Mohamad Bydon

Mohamad Bydon, M.D. is Professor and inaugural Chair of Neurological Surgery at the University of Chicago. He holds the Stahl Professorship of Neuroscience in the Wallman Society of Fellows and serves as Co-Director of the Neuroscience Service Line at University of Chicago Medicine and Enterprise Neurosurgeon-in-Chief at the University of Chicago Health System. Previously, he practiced at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he was an Endowed Full Professor with enterprise leadership roles in surgical outcomes, international affairs, and development.

Dr. Bydon earned his B.A. at Dartmouth College, completed a post-baccalaureate program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and undertook research fellowships at a Howard Hughes Medical Institute laboratory in stem cell biology and at the University of Michigan Medical School. He earned his M.D. at Yale University School of Medicine. His clinical training continued at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he completed an Internship and Residency in neurosurgery followed by a clinical Fellowship in Complex Spinal Surgery and Spinal Oncology, along with additional fellowships in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and Surgical Outcomes and Spinal Column Biomechanics.

Dr. Bydon has established himself as a leading expert in complex spine surgery, with particular focus on spinal oncology and minimally invasive techniques. He launched one of the nation's first robotic and minimally invasive spine programs in 2015, demonstrating his commitment to innovation in surgical approaches. His research spans multiple domains including data analytics, surgical outcomes, spinal cord injury clinical trials, and the application of artificial intelligence in neurosurgery. His work often leverages large datasets like the Quality Outcomes Database to identify patterns and improve patient care. His laboratory is nationally recognized for its contributions to understanding surgical outcomes in spine procedures, with a particular emphasis on improving quality metrics and patient-reported outcomes following complex spinal interventions.

Dr. Bydon has received numerous prestigious awards throughout his career, including multiple Stewart B. Dunsker Awards for Best Clinical Spine Abstract, the Thomas Whitecloud Award for Best Clinical Research Paper from the Scoliosis Research Society, the Rosenblum-Mahaley Clinical Research Award, and the Sanford Larson Award for Best Research. He has been recognized as a Kuntz Scholar and Albert Scholar for top abstracts at major neurosurgical conferences. His 2024 Editor's Choice Article in World Neurosurgery highlighted innovative work on voice recognition and natural language processing platforms for surgical applications.

As a prolific researcher, Dr. Bydon serves as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Neuroscience and sits on the editorial board for the Journal of Neurosurgery Spine. He holds leadership positions in both the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. His laboratory, focused on data analytics and surgical outcomes, has produced over 600 peer-reviewed manuscripts along with numerous book chapters and abstracts. He frequently presents his research findings at national and international conferences, contributing significantly to the advancement of neurosurgical knowledge and practice.