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Ibrahim Hussain, M.D.

Neurological Surgery

Locations and Appointments

Insurances Accepted

Please contact the doctor's office to verify that your insurance is accepted.

  • HMO
  • Medicare
  • PPO
  • EPO/POS
  • CHP
  • Blue Access
  • Blue Connection
  • EPO
  • HMO
  • Mediblue (Senior)
  • PPO
  • CBP
  • Medicaid
  • Medicare
  • Freedom
  • Liberty
  • Medicare Advantage
  • Metro/Core/Charter
  • Community Plan
  • Medicare
  • HMO
  • Medicare
Personal Statement

I strive to provide compassionate and comprehensive care to my patients. I work with them and their families to provide the optimal solution to medical problems, both inside and outside the operating room. I'm proud to collaborate with the internationally recognized faculty at NewYork-Presbyterian Och Spine/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where I work within a multi-specialist team that includes pain management doctors, neurologists, rehab doctors, physical therapists, oncologists, endocrinologists, and nutritionists to provide a safe, timely, and focused treatment plan custom-designed for each patient. 

Biographical Info

Dr. Ibrahim Hussain is an accomplished neurosurgeon with advanced fellowship training in endoscopic, minimally invasive, and complex reconstructive spine surgery. He treats patients with the full spectrum of spinal disorders, including those with disc herniations, spinal stenosis, advanced facet joint arthritis, fractures, spinal cord injury, infections, spinal cord tumors/cysts, metastatic spine tumors, congenital anomalies, craniocervical instability, syrinxes, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, and scoliosis. A significant portion of his practice is devoted to revision surgeries in those who have failed or developed recurrent symptoms after prior spine surgery, and those with peripheral nerve problems including tumors and compressive neuropathies. Having trained with pioneers of neurosurgery at some of the top institutions in the world, Dr. Hussain both uses and researches the development of state-of-the-art intraoperative technologies that aim to make surgeries safer and less invasive, including three-dimensional computer-assisted navigation, endoscopy, robotics, and augmented reality. He has particular experience in performing same-day and “awake” spine surgeries using Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols when appropriate for patients, which aim to get patients home faster, with less pain, with significantly reduced opioid use, and without the negative effects of general anesthesia.

In addition to his expertise for a subset of elite athletic patients with sports-related spinal injuries, Dr. Hussain is nationally recognized for his surgical treatment and research of traumatic brain injury. To this end in 2022, he was officially appointed as the independent neurologic consultant for the New York Giants and participates as a sideline unaffiliated neurologic consultant for the NFL.

Dr. Hussain is also committed to advancing the field of neurosurgery and spine surgery through other avenues. He is actively engaged in biomedical research (more below), and the surgical education and training of Weill Cornell Medical College students, residents, and international fellows. He works with Weill Cornell Medicine Tanzania Neurosurgery Project (founded by Roger Härtl) to advance patient care and research in low- and middle-income nations in sub-Saharan Africa. He has published more than 30 book chapters on novel surgical techniques and disorders in neurosurgical textbooks used by trainees and surgeons around the world. Additionally, Dr. Hussain has been recruited as a surgical consultant by a number of regenerative medicine and biotechnology companies, in order to provide insight and expertise for the innovation of next-generation molecular treatments and medical device engineering in neurosurgery and spinal surgery.

Dr. Hussain received his BA from Rutgers University and his MD from Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society as one of the top medical students in his graduating class. He was awarded the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where he spent a year performing landmark studies on the genome sequencing of pediatric brain tumors in patients with neurofibromatosis. He completed his residency in neurological surgery at the highly competitive combined program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. During his chief resident year, he received the Distinguished Housestaff Award, awarded to those with both outstanding technical skills and compassionate bedside manner in their respective field. This was followed by a minimally invasive and complex spine fellowship at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, which is among the busiest spine centers and Level 1 trauma centers in North America. There he specifically gained further expertise in the management of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

Dr. Hussain is prolific researcher with more than 160 peer-reviewed manuscript and abstract publications. He has been an invited speaker, moderator, and panelist at more than 40 national and international conferences to present his findings and insight, and he has won multiple awards from the American Association of Neurologic Surgeons (AANS) and Congress of Neurologic Surgeons Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves. In 2022, he was named as one of four AO Spine North America Young Investigator Grant Award recipients, given to the most promising surgeons engaged in groundbreaking spine research.

