Duke neurosurgeon Isaac Karikari, MD, received the Excellence in Professionalism Award at the Duke University School of Medicine’s spring 2018 faculty meeting. The award recognizes faculty members who exemplify professionalism and promote such values as honesty, respect, integrity, inclusion, empathy, and compassion.
Karikari is a spine surgeon with a special interest in treating scoliosis and other spine conditions, including spinal stenosis, herniated disc, spondylosis and spondylolisthesis. He completed his medical degree and residency at Duke, and a spinal deformity fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. He has had an early prolific research career, with over 100 peer-reviewed articles in neurosurgery.
As a faculty member in the Duke School of Medicine, Karikari is passionate about teaching residents and fellows. He gives much credit for his accomplishments to his own mentors, including Drs. Allan Friedman, Brenda Armstrong, and Lawrence Lenke, and strives to emulate those relationships with his trainees.
He was born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, immigrating to the United States with his family as a teenager. He travels to Ghana twice a year to provide surgical care for underprivileged children with complex spinal conditions. He has a wife, Precious, and two sons, Kingston and Zion.