Emory Healthcare neurosurgeon Nelson M. Oyesiku, MD, PhD, FACS, has been awarded the inaugural Daniel Louis Barrow Endowed Chair.
Oyesiku is professor, vice chair and director of the residency program in the Department of Neurosurgery in the Emory University School of Medicine and an internationally recognized pituitary surgeon. He serves as co-director of the Emory Pituitary Center, a world-renowned center offering a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of pituitary tumors and other conditions related to the pituitary gland.
During his 27-year career, Oyesiku has made significant contributions to the field. He performed the first 3D endoscopic surgery for pituitary tumor resection in Georgia and has operated on more than 3,000 pituitary tumors. He has a tumor bank containing approximately 1,000 pituitary specimens and a clinical database that catalogues clinical and molecular information across the spectrum of pituitary tumors. His innovative research in the molecular biology and imaging of pituitary tumors has expanded our understanding of these tumors.
Oyesiku serves as editor-in-chief of Neurosurgery, the highest impact peer-reviewed neurosurgical journal in the world; and editor-in-chief of Operative Neurosurgery and Neurosurgery Open. In 2019, he was elected president of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies and is currently holding that position.
In 2019, Oyesiku was confirmed with the honorary chieftaincy title of B’aasegun Egba in his home country of Nigeria. The esteemed title was bestowed on him for his prominent career achievements and service as a surgeon.
Oyesiku received his medical degree from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, and Master of Science from the University of London, UK. He then emigrated to the United States for neurosurgical training, completing his residency and PhD (Neuroscience) at Emory University.
The newly created endowed chair is named in honor of Daniel L. Barrow, MD, the Pamela Rollins chair and professor of the Emory University Department of Neurosurgery and chief of neurosurgery service at Emory Healthcare.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to everyone whose generosity supported the creation of this new chair, particularly David and Terri Luck and Louis and Emily Shapiro. These grateful patients and their families provided the impetus for the endowed chair and their magnanimous gift was complemented by the generosity of many of my current and former colleagues and trainees,” says Barrow. “Having my colleague and dear friend Nelson Oyesiku serve as the first holder is a well-deserved accomplishment, as he has set a high bar in the field of pituitary surgery and is a leader in medical education helping train the next generation of neurosurgeons.”
Through Barrow’s leadership as the chair of Emory Neurosurgery for more than 25 years, the department has seen significant growth, including the development of the first dedicated intensive care unit for neurosurgical patients in Georgia and the creation and development of the multidisciplinary Emory MBNA Stroke Center.