Pankaj K. Agarwalla, MD

Specializing in brain tumors, skull base, and cerebrovascular, my focus is providing high-level complex cranial neurosurgical care in the context of a multidisciplinary team with the latest treatments and clinical trials. I see patients with all cranial conditions and tumors including gliomas, metastatic tumors, skull base tumors (meningiomas, pituitary tumors, acoustic neuromas/vestibular schwannomas, craniopharyngiomas, chordomas, and jugular foramen lesions). Because I also specialize in radiosurgery with both CyberKnife and Gamma Knife modalities, we will always consider non-surgical options in a patient’s treatment plan.

As one of the co-founders of the Brain and Spine Tumor Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital, I work closely with the entire multi-disciplinary program to provide the most advanced and appropriate care for each patient with attention to each individual’s unique case. As a surgeon, I know that surgery is often only one part of a larger answer; for example, targeted therapies, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation therapy can be just as important. This multi-disciplinary approach is central for patients with brain and spine tumors.

Clinical research has been an important passion of mine, and we are developing protocols for tissue/blood collection to study the biology of tumors in the laboratory. We also have a growing clinical trial presence including a targeted therapy trial for papillary craniopharyngiomas, for which I am the site lead investigator.

Dr. Agarwalla received my undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University. During my neurosurgical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, I worked on an immunotherapy trial for glioblastoma and performed research on the genomics of skull base tumors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute. After residency, I completed a fellowship in skull base and cerebrovascular neurosurgery at the University of South Florida.