Dr. Robert M. Friedlander is an internationally recognized leader in cranial neurosurgery, offering highly specialized, individualized care for patients with complex brain conditions. His practice focuses on Chiari malformations, brain tumors, aneurysms, and cavernous malformations, with particular expertise in adult Chiari malformation.

A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Friedlander completed his neurosurgical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He began his career at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he became one of Harvard’s youngest full Professors of Neurosurgery. He was later recruited to serve as Chair and the Walter E. Dandy Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh, leading one of the nation’s premier academic neurosurgical programs.

Dr. Friedlander brings the depth of academic medicine together with the accessibility and discretion of tailored care. His practice is structured to provide:
∙ Comprehensive, unhurried consultations
∙ Direct physician access
∙ Meticulous imaging review and diagnostic precision
∙ Thoughtful surgical decision-making grounded in decades of experience

Dr. Friedlander has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Nature, and Science. He is uniquely distinguished for having been invited and written three single-author review articles in The New England Journal of Medicine—a rare accomplishment in modern medicine.

He maintains a national and international referral practice, particularly in adult Chiari malformation, having evaluated several thousand patients and performed approximately 700 surgeries for this condition. His work has advanced the field’s understanding of Chiari, including published research demonstrating that cognitive and affective symptoms frequently associated with the condition may be reversible with expert surgical treatment.

Dr. Friedlander is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and numerous elite professional societies, including the Academy of Neurological Surgeons and the Society of Neurological Surgeons. He has served on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and has received distinguished honors including the H. Richard Winn Prize and the International Charcot Prize.