I am honored to be the first Chairman of the Department of Neurosciences at MetroHealth. There is an impressive legacy in the field of neurosciences here.

Dr. Robert White led the Division of Neurosurgery for many years and created a center of excellence, amassing a world-class faculty that was sought out by many. He built a strong clinical division, yet continued clinical and basic science research. He became world-renowned along with MetroHealth. It is on Dr. White's shoulders that we are building this new department.

My hope for the new department is to continue the excellent clinical programs already established at MetroHealth and build new and exciting ones. To that end we have recruited new faculty to build a functional neurosurgery program. This includes the surgical treatment of movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, chronic pain conditions and spasticity.

We have also established a spinal cord injury laboratory, staffed by a renowned researcher from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He will conduct translational research focusing on spinal cord injury. Our aim is to bring innovation and potential effective treatments to human trial.

I am excited to be part of MetroHealth and its mission. Our existing faculty are all experts in their fields: spine and cranial trauma, complex and minimally invasive spine surgery, neurooncolgy including minimally invasive approaches to the skull base, cerebrovascular care and pediatrics. Our addition of functional neurosurgery completes our areas of excellence.

We will continue to work closely with existing departments at MetroHealth to build regions of collaborative care in the neurosciences.

Michael P. Steinmetz, MD
Chair, MetroHealth Department of Neurosciences
Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine