Ziya L. Gokaslan

ZIYA L. GOKASLAN, the inaugural Donlin Long Professor of Neurosurgery, joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2002 as a visiting professor of neurosurgery, oncology and orthopaedic surgery. Now the vice chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery, Dr. Gokaslan also directs the Neurosurgery Spine Service, specializing in the surgical treatment of spinal tumors. He has developed numerous novel surgical methods to treat some of the most difficult types of spinal cancers. Dr. Gokaslan’s research is focused on the development of an animal model for studying the pathophysiology of neoplastic spinal cord compression and defining the roles of proteolytic enzymes in tumor invasion.