Day Named UAMS Neurosurgery Department Chairman

By Jon Parham

J.D. Day, M.D.
J.D. Day, M.D.

Day, who will assume the post April 1, also specializes in Gamma Knife surgery and vascular disorders of the brain and skull base. He comes to UAMS from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where he is director of cranial base surgery and vice chairman for academic affairs, as well as associate residency program director in the Department of Neurosurgery.

“Having an internationally recognized expert in skull base surgery like Dr. Day, who has authored several textbooks on the topic and learned his skills from pioneers in neurosurgery will significantly boost our academic, patient care and research programs,” said UAMS College of Medicine Dean Debra H. Fiser, M.D.

Day received his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1989. He completed a residency in neurological surgery at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He continued his postdoctoral training with a research fellowship in cranial base surgery and anatomy at the University of Vienna Medical School in Austria, under the tutelage of pioneering neurosurgeon Wolfgang T. Koos, M.D.

After residency and fellowship training, Day worked with legendary neurosurgeon Takanori Fukushima, M.D., for a year at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He joined the faculty of the University of Texas Health Science Center in 2007.

Day has authored four textbooks on skull base surgery and has published more than 80 articles on neurosurgical topics. He has been on the editorial board of Neurosurgery since 1999. He has taught skull base surgery techniques and lectured extensively in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia.

He is a member of the American College of Neurosurgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the North American Skull Base Society.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.