Female physicians are increasingly pursuing careers in neurosurgery, a historically male-dominated field. Many female patients are eager to receive care from women neurosurgeons and report feeling more comfortable due to their shared gender experience.
As part of their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative, Castle Connolly has released their 2023 list of Exceptional Women in Medicine, which honors 8,400 doctors across 77 specialties and all 50 states.
Below are 51 extraordinary women physicians specializing in neurosurgery.
To compile this list, Castle Connolly accepted nominations from physicians’ peers and then assessed each physician based on criteria such as qualifications, education, leadership appointments, outcomes data and more.
Contact Anna Falvey at afalvey@beckershealthcare.com with any questions regarding this list.
Alexandra J. Golby, MD. Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston).
Laurie Ackerman, MD. Riley Hospital for Children (Indianapolis).
Mina Foroohar, MD. Northwest Neurosurgery Institute (Arlington Heights, Ill.).
Erica F. Bisson, MD. Clinical Neurosciences Center (Salt Lake City).
Aviva Abosch, MD, PhD. Neurosurgery Clinic at Clarkson Doctors North (Omaha, Neb.).
Jill W. Donaldson, MD. Community Physician Network (Indianapolis).
Kathryn M. Beauchamp, MD. Denver (Colo.) Health.
Kathryn Lois Holloway, MD. VCU Health (Richmond, Va.).
Catherine A. Mazzola, MD. New Jersey Pediatric Neuroscience Institute (Morristown, N.J.).
Petra M. Klinge, MD, PhD. Rhode Island Hospital (Providence, R.I.).
Amy Lee, MD. Seattle Children's Hospital.
Grace K. Mandigo, MD. Columbia Neurosurgery (New York City).
Hongyan Zou, MD, PhD. Mount Sinai (New York City).
Ronit Gilad, MD. Northwell Health Physician Partners (New York City).
Hulda B. Magnadottir, MD. Upper Valley Neurology Neurosurgery (Lebanon, N.H.).
Ellen L. Air, MD. Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit).
Tsulee Chen, MD. Akron (Ohio) Children's Hospital.
Stephanie Greene, MD. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Karin S. Bierbrauer, MD. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Linda M. Liau, MD, PhD. UCLA Health (Los Angeles).
Stacey C. Quintero Wolfe, MD. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist (Winston-Salem, N.C.).
Simone A. Betchen, MD. Maimonides Medical Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
Michele M. Johnson, MD. Atlanta Brain and Spine Care.
Judy Huang, MD. Johns Hopkins Medicine (Baltimore).
Karin Muraszko, MD. Mott Children's Hospital (Ann Arbor, Mich.).
Nirit Weiss, MD. Mount Sinai (New York City).
Viviane Tabar, MD. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York City).
Jodi L. Smith, MD, PhD. Goodman Campbell Brain & Spine (Indianapolis).
Rebecca P. Brightman, MD. OhioHealth Physician Group (Columbus, Ohio).
Kristen O. Riley, MD. UAB Hospital (Birmingham, Ala.).
Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, MD. UH Cleveland Medical Center.
Jamie L. Baisden, MD. Froedtert Hospital (Milwaukee).
Rosemaria Gennuso, MD. Pediatric Specialists of Texas (San Antonio).
Andrea F. Douglas, MD. Stamford (Conn.) Health Medical Group.
Amy B. Heimberger, MD, PhD. Northwestern Medicine (Chicago).
Dorothea Altschul, MD. Neurosurgeons of New Jersey (Ridgewood, N.J.).
Ann M. Ritter, MD. VCU Health (Richmond, Va.).
Marcella A. Madera, MD. Austin (Texas) Integrative Spine.
Robin M. Bowman, MD. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
Francesca D. Tekula, MD. Central Indiana Orthopedics (Muncie, Ind.).
Virany Huynh Hillard, MD. White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital Physician Associates.
Jennifer M. Strahle, MD. Washington University Physicians (St. Louis).
Carrie R. Muh, MD. Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla, N.Y.).
Stavropoula I. Tjoumakaris, MD. Jefferson Health (Philadelphia).
Lynn M. Bartl, MD. Aurora Neurological Surgery (Summit, Wis.).
Lissa C. Baird, MD. Boston Children's Hospital.
Heather Stevens Spader, MD. UNM Health (Albuquerque, N.M.).
Analiz Rodriguez, MD, PhD. UAMS Neurosurgery Clinic (Little Rock, Ark.).
Erika A. Petersen, MD. UAMS Neurosurgery Clinic (Little Rock, Ark.).
Zarina S. Ali, MD. Penn Medicine (Philadelphia).
Soriaya Motivala, MD. Northwell Health Physician Partners Neurosurgery (Staten Island, N.Y.).