AANS/CNS Joint Section on Tumors

Dr. Hadjipanayis is the L. Dade Lunsford Professor of Neurological Surgery and serves as the Executive Vice-Chairman for the Dept. of Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Dr. Hadjipanayis is the director of the UPMC Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery and also serves as co-director of the UPMC Brain Tumor Program. Dr. Hadjipanayis directs the Brain Tumor Nanotechnology Laboratory at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center where his NIH-funded research focuses on malignant brain tumor treatments. He began his two-year term as the Chair of the AANS/CNS Tumor Section in 2024 and has been an active member of the Tumor Section for over 15 years serving in multiple leadership roles. In addition to his laboratory research, he is very interested in the introduction of novel technologies into the operating room that may permit more effective diagnosis and resection of brain tumors. Dr. Hadjipanayis was the first in the US to perform fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) utilizing 5-ALA (Gleolan) and helped lead the FDA approval of Gleolan for glioma surgery in June 2017. In 2024, Dr. Hadjipanayis launched the first US 5-ALA intraoperative photodynamic therapy (PDT) clinical trial for glioblastoma patients utilizing the new drug Pentalafen. He is actively involved with resident mentorship and research and is the co-PI on the NIH UE5 Neurology, Neurosurgery, Neuropathology Pittsburgh Research Education Program (N3 PREP). He also currently serves as the Chair of the Research subcommittee for the Society of Neurological Surgeons (SNS) and is an elected member of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery and the Neurosurgical Society of America.