Viviane Tabar, MD
VIVIANE TABAR, MD, has been named the new Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).
Dr. Tabar has been a faculty member at MSK for more than 15 years and is currently the Theresa C. Feng Chair for Neurosurgical Oncology and the Vice Chair for Neurosurgical Research and Education. She specializes in intraoperative brain mapping techniques, allowing for brain tumors to be removed more precisely while sparing as much tissue as possible near these important areas. Dr. Tabar is the founding Director
of the Multidisciplinary Pituitary and Skull Base Tumor Center at MSK, which is unique in the region as it brings together neurosurgery, head and neck surgery, and neuroendocrinology to serve patients with a diverse range of tumors and disorders.
A distinguished surgeon-scientist, Dr. Tabar focuses her research on stem cell biology. She is the co-leader of the New York State consortium for the development of human embryonic stem cell–derived dopamine neurons for Parkinson’s disease. She has also developed strategies for cell-based therapies for the repair of radiation-induced brain injury. Dr. Tabar’s lab pioneered the use of pluripotent stem cells for brain tumor modeling, leading to novel insights into the biology of gliomas and to the discovery of candidate therapeutic targets for the disease.
Dr. Tabar received her medical degree from the American University of Beirut, completed a neurosurgical residency at the University of Massachusetts, and joined MSK as a clinical fellow. After conducting her postdoctoral work at the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, she returned to MSK to complete a research fellowship before joining the faculty. Her work has been published extensively, and she is the recipient of numerous awards, including from the American Association of Neurological Surgery and the American Brain Tumor Association. Dr. Tabar is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Society of Neurological Surgeons, and, most recently, the National Academy of Medicine.
“MSK represents the very best in comprehensive treatment of brain, spine, and skull base tumors,” said Dr. Tabar. “I am honored to begin leading this group of unsurpassed neurosurgery experts. Our focus will continue to be on providing our patients with the highest level of care and striving for innovative and more-effective surgical therapies.” ■
