UPMC Experts Provide World-Class Care at the UPMC Pituitary Center of Excellence

October is pituitary awareness month, and UPMC is proud to have some of the most skilled experts in the world treating pituitary and skull base tumors and lesions and providing life changing medicine to our patients by addressing pituitary issues such as:

• Pituitary Adenoma
• Acromegaly
• Cushing’s Disease
• Craniopharyngioma
• Meningioma
• Optic nerve compression
• Prolactinoma
• Rathke's cleft cyst

Our surgeons use advanced techniques to remove tumors while preserving nearby tissue. There are a few specific techniques practiced and developed at UPMC including EEA and Gamma Knife^® radiosurgery.

Our Pituitary Center of Excellence is a UPMC Health Plan recognized center with a team of pituitary tumor experts including: neurosurgeons, pediatric neurosurgeons, neuroendocrinologists, otolaryngologists, neuroradiologists and neuro-ophthalmologists.

Together this team provides multidisciplinary care for pituitary tumors, offering cutting edge care for these diseases. Together with the UPMC Health Plan, they track specific outcomes to ensure that patients get the best care available in the region and the world. Pituitary Centers of Excellence like this have been proven to provide better outcomes, with long term disease control. Our experts can even work with local doctors to guide care wherever it is needed.

Neurosurgeons

• Paul Gardner, MD - Co-Director, Center for Skull Base Surgery, Department of Neurological Surgery
• Georgios Zenonos, MD - Co-Director, Center for Skull Base Surgery, Department of Neurological Surgery
• Costas Hadjipanyis, MD, PhD - Director, Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery
• L. Dade Lunsford, MD - Pioneer, Gamma Knife Radiosurgery
• Ajay Nirajan, MD - Gamma Knife Radiosurgery

Pediatric Neurosurgeon

• Michael McDowell, MD - Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery

Otolaryngologists

• Carl Snyderman, MD, MBA - Director, Center for Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology
• Eric Wang, MD - Department of Otolaryngology
• Garret W. Choby, MD - Department of Otolaryngology

Neuroendocrinologists

• Pouneh Fazeli, MD - Director, Neuroendocrinology
• Hussain Mahmud, MD[MOU3]
• Esra K. French, MD
• Neha Mehrotra, MD
• Sura Alqaisi, MD

Neuro-ophthalmologist/Ocular Surgeons

• S. Tonya Stefko, MD - Department of Ophthalmology, Ocular Surgeon
• Gabrielle Bonhomme, MD - Neuro-Ophthalmology
• Can Kocasarac, MD - Neuro-Ophthalmology

Neuroradiologists

• Marion Hughes, MD
• Katie Traylor, DO
• Keerthi Arani, MD
• William Rothfus, MD
• Barton Branstetter, MD

Learn more about our pituitary experts.

If you have questions about the UPMC Pituitary Center of Excellence or wish to book a consult, call 412-647-3685.