Morcos Named Chair of Neurosurgery

Following an international search, Jacques J. Morcos, MD, joined McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston as professor and chair of the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery in December 2023.

He holds the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience and serves as co-director of UTHealth Houston Neurosciences with Louise D. McCullough, MD, PhD, chair of the
Department of Neurology.

A native of Lebanon, Morcos earned his medical degree at the American University of Beirut. After initially starting his postgraduate training in England, he completed residency training in neurological surgery at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinics, a fellowship in cerebrovascular surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and a fellowship in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. He joined McGovern Medical School and UTHealth Houston Neurosciences from the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Miami Health System, where he was co-chair as well as professor of clinical neurosurgery and otolaryngology, director of cerebrovascular surgery, director of skull base surgery, and division chief of cranial neurosurgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. He served on the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine faculty for 28 years, joining in 1995 as assistant professor of clinical neurosurgery and otolaryngology.

His areas of clinical expertise span cerebrovascular lesions, including aneurysms, brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and cavernous malformations, dural arteriovenous fistulae, MoyaMoya disease, stroke and cerebral ischemia, carotid endarterectomy, bypass surgery (STA-MCA and high flow), microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm, as well as complex brain tumors including skull base tumors such as pituitary adenomas, meningiomas, acoustic neuromas, and head and neck cancers, as well as radiosurgery. He is highly experienced in multidisciplinary minimally invasive endonasal endoscopic approaches, as well as all open skull base approaches.

Morcos’ research includes observational studies in aneurysm surveillance, an AVM registry, the impact of targeted therapies in NF2 acoustic neuromas, and laboratory dissections to optimize and innovate neurosurgical approaches. He is co-founder of the International Registry of MCA Bypass in Cerebral Ischemia. He has trained dozens of fellows in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery and is highly active in national and international neurosurgical societies. He is president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and president-elect of the World Federation of Skull Base Societies, assuming the presidency in 2025. He is fluent in English,
Arabic, and French.