Muhammad Abd-El-Barr MD, PhD, has been promoted to the rank of professor in the Duke Department of Neurosurgery. In addition, he has been named vice chair of international affairs and chief of endoscopic spine surgery. Abd-El-Barr also serves as the spine fellowship co-director.
Abd-El-Barr specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery, including endoscopic, robotic and awake spine surgery.
His research revolves around making spine surgery safer, more efficient, and less invasive, using next generation imaging, robotics and machine learning. He was recently awarded a Young Investigator Award from AO Spine on “Serum Markers of Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Outcomes after Spinal versus General Anesthesia in Older Adults Undergoing Spine Surgery.” He was awarded a grant from the Duke Institute for Health Innovation for “Using Machine Learning to Appropriately Triage Patients with Low Back Pain.” He has over 150 peer-reviewed papers and is currently editing a book on awake spine surgery. He serves as the chair of the Innovation and Technology Committee of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies.
Abd-El-Barr received his MD and PhD degrees from Baylor College of Medicine and his residency at the Brigham and Women’s/Boston Children’s Hospitals/Harvard Medical School. He finished a post-graduate spine fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
When not operating or doing research, Abd-El-Barr likes to spend time with his wife, who is also a physician-scientist, and their three children who are avid basketball players.