Neurosurgery Research

Researchers in the department of neurosurgery are bridging clinical and basic neurosciences by cross-collaborating with the Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute and the Brown Institute for Brain Science. The combined strengths and resources of these institutions, along with counterparts at other affiliated and regional hospitals, are creating opportunities for discovery and for exploring new frontiers within neuroscience and neurosurgery.

Our research includes internationally recognized, pioneering work on issues including epilepsy, pain management, Alzheimer’s disease and deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease. As the principal teaching hospital of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, our physicians are also faculty members.

Our researchers are currently exploring the use of microelectrode arrays in epilepsy, the use of light to treat neurological disease, intraoperative cognitive studies during deep brain stimulation and a clinical trial on the use of deep brain stimulation to improve memory in Alzheimer’s patients.

The neurosurgery research laboratory complex at Rhode Island Hospital includes laboratories dedicated to studies of cerebrospinal fluid and brain trauma/spinal cord injury research, cognitive neuroscience and pain.