Steven Giannotta (Photo/Ricardo Carrasco III)

Steven Giannotta, MD, has been named the Dr. Martin H. Weiss Chair in Neurological Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He serves as chair of Department of Neurological Surgery at the Keck School and is also program director of the school’s Neurosurgery Residency Training Program.

Giannotta is recognized for his work in cerebrovascular disease of the brain and spinal cord, and has surgically treated more than 2,000 intracranial aneurysms. He also has special expertise in surgical approaches to the cranial base, surgically removing more than 800 acoustic neuromas and, along with several colleagues in otolaryngology, developing a team approach to complex cranial base lesions including acoustic neuromas, meningiomas of the cranial base, complex aneurysms that require cranial base approaches and other benign conditions affecting the base of the brain and skull. His current laboratory work, in conjunction with Florence Hofman, PhD, professor of pathology at the Keck School, involves the study of basic cellular and epigenetic mechanisms of human cerebral arteriovenous malformations.

“Dr. Giannotta has been instrumental in creating an environment where our clinician-scientists have the time and resources to conduct leading-edge research in their fields,” said Laura Mosqueda, MD, dean of the Keck School. “As an outstanding researcher in his own right, he continues to make discoveries and develop comprehensive approaches to the gamut of cerebrovascular conditions that are improving outcomes for individuals with a range of neurological conditions. Dr. Giannotta is especially passionate about his work with the USC Acoustic Neuroma Center.”

Giannotta earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan, where he also completed his neurosurgical residency. He has served as chair of the Joint Section of Cerebrovascular Surgery of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and as a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery. He is past-chair of the American Board of Neurological Surgery.

Giannotta has also served on the board of directors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and completed a six-year term on the Residency Review Committee for Neurosurgery (ACGME), the last two as chair of the committee. He is past-president of the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons and has served as vice president of the Society of Neurological Surgeons. He is currently secretary of the Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training for the Society of Neurological Surgeons accrediting neurosurgery fellowship training programs.

The Dr. Martin H. Weiss Chair in Neurological Surgery was established and endowed by the late former USC Trustee William Wrigley III, in honor of Martin Weiss, MD, the former chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the Keck School, who treated his sister Ada Wrigley Schreiner.