Michael Karsy, MD

Michael Karsy, MD, PhD, MSc, FAANS is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan. He completed his undergraduate degree with honors in Neuroscience at the University of California Los Angeles and a combined MD/PhD program at New York Medical College. He then completed residency in neurosurgery at the University of Utah under Dr. William Couldwell in 2020 with enfolded fellowship in Complex Spine Surgery with Dr. Andrew Dailey and Dr. Erica Bisson as well as a Masters of Bioengineering in Medical Device Development. And he completed a Skull Base fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital under Dr. James Evans in 2021.

He practices at both the University of Michigan Health – Sparrow and University of Michigan Health – Ann Arbor. His primary focus is on neuro-oncology and skull base pathologies with specialization in endoscopic and minimally invasive approaches. He works as part of a large multi-disciplinary team managing neuro-oncology issues (e.g., pituitary adenomas, meningiomas, gliomas, vestibular schwannomas, metastatic disease). He also has an interest in spine management (e.g., minimally invasive spine surgery, cervical myelopathy, spine tumors, trauma, deformity). Dr. Karsy also currently serves as the Director of Clinical Operations and Quality at University of Michigan Health – Sparrow and previously served as faculty at the University of Utah and Drexel University College of Medicine.

His research interests are in molecular characterization and targeted therapy of skull base pathologies, multi-institutional collaboration to advance skull base research, improving healthcare outcomes, and reducing surgical complications through improved integration of techniques and technology in neurosurgery. He has >200 publications, a dozen book chapters, and a surgical textbook. He has participated as a co-investigator and principal investigator on multiple clinical trials in neurosurgical trauma, critical care, and neuro-oncology. Dr. Karsy enjoys working with medical students, residents, and fellows both locally and nationally in a variety of research endeavors. He is currently active in the North American Skull Base Society among areas of organized neurosurgery.

Dr. Karsy is Board Certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. He also speaks Persian and Spanish. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, movies, mountain biking, hiking, and spending time with his wife and two children.

Skull base neurosurgery, pituitary tumors, vestibular schwannoma, chordoma, brain tumors, meningioma, glioma, metastatic cancer, sinonasal malignancy, intraventricular tumors, hydrocephalus, facial pain, trigeminal neuralgia, minimally-invasive spine surgery, myelopathy, spinal cord tumors, occipitocervical instability, neurosurgical trauma

University of Michigan Health participates with most health insurance plans.

Translational research, clinical trials, clinical outcomes, multi-center research and consortiums, neuro-oncology disease stratification, biomarker evaluation, cost-effectiveness analysis, quality-of-life evaluation, predictive outcomes