Dr. Hussain collaborates with Dr. Roger Härtl and Dr. Larry Bonassar (in the biomedical engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca) on acellular and stem-cell based therapies for disc regeneration and repair with cervical and lumbar disc disease, which have resulted in several high-impact publications, grants, and awards. He also studies clinical outcomes from minimally invasive surgical techniques and technologies, including the identification of patient-centric and radiographic factors associated with surgical success and failures. These are performed through multi-center study groups to develop algorithms defining optimal patient selection. Finally, Dr. Hussain is also active in spinal oncology research, particularly in patients with metastatic spine disease, to develop comprehensive oncologic surgical/radiation treatment plans and scoring systems aiding in surgical decision making.​

 

Honors and Awards
2022 AANS Annual Meeting – Spine Top Abstracts
2020 Michael L. J. Apuzzo Resident Literature Award for Creativity and Innovation
2019 Weill Cornell Medicine-New York Presbyterian Distinguished Housestaff Award
2019 AANS Medical Student Chapter at Cornell – Distinguished Teaching Award
2018 Stewart B. Dunsker, MD Award- AANS Annual Meeting Top Clinical Spine Abstract
2018 AANS/CNS DSPN Charles Kuntz IV Scholar Award-Top 20 Spinal Disorders Abstract
2017 AANS/CNS DSPN Charles Kuntz IV Scholar Award-Top 20 Spinal Disorders Abstract
2012 Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) – NJMS Chapter
2012 Class of 1985 Scholarship – NJMS Alumni Association
2012 Howard G. Lapsley Memorial Scholarship – Muhlenberg Foundation
2011 Howard G. Lapsley Memorial Scholarship – Muhlenberg Foundation
2011 The Richard E. Pelosi Endowed Scholarship – NJMS Alumni Association
2010 Edna and Howard Alger Memorial Scholarship – NJMS Alumni Association
2010 Doris Duke Research Fellowship Award
2009 Sigma Xi – Scientific Research Society – NJMS Chapter
2008 NJMS-UH Cancer Center Summer Research Fellowship Award
2008 1st Place – NJMS-UH Cancer Center Summer Research Fellowship Presentations
2005 Alpha Epsilon Delta – Pre-medical Honor Society – Rutgers Chapter
Clinical Expertise
Spine Surgery
Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
Scoliosis Surgery
Herniated Disc
Spinal Fracture
Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal Cord Tumor
Malignant Tumor of Spinal Cord
Peripheral Nerve Surgery
Carpal Tunnel Surgery
Acute Herniated Disc
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Artificial Disc Replacement
Back Pain
Low Back Pain
Low Back and Neck Pain
Lower Back Pain
Minimally Invasive Procedures For Back/Neck Pain
Neck and Back Pain
Upper and Middle Back Pain
Benign Tumor of Spinal Cord
Bulging Disc
Cervical Disc Disease
Cervical Disc Herniation
Cervical Herniated Disc
Herniated Disc Surgery
Cervical Discectomy
Endoscopic Discectomy of Cervical Spine
Endoscopic Discectomy of Lumbar Spine
Endoscopic Discectomy of Spine
Endoscopic Lumbar Microdiscectomy
Endoscopic Microdiscectomy of Cervical Spine
Endoscopic Microdiscectomy of Spine
Endoscopic Microdiscectomy of Thoracic Spine
Laminectomy
Laminectomy and Microdiscectomy, Lumbar
Laminectomy and Microdiscectomy, Spine, Lumbar
Laminectomy and Microdiscectomy, Spine, Thoracic or Lumbar
Lumbar Discectomy
Microdiscectomy
Microdiscectomy, Spine, Cervical, Endoscopic
Microdiscectomy, Spine, Thoracic, Endoscopic
Cervical Laminectomy
Endoscopic Laminectomy of Cervical Spine
Laminectomy For Spinal Cord Tumor
Laminectomy and Fusion of Lumbar Spine With Instrumentation
Laminectomy at Multiple Levels
Cervical Spinal Cord Injury
Cervical Spinal Disorders
Cervical Spinal Fusion
Cervical Spinal Stenosis
