Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery Babacar Cisse, M.D., Ph.D., has been selected as the 2018-19 Getch Scholar by the National Institute for Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). The award was established in 2015 to support the research efforts of promising neurosurgeon-scientists.
The Getch Scholar Award provides a grant of $200,000 over two years to help launch a dual clinical-research career for a young neurosurgeon the NINDS and CNS identify as being an innovator in research and investigation. The first winner was Brian Dlouhy, M.D., assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Iowa, a specialist in pediatric epilepsy surgery whose research investigates how the forebrain affects breathing during seizures.
Dr. Cisse's research, which is focused on how brain tumors develop, grow, and become malignant, was also recently selected by the Sackler Endowment Committee to receive the inaugural Sackler Brain and Spine Institute Research Grant.
Dr. Cisse is the principal investigator of a research laboratory that studies the interactions between the immune system and brain tumors. He is working towards identifying therapeutic targets within the tumor and developing ways to target them.
Prior to joining the faculty at the Weill Cornell Medicine Brain and Spine Center, Dr. Cisse completed his residency and chief residency in neurological surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine and at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is a graduate of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York, where he earned his medical degree and Ph.D. with Distinction.
