Dr. David Asuzu is a highly trained neurosurgeon who is dedicated to providing compassionate and personalized care for patients with neurological disorders. Dr. Asuzu has specialized fellowship training both in minimally invasive and reconstructive spine surgery, as well as in neurosurgical oncology. His breath of practice includes degenerative spine disease including revision surgery, herniated discs, primary and metastatic spine and spinal cord tumors, Chiari malformation, Scheuermann’s kyphosis, congenital and acquired scoliosis, brain and spine trauma, and pain-alleviating treatment using spinal cord stimulators or intrathecal pumps. Dr. Asuzu is an innovator and is involved in the development of advanced surgical tools. He is also trained to use cutting-edge surgical techniques including minimally-invasive approaches, robotic-assisted surgery, augmented reality and AI-based surgical navigation. Dr. Asuzu has a longstanding commitment to community service, and co-founded the nonprofit Raphas Hands to provide medical care to underserved communities.

Training:

Dr. Asuzu began his undergraduate training at the University of Nigeria. He transferred to Iowa State University where he completed an undergraduate degree with honors in Mechanical Engineering, winning a William Bathie academic achievement scholarship. He obtained a PhD in Physiology and Biomedical Engineering at the Mayo Clinic focusing on epigenetic regulation of stem cell senescence in cancer and aging. He won an AAAS/Science Award for Excellence in Science and a NGEM Young Investigator award. He obtained his medical degree from Yale University where he received a Lowe Research Funds Award and a Yale Farr Scholarship for excellence in research. He also completed an MPH in quantitative methods from Harvard University for which he won a G. Milton Shy Award for achievements in research. He completed his neurological residency at the joint National Institutes of Health – University of Virginia program, including an enfolded fellowship in minimally invasive and reconstructive spine surgery at the University of Virginia. His received further specialized fellowship training in neurosurgical oncology at Stanford University.

Research:

Dr. Asuzu’s translational research laboratory focuses on aging-related epigenetic changes in skeletal stem cells underlying degenerative spine disease, and on molecular drivers of primary and metastatic CNS tumors. His laboratory projects range from basic molecular studies and translational investigations in preclinical models to human clinical trials and quantitative studies. His research has been funded by an NIH F31 award, an NINDS CTI grant, an inaugural Society of Neurological Surgeons Neurosurgeon-Scientist Training Program grant, and two competitive NIH LRP grants. He has been awarded a CNS Joint Section Tumors Neuro-Oncology Trainee Award, an AANS Integra Foundation Award, two NSV Jane-Nugent Awards for Basic Science, and a Stryker Central Nervous System Tumor Award. Dr. Asuzu is also an innovator and is involved in or co-founded several companies focusing on innovative spine techniques, novel anti-cancer agents and stem cell regeneration. He previously won a Yale Venture Creation Program award, a Google Developers Startup Launch award, and a Facebook (Meta) FbStart award.