William J. Mack Named Chair of Department of Neurological Surgery at Keck School of Medicine of USC

In addition, Mack now heads up the USC Neurological Surgery Program, part of Keck Medicine of USC.

Neurosurgeon William J. Mack, MD, MBA, has been appointed chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. In addition to his academic appointment, Mack now serves as chair of the USC Neurological Surgery Program, part of Keck Medicine of USC. As chair of the USC Neurological Surgery Program, Mack oversees day-to-day operations while advancing the program’s prominence and impact.

Mack succeeds his colleague, 20-year department chair Steven Giannotta, MD. He was selected from an impressive cohort of candidates following a comprehensive national search.

As a leader in his field, Mack is an elected member of the Society of Neurological Surgeons and the American Academy of Neurological Surgery. He has served as president of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery, chair of the Cerebrovascular Section of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons/American Association of Neurological Surgeons and a charter member of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study section. His NIH-funded translational research in cerebrovascular disease has yielded more than 220 peer-reviewed publications.

Mack’s major areas of clinical interest are stroke, brain aneurysms, subarachnoid hemorrhage, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), arteriovenous fistulas, cavernous malformations, carotid artery disease, intracranial stenosis and brain tumors.

Mack joined the Keck School in 2010 as assistant professor of neurological surgery and was promoted to professor of neurological surgery and physiology and neuroscience (clinical scholar) in 2022. At Keck School, Mack will lead the research, clinical care and education programs of the Department of Neurological Surgery. He will be nominated to hold the Dr. Martin H. Weiss Chair in Neurological Surgery.

Mack is also the principal investigator and director of the Cerebrovascular Laboratory in the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute. He has received numerous local, regional and national grants in support of his research efforts. Mack’s scientific interests are focused on translational efforts to treat ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Laboratory investigations concentrate on the pathophysiology of stroke and inflammatory modulation. Using the information and experience gained in the laboratory, Mack is working to develop new technologies, techniques and therapies to directly improve the clinical care administered to stroke patients.

Mack received his bachelor’s degree with honors from Cornell University. He then attended Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he graduated from medical school and completed neurosurgical residency training. During residency, he spent one year performing a postdoctoral cerebrovascular research fellowship under Drs. David J. Pinsky and E. Sander Connolly Jr. at Columbia University. Following residency, Mack completed an Interventional Neuroradiology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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