About Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD, FACS, FAANS
Dr. Samadani has an international reputation as a leader in the neurotrauma field, and as a vocal advocate for equitable access to early complex neurosurgical care.
Dr. Samadani moved to Minneapolis in 2015 and has performed many high-profile neurosurgical cases. She repaired the broken spine of X-games champion athlete Brad Baker (name used with permission) when he was paralyzed during a training run accident. Baker has gone on to recover sensation and some movement in his legs. He was able to stand at his wedding 3 years after being paralyzed.
She also performed a 28-hour surgery on a 15-year-old girl with 5 spinal cord tumors. The patient remains tumor-free now more than 50 months after surgery.
Dr. Samadani performed epidural spinal cord implantation surgery as part of a clinical trial that attempts to reverse paralysis and other chronic effects of injury after damage to the spinal cord. Four of the first 7 patients in the trial have progressed from being completely paralyzed to having the ability to move their legs even after the stimulator has been turned off.
She has been named to “Top Doctor” lists multiple times and in 2018 she was on the cover of Minneapolis St Paul magazine with the byline “The Doctor Will Save You Now.” In 2018 she also was awarded the “Courageous Woman in Healthcare” award by the Women’s Health Leadership Trust.
Dr. Samadani runs an active research laboratory as an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Minnesota with a graduate faculty appointment in Neuroscience and is currently mentoring 4 graduate students. Her research focuses on developing objective measures for the injury that enable better recognition and more equitable care for what is often called an "invisible injury". She is also an attending neurosurgeon at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center and founder of the neurodiagnostic start-up Oculogica Inc, which has developed the first baseline free concussion diagnostic cleared for marketing approval by the FDA. She holds multiple patents related to brain injury, its treatment, and its consequences. She has been named one of the “Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company magazine.
She is on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons Joint Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care and served as Scientific Program Chair for their meeting in conjunction with the National Neurotrauma Society from 2014-7. She also served as Chair of the Board of ThinkFirst Foundation from 2019 to 2021. She is past Chair of the Minnesota State Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Program and a Past-President of Women in Neurosurgery. She serves on the permanent council of the G4 Alliance which advocates for surgical care for neglected patients.
She has received more than six million dollars in research grants from national and international competitive funding agencies to study diagnostics, risks, outcomes, and treatments for brain and spinal cord injury. She has been funded by the United States Veterans Administration, Department of Defense, National Space and Biomedical Research Institute, Abbott Diagnostic Laboratories, American College of Surgeons, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Thrasher Research Fund, Integra, the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, and several other organizations.
In addition, her research laboratory has been the recipient of several major philanthropic gifts from local families in the Twin Cities area. The family of Charlene Barron, an ironman triathlete who sustained and died from a devastating brain injury during a training ride, has held an annual run 5K run to benefit the Samadani lab. The friends and family of celebrated athlete and lawyer J. Aron Allen have held a golf tournament to raise funds for brain injury prevention and research. Philanthropists James and Patricia Andersen have also supported her work.
Dr. Samadani completed neurosurgical residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and was awarded the highly prestigious Van Wagenen fellowship to perform research in Goettingen, Germany after her residency.
She is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgeons and has twice served as an examiner for their certification exams. She is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Her research on brain injury has been discussed in the New York Times, LeMonde, LeFigaro, Wired, Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, and Minneapolis Star Tribune as well as numerous other media sources. She has been a speaker at TedMed, the North American Brain Injury Society, National Neurotrauma Society, American Association of Neurological Surgeons meetings, and multiple other conferences. She has published 70 peer-reviewed scientific papers and an additional 30 reviews and chapters including in the Journal of Neurotrauma, JAMA Neurology, Journal of Neurosurgery, and the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Samadani lectures nationally on the topic of risk versus benefit of contact sports and chronic effects of neurotrauma and served as an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant to the National Football League from 2015 to 2018.
Her clinical office is located at the Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology.
Education
Dr. Samadani graduated with a Doctor of Medicine from University of Illinois Chicago, with a Doctor of Philosophy from University of Illinois Chicago, from Universität Medicine Göttingen, and from University of Pennsylvania. Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD, FACS, FAANS earned degrees of a Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and Fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Licenses
Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD, FACS, FAANS has been registered with the National Provider Identifier database since December 11, 2006, and her NPI number is 1407916703. Dr. Samadani certified her NPI information on 08/23/2021.
Associations
Dr. Uzma Samadani is a member of:
- Global Alliance for Surgical, Obstetric, Trauma and Anaesthesia Care (The G4 Alliance)
- American Board of Neurological Surgery
- American College of Surgeons
- Congress of Neurological Surgeons
- American Association of Neurological Surgeons
Book an Appointment
Dr. Uzma Samadani is a verified neurosurgeon on Vitadox.com and currently accepts new patient appointments.
To schedule an appointment with Dr. Uzma Samadani, please call (320) 252-5131.
