Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, has named Gregory J. Zipfel, MD, head of the Department of Neurosurgery.
Dr. Zipfel, a professor and vice chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, is an expert on aneurysms and other disorders of blood vessels in the brain and will also become neurosurgeon-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
He succeeds Ralph G. Dacey Jr., MD, who is noted for his accomplishments in cerebrovascular research, contributions to the clinical practice of neurosurgery and his leadership in resident training and education.
Dr. Zipfel's surgical practice is focused on cerebrovascular disease and complex tumors that grow near the base of the skull.
He is also a professor of neurology and his laboratory research is focused on understanding how aneurysm ruptures cause brain injury.
Dr. Zipfel has helped identify some of the molecular and cellular features linked with brain injury after sudden rupture of aneurysms. This work has led to the discovery of several experimental drugs for reducing brain injury after aneurysm rupture, two of which are being tested in clinical trials.
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