Department of Neurosurgery

David Baskin, M.D.

Program Director Neurosurgery Residency Training Program
Methodist Neurological Institute

Professor of Neurological Surgery
Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Director
Methodist Kenneth R. Peak Brain & Tumor Treatment Center

Dr. Baskin graduated from Swarthmore College with high honors in the Division of Natural Sciences and Engineering. He attended the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, where he graduated first in his class, and received the James Felt Prize for the highest overall performance during the four years of medical school training.

He then received his surgical and neurosurgical training at the University of California in San Francisco. Dr. Baskin began his research career while still a resident at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). In 1982, he spent a year as a Research Associate at the University of Capetown Medical School and Groote Schuur Hospital in Capetown, South Africa. The following year, Dr. Baskin returned to UCSF and served as a Research Associate in the Hormone Research Laboratory. Based on novel research demonstrating ways to restore brain function, he won the American Academy of Neurosurgery Award for the best research performed by a neurosurgery resident.

After completing his residency, Dr. Baskin was appointed as Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery and Assistant Professor of the Center for Biotechnology at Baylor College of Medicine, with a joint appointment as Chief of Neurological Surgery at the VA Hospital. In 1994 he was promoted to Professor at Baylor College of Medicine in the departments of Neurosurgery and Anesthesiology, positions he held until 2005 when his academic career transitioned to Methodist.

Dr. Baskin has an active practice specializing in brain and spinal tumors and has operated on more than 10,000 patients in his career. He is a pioneer in pituitary surgery having performed over 3,400 minimally invasive surgeries in the skull base. He also performs surgery for other brain and spinal tumors including skull base tumors, meningioma, vestibular schwannomas, and primary and metatstatic brain tumors.

Dr. Baskin has received many national and international honors and awards, and is a member of numerous local, state, national, and international medical societies. He has served as principal investigator on numerous research projects funded by private, state and federal sources, resulting in multiple patents and patent applications. He has also chaired or served on review panels and advisory councils for private, state and federal agencies. He is on a special advisory panel for the National Aeuronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to study and treat increased intracranial pressure in space, and has operated on several astronauts who have been able to return to fly additional missions in space after surgery. He is one of the few chosen civilian doctors on the medical staff at the Johnson Space Center. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and has been for many years, and is consistently on the list of Best Doctors in America. He recently received an award for being on of the nations Most Compassionate Doctors.

Dr. Baskin has published over 110 scientific manuscripts and book chapters and currently serves as Vice Chairman and Residency Program Director in The Department of Neurosurgery, as well as Professor of Neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, and Research Professor at the University of Houston in both the Cullen College of Engineering's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the School of Pharmacy.

 View Dr. Baskin’s complete CV

Clinical Expertise:

• Pituitary tumors
• Skull base tumors
• Brain and spinal cord tumors
• Stereotactic radiosurgery
• Endoscopy
• Microsurgery of the brain and spine

Research Interests:

• Quantification of DNA damage following cell injury
• Targeted chemotherapy of cancer
• Autism spectrum disorder

Education and Training:

• B.A., Swarthmore College
• M.D., Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
• Intern in Surgery and Residency in Neurosurgery, University of California
• Fellowships, University of California, and University of Capetown, South Africa

Recent Publications:

• Kasliwal MK, Baskin DS, Traynelis VC. Failure of Porous Tantalum Cervical Interbody Fusion Devices: Two-Year Results from a Prospective, Randomized, Multi-Center, Clinical Study, Journal of Spinal Disorders, 2011, December 21.
• Sharpe, MA., Marcano, DC, Berlin, JM., Widmayer, MA., Baskin, DS., and Tour, J, Antibody-targeted Nanovectors for the Treatment of Brain Cancers, ACS Nano, 6(4):3114-20, 2012
• Sharpe M, Livingston, A, and Baskin, DS, Thimerosal-Derived Ethyl Mercury is a Mitochondrial Toxin in Human Astrocytes: Organomercury Causes Oxidation and Breakage of mtDNA via Fenton Chemistry, Journal of Toxicology, Volume 2012 (2012), Aricle ID 373678, doi:10.1155/2012/373678