthand the increase in quality of life experienced by his patients through his efforts. He chose to pursue a medical career in Neurosurgery to help those in need and to improve the outcomes for patients with neurological disorders. His clinical practice is focused on personalizing comprehensive care for patients with spinal disorders and spinal tumors through the Brigham and Women’s Comprehensive Spine Center at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and the Spinal Tumor Program located in the Hale Building for Transformative Medicine on the main campus. Within the Comprehensive Spine Center, Dr. Chi focuses on decompression, spinal fusion, and complex spinal reconstruction. He is an expert surgeon at performing minimally invasive spine surgery.
Hasan A. Zaidi, MD
Director, Adult Spinal Deformity and Scoliosis Program
Dr. Zaidi is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and leads spine research within the Computational Neurosurgical Outcomes Center. His clinical practice spans adult spinal deformity, scoliosis, spinal tumors, spinal cord injury, minimally invasive and muscle-sparing approaches, and endoscopic neurosurgery. He brings fellows outstanding exposure to complex deformity correction, reconstruction, and outcomes-focused innovation.
Kevin T. Huang, MD
Neurosurgeon and Assistant Program Director
Dr. Huang is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and an attending neurosurgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He completed residency at Brigham and fellowship in complex spine surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. His practice focuses on complex spine surgery, minimally invasive techniques, and spinal deformity, while his academic work leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve neurosurgical outcomes. He is also deeply involved in resident education.
Benjamin Roche Johnston, MD, PhD
Neurosurgeon
Dr. Johnston is an Instructor in Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School whose practice focuses on spine and peripheral nerve pathologies. He completed residency in the Brigham and Women's Hospital-Boston Children's Hospital-Harvard Medical School program, including focused clinical training in peripheral nerve and reconstructive neurosurgery at Mass General and an enfolded fellowship in complex spine surgery at Brigham. He maintains an active basic science laboratory studying nociception, gene therapies to limit chronic pain development, and cancers involving the peripheral nervous system.
Lawrence Borges, MD
Director, MGH Neurosurgical Spine Center
Dr. Borges is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and a neurosurgeon and neurosurgical oncologist at Mass General. He brings longstanding expertise in intradural and spinal cord tumors, nerve sheath tumors, Chiari malformation, and degenerative spinal disease. His practice offers fellows unique exposure to rare and complex tumor, intradural, and reconstructive cases.
Jean-Valery Coumans, MD
Neurosurgeon
Dr. Coumans is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School with broad expertise in cervical myelopathy, lumbar stenosis, spondylolisthesis, Chiari malformation, and spinal tumors including meningiomas, schwannomas, neurofibromas, and hemangioblastomas. His practice combines complex degenerative spine surgery with intradural and oncologic pathology, giving fellows breadth in both common and highly specialized spinal disorders.
Muhamed Hadzipasic, MD, PhD
Neurosurgeon
Dr. Hadzipasic is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School who completed residency at Mass General and fellowship in complex spine surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. His practice includes cervical deformity, cervical myelopathy, degenerative conditions, revision spine surgery, spinal and intradural tumors, infections, trauma, metastatic spine disease, and degenerative scoliosis. His translational research examines the molecular and biomechanical mechanisms that drive fibrosis and degeneration in spine disease.
Ziv Williams, MD
Neurosurgeon
Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School who contributes expertise in degenerative spine and peripheral nerve disorders within the Mass General Neurosurgical Spine Service. He also leads innovative work in functional neurosurgery, neural restoration, and brain-computer interface research. His perspective at the interface of spine, peripheral nerve, and restorative neuroscience broadens fellows' exposure to recovery-focused innovation for patients with complex neurologic injury and disability.
Program Alumni
Rohaid Ali, MD
Assistant Professor
Director, Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Spine Surgery
Clinical Director, Artificial Intelligence and Computational Neurosurgery
Department of Neurological Surgery
University of Chicago