John A. Boockvar

John A. Boockvar is a neurosurgeon. He is a professor of neurosurgery and otolaryngology at the Hoftstra Northwell School of Medicine, and director of the Brain Tumor Center, Pituitary/Neuroendocrine Center, and the Acoustic Neuroma Program at the New York Head and Neck Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital (New York City). He is also a board-certified adult neurosurgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital where he has treated Glioblastoma multiforme cases as well as other brain tumors and spine cases.

Boockvar received a B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and earned his M.D., summa cum laude, from the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He was a surgical intern and chief resident at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Boockvar did his post-doctoral research training in neuro-oncology at the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center and directed the University of Pennsylvania pituitary and skull base laboratory and completed a dedicated complex spine surgery fellowship.

Presenting as a clinician and scientist.

Boockvar joined Northwell Health in June 2014 as a neurosurgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital and the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. In April 2016, Boockvar was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Lenox Hill Hospital. As an academic neurosurgeon, Boockvar heads the neuro-oncology research program at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. He works toward developing therapies for primary and metastatic brain tumors, meningiomas, pituitary tumors, acoustic neuromas, spinal and peripheral nerve sheath tumors.

Prior to joining the North Shore-LIJ Health System, Boockvar was a professor of neurosurgery and neuroscience as well as the co-director of the brain and spine tumor program at the Weill Cornell Medical College and a neurosurgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Boockvar co-directs the Laboratory for Brain Tumor Biology and Therapy at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. His laboratory interests have focused on adult human neural stem cell biology as it relates to brain tumor formation and resistance to therapy. Boockvar is the principal investigator of several clinical trials using blood brain barrier disruption to deliver high dose chemotherapy for patients with malignant brain tumors. Boockvar has served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Current Stem Cell Research and Therapy and is an editorial board member of the Journal of Neuro-Oncology, Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery, and Recent Patents on Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery. Boockvar directs the Brain Tumor Biotech Center at the Institute that seeks to bridge the translational gap between basic and clinical science for patients with malignant brain tumors. Boockvar's laboratory has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and he was awarded the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Pinnacle Partners Award for his research into brain tumors. He has also won research awards from Voices Against Brain Cancer, the American Brain Tumor Association, the Starr Foundation, Anspach Companies, and the Adelson Foundation.

Inspired by Jon Kabat-Zinn's book, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, Boockvar began to practice mindfulness in the operating room (OR) before performing surgeries with his staff members. He gathers the staff together to promote calmness and concentration in the OR for a positive experience. Everyone breathes in and out together, letting go of any stress, to focus on the moment that is right in front of them, which is the surgery.

Since 2010 he has been a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of ImmunoCellular Therapeutics.