University Hospitals Neurological Institute Update 2026

Innovations in Neurology & Neurosurgery | Spring 2026

With each new year, the University Hospitals Neurological Institute continues to grow and attract esteemed faculty.

“In 2025, we cared for more patients and performed more surgeries and procedures than at any point in our history,” says Nicholas C. Bambakidis, MD, Vice President and Director of the UH Neurological Institute and the Harvey Huntington Brown, Jr. Chair in Neurosurgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. “We also continue to invest in state-of-the-art technologies and innovative research to advance care for individuals with neurologic conditions.”

Recent innovations include novel capabilities for robotic and endoscopic spine surgery, as well as robotic surgery for the treatment of epilepsy. University Hospitals has received approval from the American Board of Neurological Surgery to add four new neurosurgical residents.

“In the next three or four years, we will grow to 21 residents, making this one of the largest neurosurgical training programs in the country,” Dr. Bambakidis says. “We also continue to recruit outstanding neurologists and neurosurgeons to our faculty.”

Accolades

Dr. Bambakidis was admitted to the American Academy of Neurological Surgery in October 2025. He was also nominated to serve as President-Elect of the Society of Neurological Surgeons, effective at the annual meeting in May 2026, with his one-year term commencing at the annual meeting in May 2027.

Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, MD

The Society of Neurological Surgery is the country’s oldest neurosurgical society, founded in the 1920s by Dr. Harvey Cushing, widely regarded as the father of modern neurosurgery. “The society consists largely of chairs and residency program directors and is the preeminent organization supporting the education of residents,” Dr. Bambakidis says.

Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, MD, is President-Elect of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), a leading organization with several thousand members. “Dr. Amin-Hanjani is one of the world’s preeminent neurosurgeons, and her work with AANS is another example of her extensive leadership in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery,” Dr. Bambakidis says.

Jennifer Sweet, MD

In October, Dr. Amin-Hanjani traveled to Vienna to speak on educational leadership at the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies and the World Leaders Symposium.

Later that month, she traveled to Shanghai to attend the 6th Annual Academic Conference of the Shanghai Stroke Association/Huashan International Stroke Conference 2025, where she delivered a presentation titled Revascularization in Cerebrovascular Disease: The Evolving Role of EC-IC Bypass.

Jennifer Sweet, MD, was voted a member of the Interurban Neurosurgical Society (INS). Dr. Sweet will be formally inducted at the 2026 Board of Directors dinner in March, to be held in Chicago. The INS was founded in 1940 as an informal discussion group to promote exchange on relevant topics in the neurosurgical community. It has continued to mature as an independent society, preserving its tradition of lively and open intellectual exchange.

UH Welcomes Prominent Faculty

Natalie Limoges, MD

Fellowship-trained Pediatric Neurosurgeon Natalie Limoges, DO, joined the Department of Pediatric Neurological Surgery at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital this fall. “Dr. Limoges is an experienced neurosurgeon who comes to us from Stanford University,” Dr. Bambakidis says. “She has a special interest in in-utero procedures that treat life-threatening congenital anomalies before birth.”

Mohit Patel, MD

Dr. Limoges also has expertise in the management of pediatric brain and spinal tumors, congenital neurosurgical conditions, hydrocephalus, craniosynostosis, spinal dysraphism and the care of premature infants.

Mohit Patel, MD, completed a complex adult and pediatric spinal deformity surgery fellowship in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Johns Hopkins University in 2025. This summer, he returned to University Hospitals and joined the faculty at the UH Spine Institute.

“Dr. Patel completed a neurosurgical residency and a complex neurosurgical spine surgery fellowship at University Hospitals, and we are excited to welcome him back to Cleveland to bring leadership and innovation to our spine surgery program.”

Events

In August, the University Hospitals Department of Neurological Surgery hosted the 15th annual Surgical Treatment of the Craniocervical Junction course at UH Cleveland Medical Center. The two-day, hands-on course, officially recognized by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, focuses on the pathologies and surgical management of the craniocervical junction.

Eighteen senior neurosurgery residents from national and international programs attended the intensive course led by Dr. Bambakidis. This year’s honored guest was Vincent Traynelis, MD, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Also in August, the UH Department of Neurological Surgery hosted the annual CNS Skull Base Fellows course for neurosurgery fellows and recent neurosurgery residency graduates. The course included lectures and hands-on cadaver dissections, supervised by neurosurgeons and ENT surgeons who demonstrated posterolateral transtemporal surgical approaches, along with endoscopic endonasal anatomy and surgical options.

Participants from the 2025 CNS Skull Base fellows course.

In October, University Hospitals welcomed Zoher Ghogawala, MD, Chair of Neurosurgery at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, Mass. Dr. Ghogawala was honored as the Frank E. Nulsen, MD, Visiting Professor by the UH Department of Neurological Surgery. He presented a lecture titled Clinical Trials, Registries, and AI: What is the Future of Spine Care in the United States?

“Welcoming our esteemed Nulsen Visiting Professors each year celebrates the memory of Dr. Frank Nulsen, a pioneering neurosurgeon and chairman of our department for decades,” Dr. Bambakidis says.

For more information, contact Dr. Bambakidis at Nicholas.Bambakidis2@UHhospitals.org.

Nicholas C. Bambakidis, MD

Contributing Expert:
Nicholas C. Bambakidis, MD
Vice President and Director
University Hospitals Neurological Institute
Harvey Huntington Brown, Jr. Chair in Neurosurgery
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Professor
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine