Garth Cosgrove has been appointed as inaugural chair of the newly created Department of Neurosurgery at Alpert Medical School and as chief of neurosurgery at Rhode Island Hospital and the Miriam Hospital, according to a press release from the Med School. These appointments will be effective June 1.
The neurosurgery department was formed in December 2008, but has not had a permanent chair before now.
It takes a while to appoint a new chair, said Karen Scanlan, communication and administrative manager of the office of Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Edward Wing. There is a "stringent process of hiring a new chair," she added.
The search committee first must find candidates for the position, and then there is a rigorous interview process "once they get past the point of being worthy," she said.
The department was formed after the Corporation separated the Department of Clinical Neurosciences into the Department of Neurology and the Department of Neurosurgery. It is great to be bringing "neurosurgery onto the campus," Scanlan said.
Cosgrove is taking over for Interim Chief of Neurosurgery Curt Doberstein at the Med School and Chief of Neurosurgery John Duncan at Rhode Island Hospital, who stepped down in 2007.
"It is a real testament to our growth at Rhode Island Hospital and the Miriam Hospital to have him lead our Department of Neurosurgery," Chief Executive of Rhode Island Hospital Timothy Babineau said in the press release. "We are confident that Dr. Cosgrove's experience and leadership skills will enable him to effectively direct the Department of Neurosurgery and help us to successfully expand the program to meet increased patient needs."
Cosgrove comes from the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass. There he served as the chair of the Department of Neurosurgery and senior neurosurgeon. In addition, he served as professor of neurosurgery at Tufts University School of Medicine. Before working at the Lahey Clinic, Cosgrove was an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School as well as attending neurosurgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Cosgrove has research interests in epilepsy, stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, surgical treatment of brain tumors, functional imaging of the human cerebral cortex and radiosurgery, according to the press release.
Cosgrove "is an outstanding neurosurgeon with expertise in functional neurosurgery, a critical tie to enhancing our research at Brown," Wing said in the press release.
"Everyone's very excited about him coming," Scanlan said. He will serve as a tie that "brings everyone together in the clinical setting and research," she added.
Cosgrove will also be joining the Brown Institute for Brain Science.
"Dr. Cosgrove brings exceptional leadership, neurosurgical and scientific skills to Rhode Island and Brown's flourishing multidisciplinary brain research community," said John Donoghue, the institute's director, in the press release.
"This appointment will create important future collaboration with the departments of neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology," Wing said in the press release. "Leaders like Dr. Cosgrove will help boost our potential to be one of the top destinations in the country for clinical and academic neuroscience."
