Mayur Sharma, MD, MS, MCh (Master of General Surgery and Neurosurgery), recently joined the Neurosurgery Department as an Assistant Professor. He is splitting his time between Southdale Hospital (Edina, MN) and St. John’s (Maplewood, MN) where he will have a general neurosurgery and brain tumor practice. At the U of M, he will dedicate his clinical efforts to awake craniotomies for brain tumors, intraoperative MRI-guided resections, laser interstitial thermal therapy for brain tumors, Gamma knife radiosurgery, complex skull base tumors/pathologies, and spine tumors (intradural and extradural). "My motto is putting the patient first and I’m looking forward to offering the best possible neurosurgical care to the Minneapolis community and to Minnesota as a whole,” said Sharma.

As a clinician and as a physician, he is excited about setting up his new practice. “The first thing I look forward to is seeing my patients go home with a smile,” said Sharma. “Neurosurgery is a difficult sub-specialty – our patients suffer from challenging pathologies. I feel blessed to be given an opportunity to serve those patients. I want to help them get back to their regular lives in the best possible way.”

Multiple fellowships, two residencies
Sharma earned his MBBS (MD equivalent) and completed his general surgery residency at King Edward (VII) Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College, in Mumbai, India. He then completed his neurosurgery residency at Grant Government Medical College and Sir J.J Group of Hospitals in Mumbai and spent a year at Sir J.J Hospital as an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery. Sharma then came to the United States and completed four fellowships:

  1. Skull Base/Cerebrovascular Surgery (Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport)
  2. Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (Ohio State University in Columbus)
  3. Neurosurgical Oncology (Cleveland Clinic in Ohio), and
  4. Degenerative, Minimally Invasive, and Spine Oncology (University of Louisville in Kentucky).

He also completed a second neurosurgery residency at the University of Louisville.

Attraction of an academic setting

Dr. Mayur Sharma

The U of M was attractive to Sharma (pictured here) for several reasons. “I always wanted to come back to an academic setting, where there are so many opportunities to focus on innovation,” he said. “The U’s Medical Device Innovation Program and close collaboration among specialties makes it unique. I also had the opportunity to work with Department Head Dr. Clark Chen on a few projects when I was at the Cleveland Clinic. His unparalleled leadership and unbridled enthusiasm inspired me to want to work with him.”

With an extensive background in research, Sharma’s efforts at the U will focus on defining best practices in clinical practice and on health economics using administrative databases. “I will also work on brain tumor and outcome-based research,” he said. “My goal is to make surgery safer and faster.”

Sharma has given numerous oral and poster presentations about various research topics at neurosurgical meetings throughout the world. He helped author more than 160 journal articles and was first author for 70. One of Sharma’s recent efforts was chosen as an Editor’s Choice Article for the January 2023 issue of World Neurosurgery. He has also contributed to numerous book chapters.

Working with learners
Sharma looks forward to collaborating with different sub-specialties and the opportunity to work with medical students, residents, and fellows. “I will enjoy seeing our students grow through their residency – how they improve their skills, their knowledge,” he said. “Working with young brains gives you different perspectives, different ideas.”

As he begins his career at the U of M, Sharma sees a bright future for his sub-specialty. “Neurosurgery has changed over the past two decades, primarily because of new technology such as neuro-navigation and neurorobotic systems,” he said. “I see the specialty becoming less invasive, which results in less harm to normal tissue. I also envision more use of precision medicine, which is highly tailored to the individual patient.”

When he has some free time, Sharma likes to spend it with his family  (pictured above) exploring the Twin Cities. “We’re enjoying the winter and learning how to live in this environment,” he said. He also loves to play tennis, work out, and listen to music.