Degenerative Cervical Spinal Stenosis
Spinal Stenosis In Cervical Region
Spinal Stenosis of Cervical Region
Spinal Stenosis, Cervical Region
Cervical Spine Disease
Cervical Spine Surgery
Cervical Spine Tumor
Cervical Spondylosis
Complex Spinal Surgery
Compression Fracture of Cervical Spine
Compression Fracture of Cervical Vertebra
Compression Fracture of C-Spine
Compression Fracture of Spine
Computer Assisted Surgery
Congenital Kyphosis
Kyphosis
Kyphosis Deformity of Spine
Post-Laminectomy Kyphosis
Deformity
Scoliosis Deformity of Spine
Degenerative Arthritis of Cervical Spine
Degenerative Arthritis of Lumbar Spine
Degenerative Disc Disease
Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis
Endoscopic Laminoforaminotomy of Lumbar Spine
Compression Fracture of Lumbar Vertebra
Herniated Intervertebral Disc of Lumbar Spine
Herniated Lumbar Disc Without Myelopathy
Herniated Lumbar Intervertebral Disc
Epidural Abscess (Embolic) of Spinal Cord
Excision, Neoplasm, Spinal Cord
Foraminotomy
Minimally Invasive Foraminotomy of Cervical Spine
Global Health
Head Trauma
Herniated Cervical Intervertebral Disc
Herniated Intervertebral Disc
Herniated Thoracic Intervertebral Disc
History of Herniated Intervertebral Disc
Intervertebral Disc Herniation
Repair of Herniated Intervertebral Disc
Herniated Vertebral Disc
Image Guided Neurosurgery
Kyphoplasty
Kyphoplasty at Multiple Levels
Kyphoplasty of Cervical Spine
Kyphoplasty of First Lumbar Vertebral Body
Kyphoplasty of L1 and L4 Vertebrae
Kyphoplasty of Lumbar Spine
Kyphoplasty of Lumbar Spine With Fluoroscopic Guidance, Single Level
Kyphoplasty of Lumbar Spine With Imaging Guidance
Kyphoplasty of Lumbar Spine With Imaging Guidance, Single Level
Kyphoplasty of Lumbar Spine at 2 Levels
Kyphoplasty of Lumbar Spine at 3 Levels
Kyphoplasty of Lumbar Spine at 5 Levels
Kyphoplasty of Lumbar Spine at Single Level
Kyphoplasty of Single Level
Kyphoplasty or Vertebroplasty
Decompression of Spinal Cord Tumor
Spinal Tumors
Osteotomy
Prolapsed Cervical Intervertebral Disc
Neuronal and Mixed Neuronal Glial Neoplasm of Spinal Cord
Removal, Neoplasm, Spinal Cord
Spinal Cord Neoplasm
Surgical Removal of Neoplasm of Spinal Cord
Sciatica
Scoliosis
Scoliosis (And Kyphoscoliosis), Idiopathic
Scoliosis of Cervical Spine
Scoliosis of Cervicothoracic Spine
Scoliosis of Lumbar Spine
Scoliosis of Lumbosacral Spine
Scoliosis of Thoracic Spine
Scoliosis, Congenital
Scoliosis, Radiation Induced
Scoliosis/Kyphoscoliosis
Surgical Correction of Scoliosis
Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal and Head Injuries
Arthrodesis
Spinal Arthrodesis
Spinal Arthrodesis and Decompression
Spinal Compression Fracture
Vertebroplasty
Spinal Vascular Malformation
Quadriplegia
Foot Drop
Spine Trauma
Spine Tumors
Spine
Spine Degeneration
Spine Disorder
Languages
English
Education 
  • M.D.
    New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
    2013
  • B.A.
    Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey
    2008
Appointments 
  • Assistant Attending Neurological Surgeon
    NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
  • Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery
    Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University

Relationships and collaborations with for-profit and not-for profit organizations are of vital importance to our faculty because these exchanges of scientific information foster innovation. As experts in their fields, WCM physicians and scientists are sought after by many organizations to consult and educate. WCM and its faculty make this information available to the public, thus creating a transparent environment.

Other Interest: 
3DBio Therapeutics
Johnson & Johnson
OnPoint Surgical, Inc.