Ajith J. Thomas, MD

Dr. Thomas, a neurosurgeon specialized in open and endovascular treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, joined Cooper University Health Care as Chief and Chair of Neurosurgery from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, where he was an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Brain Aneurysm Institute. Dr. Thomas earned his MD degree from Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. After a year of surgery internship at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, he completed neurosurgery residency training at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He then went on to complete a neuroendovascular fellowship at University of Pittsburgh and subsequently was recruited to BIDMC as Chief of Cerebrovascular Surgery in 2007.

During his tenure at BIDMC, he was instrumental in starting and consolidating the medical center’s Harvard Medical School-affiliated neurosurgery residency and also served as Director of the Neurointerventional training program. He has trained numerous neurosurgeons who have gone on to become national and international physician leaders.

With more than 300 publications in peer-reviewed literature, his research spans the entire field of cerebrovascular neurosurgery, having also materialized in a US patent for a safe cranial drill for which he was awarded the GM Freudenstein Award. Specifically, he spearheaded the wide adoption of middle meningeal artery embolization, a minimally invasive method of treating chronic subdural hematomas of the brain and contributed to the expanded indications for flow diverter treatment of brain aneurysms. His research of dural AV fistulas of the brain resulted in the widely adopted Thomas classification of carotid cavernous fistulae He has been an invited lecturer both nationally and internationally. He is a member of the editorial board of PLOS One and serves as associate editor for Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology.

In the basic sciences arena, Dr. Thomas’ work around the role of early endothelial cells in maintaining a healthy neurovascular niche and in supporting brain development was featured on the cover page of Brain Research. This area of research promises wide implications in our understanding of neurodegenerative disorders and their treatment.

At Cooper, Dr. Thomas has been tasked with building an exceptional neurosurgery department that will build on the existing foundation of competent and compassionate care by further developing all three pillars of excellence in clinical care, education, and research. His clinical practice will continue to focus on cerebrovascular disorders, trigeminal neuralgia, hydrocephalus, and Chiari malformation.