Dr. Cusimano received his MD and PhD from the University of Toronto, his Masters degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Fellowship in Skull Base and Microvascular Surgery from the University of Pittsburgh. Since 1992, Dr. Cusimano has been a Staff Neurosurgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital with a cross appointment at the Hospital for Sick Children and UHN. Since 2005 he has been a full Professor of Neurosurgery, Education and Public Health at University of Toronto. He was the first practicing surgeon in the world with a PhD in Education. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, a Diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is the founder and Director of the Injury Prevention Research Office at St. Michael’s Hospital and a founding member of the University of Toronto Gamma Knife Unit.
He consults and does surgery on adult and pediatric patients from across Canada and internationally for surgery and gamma knife radiosurgery with skull base tumours such as pituitary tumours and meningiomas, and, complex vascular lesions such as aneurysms and AVMs. His opinion in the management of hydrocephalus in adults is widely sought. He routinely presents his work internationally and has been a visiting professor to countries such as China, Italy and Jamaica.
His research interests include NPH, skull base surgery, brain tumours and aneurysms, quality of life, the cerebellum, neurocognition, injury and preventing injury especially brain injury, public health issues, geomatics, knowledge translation and medical education. He worked with engineers to develop the first simulated mannequin that could mimic brain injuries. He and his colleague, Dr Ron Fenton, were the first to describe the binasal endoscopic approach to the skull base.
He has raised awareness about adult hydrocephalus and NPH since the 1990s, and he has been one of Canada’s leading surgeons in the field since then.For over a decade, Dr. Cusimano has done research and been a public advocate on ways to prevent injuries, especially brain injuries and is outspoken when it comes to keeping people well and promoting healthy lifestyles that keep our brains healthy.
He is a reviewer for many medical journals and has over 125 peer-reviewed manuscripts, some in leading journals such as The Lancet, JAMA and Nature.He loves to teach and has been praised for his ability to communicate ideas from kindergarten to the post-MD and post-PhD levels. His trainees are now throughout the world. He has won many awards for his research, his teaching and for his compassion as a doctor.