Nader Sanai, MD

Chief, Neurosurgical Oncology
Director, Ivy Brain Tumor Center

• (602) 406-3181
• Fax: (602) 406-6110

Ivy Brain Tumor Center

Accepting New Patients

Nader Sanai, MD, is the J.N. Harber Professor of Neurological Surgery and also holds the Francis & Dionne Najafi Chair in Neurosurgical Oncology at Barrow Neurological Institute. As an internationally recognized brain tumor surgeon, his specialty clinical practice is devoted entirely to patients with benign and malignant brain tumors, particularly those in high-risk areas. He is a world expert in using brain mapping techniques to identify and preserve areas of motor, sensory, and language function during surgery. As one of the nation’s highest volume neurosurgical oncologists, Dr. Sanai was elected, in 2016, as the youngest member of the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons, the most respected academic organization in neurosurgery.

As director of the Ivy Brain Tumor Center, Dr. Sanai oversees all brain tumor research at Barrow Neurological Institute. The Ivy Center includes over 50 scientists, clinicians, and clinical trial specialists and is a world leader in designing experimental treatments for brain cancer. Its precision medicine drug development program pioneered the use of Phase 0 clinical trials to accelerate new drug discovery for incurable brain tumors.

Dr. Sanai’s brain tumor research efforts are funded by over a dozen external granting agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation. Dr. Sanai is one of only a handful of neurosurgeons in the nation serving as the principal investigator for multiple NIH R01 grants. Collectively, Dr. Sanai’s published research has led to over 15,000 total citations and an h index of 47 – one of the highest for an academic neurosurgeon in the United States, where the median for a department chair is 22.

Please call (602) 406-3181 to request an appointment with Dr. Sanai.