Welcome from Department Chair, Peter Fecci, MD, PhD
The Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Colorado Anschutz is entering a period of deliberate, strategic, and unprecedented growth. The department is rapidly expanding its clinical, research, and educational capabilities, positioning itself to shape the future of academic neurosurgery and establish new centers of national distinction.
Over the past sixteen months, the department has recruited 20 new faculty members, including seven surgeons, seven advanced practice providers, three PhD brain tumor researchers, two neuro-oncologists, and a neuropsychologist, with additional faculty recruitment underway. These investments reflect a comprehensive effort to build not simply a larger department, but a more integrated, innovative, and nationally influential academic enterprise.
Equally central to this transformation is a comprehensive reimagining of neurosurgical residency education. The department has undertaken substantial changes to its residency program, creating individualized training tracks in physician-scientist development, innovation, global health, education, and surgical mastery. These pathways are designed to cultivate the diverse skills and perspectives needed to advance neurosurgery in the decades ahead — from scientific discovery and technological innovation to global engagement, medical education, and exceptional operative expertise. By investing in the development of future leaders across these domains, CU Anschutz is building a neurosurgery residency program that embraces the full breadth of academic neurosurgery and prepares its graduates not simply to enter the field, but to shape its future.
Education, innovation, and the exchange of expertise remain central to the department's mission. Through its internationally attended courses in skull base surgery and functional and stereotactic neurosurgery, hosted at the renowned Center for Surgical Innovation, CU Anschutz provides an established platform for advanced surgical education and collaboration. These programs reflect the department's commitment not only to advancing its own capabilities, but also to contributing to the broader neurosurgical community.
The department is also translating its vision into new models of clinical care and interdisciplinary collaboration. Our department helped lead the joint development of a Denver metro spine service line in partnership with the Departments of Orthopedics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, including the naming of a dedicated Director of Spine Services within Neurosurgery.
Already serving an eight-state catchment area across the Rocky Mountain region, CU Anschutz is building on its regional leadership to establish national destination programs in brain tumors and neuromodulation. A landmark investment is supporting the development of a Center for Precision Neuromodulation in collaboration with the Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Biophysics. This initiative exemplifies the department's broader ambition: to bring together clinical expertise, fundamental science, and technological innovation to advance precision therapies for neurological and psychiatric disease.
At the same time, the department is demonstrating measurable improvements in access and responsiveness. Over the past year, changes to patient-access processes have contributed to an increase of more than 25% in new-patient volume and a reduction of more than 50% in appointment lead times. The department has also substantially expanded its regional clinical presence, doubling its presence at UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital to the south and establishing a new neurosurgical practice at Longs Peak Hospital in the Boulder region to the north. These efforts extend the reach of the academic enterprise while strengthening its connections to the communities it serves.
At the University of Colorado Anschutz, we are dedicated to providing state-of-the-art care and advances not only to the patients of Colorado, but to the Mountain West region and the entire nation. On behalf of our entire department, we are glad you are here.
Sincerely,
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery
University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine