About
Personal Statement
I attended New York City public schools, both in Queens near NewYork-Presbyterian Queens and in Manhattan next door to NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell, so taking on the role of Chief of Neurological Surgery at NYP Queens is a return to my roots. My interest in the brain and the nervous system in general was sparked by an introductory neuroscience class I took as a freshman in college and was solidified by taking advanced courses and working in a research laboratory my sophomore through senior years. Before college I had aspired to be a doctor who cared for patients and I integrated all my interests by earning a combined MD/PhD degree. My research career has been extremely gratifying, but taking care of patients has been even more so. On a daily basis I have the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life by relieving pain and suffering, restoring lost neurologic function, providing reassurance that things will improve, or offering comfort when things may not. It is an honor and a privilege to have patients and their families put their faith and trust in my medical knowledge and surgical skills, and as a result I continuously strive to achieve the best possible outcomes.
Specialties and Expertise
Specialties
- Neurological Surgery
- Neuro-Oncology
- Spine Surgery
Expertise
- Brain Tumors
- Primary Brain Cancer
- Metastatic Brain Cancer
- Degenerative Spine Disease
- Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
- Scoliosis
- Herniated Disc
- Spinal Fusion
- Benign Brain Tumor
- Brain Surgery
- Brain Tumor Surgery
- Gamma Knife Radiosurgery
Biography
Dr. John Park is the Chief of the Department of Neurological Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens. A board-certified and award-winning neurosurgeon, Dr. Park has particular expertise in the treatment of brain and spinal tumors and degenerative disorders of the cervical and lumbar spine. While at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Dr. Park developed a national reputation for the surgical treatment of low-grade gliomas and recurrent malignant gliomas and served as the principal neurosurgeon for patients enrolled in NCI clinical trials for malignant gliomas. Before joining the faculty at the Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center, Dr. Park founded and served as the medical director of the multidisciplinary Brain and Spinal Tumor Program at Cottage Health in Santa Barbara, now the largest such program on the central coast of California. While in Santa Barbara, he also had an active practice providing neurosurgical treatment for patients with neck and low back pain and other disorders of the spine.
Dr. Park received his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude with honors, from Brown University and earned his MD and PhD degrees at Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency training at Harvard at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital and completed a research fellowship at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He received advanced spine training at Cleveland Clinic.
Research
Honors and Awards
Honors and Awards
In recognition of his research, Dr. Park has received awards from the Joint
Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery of the AANS and CNS, the American Brain Tumor
Association, the New England Cancer Society, the Neurosurgery Research and
Education Foundation, the NIH, and the Joint Section on Tumors of the AANS and
CNS.
Learn more
Credentials
Board Certifications
- American Board of Neurological Surgery
Clinical and Academic Positions
- Assistant Attending Neurological Surgeon - NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
- Attending Neurological Surgeon - NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
- Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery - Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
Education and Training
- M.D., Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, 1992
- Sc.B., Brown University, 1985
Insurance
Insurance Plans Accepted
The following represents most of the managed care plans accepted by this doctor. If your insurance carrier does not appear here please contact the doctor’s office as they may have individual contracts not included on this site.
* indicates this doctor is no longer accepting new patients with this insurance plan.
- AETNA - HMO
- AETNA - Medicare
- AETNA - PPO
- Aetna Weill Cornell Employee Managed Care Plan
- Aetna Weill Cornell Employee PPO Plan
- Aetna-NYP - EPO/POS
- Affinity Access
- Affinity Health Plan
- AgeWell New York
- Amida Care
- CIGNA
- Emblem Select Care
- Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield - Blue Access
- Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield - Blue Connection
- Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield - EPO
- Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield - HMO
- Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield - Mediblue (Senior)
- Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield - PPO
- Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield HealthPlus
- Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield HealthPlus - CHP
- Fidelis Care
- GHI - CBP
- Health First
- Health Insurance Plan of NY (HIP)
- Health Insurance Plan of NY (HIP) - Medicaid
- Health Insurance Plan of NY (HIP) - Medicare
- Oxford Health Plans - Freedom
- Oxford Health Plans - Liberty
- Oxford Health Plans - Medicare Advantage
- Oxford Health Plans - Metro/Core/Charter
- Rockefeller University - Trustmark
- United Empire
- United Healthcare
- United Healthcare - Community Plan
- United Healthcare - Medicare
- United Healthcare Compass
- VNSNY CHOICE - HMO
- VNSNY CHOICE - Medicare
- WellCare of NY
- WorldWide Medical
Locations and Appointments
External Relationships
External Relationships
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.