Dr. Henry Brem, Chief of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins

Dr. Brem is constantly sought after as a guest lecturer across the world and has given over 480 invited lectures.  In 1996 he was the Altman Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania.  In 2005 he was the E. Llewelyn Thomas Lecturer at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering in Toronto, Canada, as well as the Noun Shavit Memorial Lecturer at Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva, Israel. Brem was the Rosomoff Visiting Professor to the University of Miami in Florida in 2007, and in 2008 he was a visiting professor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. He was the Henry A. Shenkin, MD Lecturer at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, in 2009. In 2010, he was the Van Wagenen Professorship Lecturer at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY, and the Tenth Annual Hugo V. Rizzoli M.D. Lecturer of Walter Reed Army Medical Center & National Naval Medical Center. In 2011 he delivered the Seventh Annual Stuart Rowe Society Lecture at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2013 he was the Yale University Voynick Lecturer. In 2016, he gave talks at the Royal College of Surgeons Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He delivered a TED talk at the National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program (IUCRC) meeting in 2017. He recently lectured across the globe Rabin Medical Center in Israel; Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Istituto di Neurochirurgia in Rome, Italy; as well as Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, The University of California Los Angeles, the US-Japan Controlled Release Symposium in Maui, and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. 

In 2000, Brem was named director of the Department of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. Since his appointment, Brem has brought to Johns Hopkins many of the nation’s best neurosurgeons, who share his philosophy to provide the best clinical care, while pushing research boundaries to enhance patients outcomes in the field of neurosurgery. Brem strives to ensure that each patient receives the best possible state-of-the-art care in neurosurgery from his team. In addition, patients can be assured that they will have a team of physicians and scientists who are thinking about the patient’s problems and design the best therapy possible across all disciplines and sciences. Patients can also be assured that the latest research, the newest technology, and the best possible and most innovative therapies will be made available to them.

Brem and his team have established one of the best fellowship and residency programs in the US. His mission, which extends through his team, is to train the next generation to be cutting-edge neurosurgeons who will become academic leaders in their field. Brem’s leadership and his team were recognized by U.S. News & World Report in 2010, when it ranked Johns Hopkins as the #1 neurosurgery program in the nation, a distinction it held for four consecutive years, and again in 2019 and in 2020. In 2018-‘19 the Neurosurgery Residency Program was ranked in the top two Neurological Surgery Residency Programs in the US by Doximity.

Dr. Brem has an active role at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to his role as chief of neurosurgery, he had led several medical school-wide safety initiatives including organizing and leading the clinical directors to identify safety issues across departments and implement processes to improve patient safety. His commitment to patient safety is further demonstrated by being a founding member of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, a multi-disciplinary Institute for implementing optimal patient safety procedures.  Dr. Brem has served on thirteen Departmental Chair search committees as well as chairing two searches (ophthalmology and anesthesia). He also served on the search committee for the President of the Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation and Executive Vice President of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Dr. Brem is committed to collaboration across disciplines to inspire and facilitate the translation of scientific advances for direct patient benefit.  As such, he has helped found Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute and is co-principal investigator of the Johns Hopkins Coulter Foundation “Translational Research Partners Program” which funds and supports innovative biomedical engineering projects across disciplines that have the potential to rapidly develop into useful products for patients. He served for eight years as the Chairman of the Budget and Finance and Planning Committee of the Johns Hopkins Clinical Practice Association. Dr. Brem chaired the LCME Institutional Setting Subcommittee for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Accreditation Site Visit (2014) for its successful re-accreditation.

Dr. Brem has built collaborative neurosurgical programs in the Washington Capital region and facilitated Hopkins Neurosurgery programs in many countries throughout the world.

Dr. Brem is committed to international collaboration. He served on the executive board of the Maryland Israel Development Corporation which facilitates the relocation of Israeli biotech companies to Maryland, resulting in beneficial scientific and economic contributions to Maryland and Hopkins. He has led a Hopkins delegation to China to establish new collaborations and has played a leadership role in establishing neurosurgical programs in the Persian Gulf. He has helped start several biotechnology companies and has served on their Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Boards. 

To sustain his vision of combining scientific progress with improved clinical outcomes, the culture of philanthropy is important to Dr. Brem.  He has raised $85 million to establish a Neurosurgery Pain Research Institute at Johns Hopkins.  During his overall chairmanship, the Department of Neurosurgery has raised over $220 million, including fifteen endowed professorships to further support and expand the department’s spirit of innovation and excellence.

The worldwide impact of the Hopkins Neurosurgery Department is reflected in 17 Neurosurgery Department Chairman that has come from the Department between 2000 and 2021. 

In summary, over the past 38 years, Henry Brem has introduced new therapeutic approaches to Neurosurgery.  His devotion to patient care, clinical excellence, and translational science has brought together a unique group of neurosurgeons and investigators that have changed the field of neurosurgery. His approach to science and medicine has also had a significant impact throughout Johns Hopkins. His trainees have gone on to distinguished careers in science and medicine and are serving in leadership roles throughout the world. He continues his practice of complex brain surgery and leads the Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery Department.

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