The University of Chicago Medicine has appointed Mohamad Bydon, MD, as the inaugural Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery and health system leader for Neurological Surgery, effective July 1, 2025. Bydon, a distinguished neurosurgeon-scientist, joins UChicago from the Mayo Clinic.

A leader in minimally invasive and robotic approaches to complex spinal conditions, Bydon has pioneered cutting-edge advancements in neurosurgical care, attracting patients nationally and globally. He launched the Minimally Invasive Spine Program at Mayo in 2015 and established one of the nation’s first robotic spine programs in any academic department in 2018.

Beyond his clinical expertise, Bydon has been at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence into healthcare. As principal investigator of the Neuro-Informatics Laboratory, he has leveraged predictive and generative AI tools to assess the cost and value of medical and surgical interventions, shaping the future of data-driven decision-making in neurosurgery. He has led groundbreaking, first-in-human clinical trials for the regenerative treatment of spinal cord injury, making notable advancements in stem cell therapy for neurological disease.
A leader in academic neurosurgery, Bydon has published three books, 36 book chapters, and 598 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including in journals such as Nature Communications, Nature Spinal Cord and JAMA Surgery. An innovator, he has 12 medical device-related patents. He has had over 700 lectures and presentations nationally and internationally, has been visiting professor at 15 institutions, and has received 55 awards at national and international scientific meetings. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Neurosurgery and as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Neuroscience.

Bydon is a national leader in surgical outcomes data and quality improvement. He is chair of NeuroPoint Alliance, the data and registry vehicle of national neurosurgery, for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS); vice chair of the American Spine Registry, the largest spine surgery database in North America; and chair of the newly inaugurated Innovation Institute for the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). He is a member of the Executive Committee of the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves and is the scientific program coordinator for the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery.

More People on the Move