Department of Neurosurgery

Phillip Tibbs, M.D.
Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery
Professor of Neurosurgery and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Director, The Spine Center
Director, Neurosurgery Residency Program

• 1973 University of Kentucky College of Medicine graduate
• 1979, completed neurosurgical residency training, University of Kentucky
• Published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and abstracts
• Interests include spinal disorders
• Certified with the American Board of Neurological Surgeons

Byron Young, M.D.
Professor of Neurosurgery
Director of Kentucky Neuroscience Institute

• 1965 University of Kentucky College of Medicine graduate
• 1965-1971, Residency training at Vanderbilt University
• 1974 Faculty member at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine
• Published over 200 peer-reviewed papers
• Interests include movement disorders, brain tumors, and neurotrauma
• NIH Support for Head Injury Research
• Member of the Academy of Neurological Surgeons, Society of Neurological Surgery, Neurosurgical Society of America, and the American Surgical Association

Thomas Pittman, M.D.
Professor of Neurosurgery
Specializing in Pediatric Neurological Surgery

• Graduated from the Albany Medical College and completed residency training at the St. Louis University Hospital
• Published over 40 peer-reviewed articles
• Interests include pediatric neurosurgery
• Certified with the American Board of Neurological Surgeons

Karin Swartz, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery
Chief of Neurosurgery at the Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center

• 1996 Graduate of Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago
• 1996-2003, completed neurological residency training at the University of Wisconsin
• 2003-2004, fellowship training at the Institute for Spinal Disorders, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Research interests in various spinal cord injury models and therapies
• Interests in spinal cord tumors, artificial disk technologies, kyphoplasty/vertebroplasty, peripheral nerve lesions, and phakomatoses

Robert Owen, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery

• 1999 graduate of University of Indiana School of Medicine
• 1999-2005, completed neurosurgical residency training at the University of Kentucky
• 2005-2006, pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at the Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana
• Interests include pediatric neurosurgery

Christian N. Ramsey, III, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery

• 2001 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine
• 2001-2007, completed neurosurgical residency training at the University of Kentucky
• Interests include vascular and spinal cord disorders

Curtis Given, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery

• 1996 graduate of Marshall University School of Medicine
• 1996-2000 completed diagnostic radiology residency at the University of Kentucky
• 2000-2002 neuroradiology fellowship at Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Special interests in endovascular therapy of intracranial aneurysms, AVMs, ischemic disease, vertebroplasty, MR spectroscopy, and perfusion imaging

Brenda Fahy, M.D., F.C.C.P., F.C.C.M.
Professor of Anesthesiology and Neurosurgery

• Attended Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Completed residency training at the University of Maryland, Baltimore
• 2005-2008, Best Doctors in America, Anesthesiology
• Certified with the American Board of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine Recertification
• Special interests are in neurocritical care

Eugene Hessel, M.D.
Professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery

• Completed anesthesiology residency training at the University of Washington, Seattle
• Certified with the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, the American Board of Anesthesiology, and the American Society of Echocardiography

William R. Markesbery M.D.
Professor of Pathology, Neurology and Neurosurgery

• 1964 graduate University of Kentucky College of Medicine
• Completed his residency in Neurology at the Neurological Institute of Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, New York
• 1969 fellowship in neuropathology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, New York
• Director of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
• Interests include Alzheimer’s research

• 1976 received his PhD in neuropharmacology from Cornell University
• 2002 appointed Director of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center
• Interests include pathophysiology of acute neurological injury, particularly the role of oxygen mechanisms, and the design and development of antioxidant neuroprotective drugs
• Ongoing research at the University of Kentucky is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Kentucky Spinal Cord & Head Injury Research Trust

Roy Patchell, M.D.
Professor of Neuro-Oncology

• 1979 Graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine
• 1980 Internship in Internal Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
• 1980-1983 Residency in Neurology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital
• 1983-1985 Clinical Fellow in Neurology, New York Hospital-Cornell
• 1983-1985 Fellow in Neuro-Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York
• Published over 100 peer-reviewed articles
• Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology