1970s - Apuzzo

Michael L.J. Apuzzo, M.D., HS ’72, will be the honored guest laureate at the annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in San Diego in late September. The theme of the meeting, “Reinventing Neurosurgery,” will be explored in concert with Apuzzo’s contributions and innovations in numerous areas that have helped to redefine the scope and state of international practice. Apuzzo is the Edwin M. Todd/Trent H. Hells Jr. Professor of Neurological Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. A native of New Haven, Apuzzo began his undergraduate studies at Yale with a primary interest in architecture. As a work study student, he was assigned to catalog books at the Harvey Cushing Medical Historical Library under the direction of Madeline Stanton, former secretary to Cushing, who is considered the father of modern neurosurgery. This experience helped redirect his goals, leading him into medicine. Since medical school he has devoted himself to the refinement of cerebral surgery concepts, advanced neuro-oncology and the development and transfer of complex technology initiated within the aerospace and defense industries to the operating room and other areas of patient care. Apuzzo has been a pioneer in the clinical areas of deep cerebral microsurgery, neuro-endoscopy, imaging-directed stereotaxy, radiosurgery and the emerging field of cellular and molecular neurosurgery with neurorestoration.