Dr. James Caruso, MD – Dallas, TX

James P. Caruso, M.D. is a resident physician in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He plans to pursue fellowship training in complex spine surgery, with emphasis on adult and pediatric deformity correction. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, and he has given lectures at state and national conferences on topics in clinical neurosurgery and neuroscience research. He is a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Resident Committee and a resident member of the Congress Quarterly Editorial Board.

His research interests include the molecular and genetic mechanisms of chronic neck and back pain, predictive analytics, and clinical and socioeconomic research in spine surgery. He was awarded an NIH R25 supplement to analyze C2 dorsal root ganglia tissue harvested from posterior cervical fusion procedures to discover new transcriptomic signatures of acute and chronic neck pain, and he previously studied clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic spine disease as a Memorial Sloan Kettering Summer Research Fellow. He aspires to build a funded translational research laboratory that integrates insights from molecular biology, epidemiologic and health services data, and computational analysis to develop new therapeutic modalities and surgical risk stratification tools for patients with chronic neck and back pain.

He graduated with highest honors from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor with concentrations in Physics and English Language and Literature, and he attended medical school at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he was elected Co-Chair of Community Service, Vice President of the AANS Young Neurosurgeons Medical Student Chapter, and the AAMC Organization of Student Representatives. Outside of the hospital, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Christianna, and their two Pomeranians, Louie and Pierre.