Hilarie Tomasiewicz, MD, PhD, joined the neurological surgery residency program at Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital in 2012. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2001 with a B.S. in biology and a minor in brain and cognitive science. Dr. Tomasiewicz spent three years investigating the behavioral genetics of drug addiction at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School prior to earning her medical and doctoral degrees at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Her doctorate work on adolescent drug use uncovered a novel epigenetic mechanism by which cannabis acts in the brain to impact adult substance abuse vulnerability, and she was awarded a five-year NIH F30 NRSA grant to support her research.
Dr. Tomasiewicz (at right in red scrubs) helps students prepare for their neurosurgery sub-internships at the 2018 Medical Student Neurosurgery Boot Camp As an intern Dr. Tomasiewicz was recognized by the Shining Star program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital for her exceptional patient care. During her fourth and fifth residency years (2015-2017), she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the molecular neurosurgery laboratory at Weill Cornell Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Kaplitt. Her research was directed at the design of a novel viral gene therapy allowing for optogenetic control and molecular profiling of neuronal ensembles activated by cocaine in vivo. She was awarded the Gaposchkin Resident Research Award for Distinction in Scientific Inquiry in Neurological Surgery for her work as well as second prize at the New York Society for Neurosurgery Resident Research Night. As a seventh-year resident, Dr. Tomasiewicz was honored with the Weill Cornell Medical Center Distinguished Housestaff Award for Neurological Surgery.
Throughout her career Dr. Tomasiewicz has also been passionate about global surgery and has participated in multiple international surgical missions to Ecuador, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic. Most recently she traveled to Tanzania with a Cornell team focused on the neurosurgical treatment of pediatric patients with hydrocephalus and neural tube defects.
Dr. Tomasiewicz recently completed her chief residency year on the neurosurgical service at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She will complete a fellowship in functional neurosurgery and surgical epilepsy at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, in July 2020.
Dr. Tomasiewicz has specialized surgical interests in deep brain stimulation for neuropsychiatric disorders, neuromodulation, epilepsy, MR-guided focused ultrasound, targeted gene therapy, and global neurosurgery. She has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles (See an index of Dr. Tomasiewicz’s articles on Google Scholar) and has authored the chapter entitled “Gene-based Neuromodulation” in Neuromodulation, 2nd Edition.
In the news:
Dr. Tomasiewicz recognized as Shining Star
Dr. Tomasiewicz trains future neurosurgeons at 2018 Medical Student Boot Camp
