Neurology and Neurosurgery

Welcome to Our Department

Henry Brem, M.D., Director of Neurosurgery, has developed a new way to deliver chemotherapies directly into brain tumors.

The Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins have a long and rich history in developing state-of-the-art treatments for a wide range of neurological conditions. 

Our Robert Packard Center for ALS Research is the only center of its kind dedicated solely to finding new therapies to slow or cure ALS.  Scientists affiliated with the Center hold brainstorming sessions each month to identify promising research approaches and evaluate each others’ progress. 

The Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis Center has begun conducting large, international clinical trials to seek the best treatments.  The Neurosurgery Brain Tumor Center is one of the largest treatment and research centers in the world, providing the most advanced medical and surgical treatment options available for all types of brain tumors.  These are just a few examples.

Every day, Johns Hopkins investigators are working toward new cures for neurological disease.  At our pediatric epilepsy center, doctors manage patients’ seizures through a special high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet, or in severe cases, remove half the brain in a complicated surgery.  Neurosurgeons implant stimulators deep in the brain to control tremors, or surgically repair nerves to the arms and legs, preserving limbs that might otherwise have to be amputated.  And laboratory researchers are studying the causes behind chronic pelvic pain in women.

Our Specialists

Over 100 faculty practice in the combined departments, managing a wide spectrum of neurological disorders.  Our neurologists treat cerebrovascular disorders including stroke; cognitive neurology; epilepsy; movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease; neurological infections; neuromuscular disorders; chronic pain; peripheral nerve disorders; Sturge-Weber syndrome; Tourette syndrome; and vestibular eye movement.  We also staff divisions of neurogenetics, neuro-oncology, and a neurological critical care unit.

On the neurosurgery side, our experts staff centers for brain tumors and pituitary tumors.  Surgeons also perform radiosurgery for brain tumors, cerebrovascular operations for conditions such as aneurysms, peripheral nerve surgery and procedures for chronic pain and epilepsy.

	Neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson, a pioneer in the separation of twins joined at the head, is also noted for his use of hemispherectomy to control intractable seizures, and craniofacial reconstructive surgery for dwarfism and pediatric brain tumors.