Dean Chou, MD
Locations and Appointments
ColumbiaDoctors - 300 Frank Burr Blvd
ColumbiaDoctors - Midtown
NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital
Insurances Accepted
Before your appointment, please contact the doctor's office or your insurance provider to verify that your insurance is accepted. This list of insurances can change, and the insurance plans listed may not be accepted at all office locations for this provider.
About Dean Chou, MD
Dr. Chou is the Chief of the Spine Division, Professor, and Vice Chair of Neurosurgery at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Chou has many years of experience and expertise in scoliosis, spinal deformity, spinal tumors, and degenerative conditions of the spine. He has pioneered many minimally invasive surgical techniques to treat these complex conditions, and is also an expert in traditional open surgery. When possible, he uses the least-invasive treatment techniques, providing an individualized, thoughtful approach to every patient.
Dr. Chou attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, completed his residency in Neurosurgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and undertook a fellowship in complex spinal surgery at The Barrow Neurological Institute under one of the legendary pioneers of spine surgery, Dr. Volker Sonntag. He is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery.
Prior to Columbia, he was on faculty at the University of California of San Francisco, rising to the rank of full Professor of Neurosurgery and Orthopedics, and eventually the Associate Director of the UCSF Neurospine Center. He is a Castle Connolly Top Doctor and has been elected by his peers for 10 consecutive years to the "Best Doctors in America" list, according to Best Doctors, Inc.
Dr. Chou has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in a wide variety of neurosurgery and spine journals. He sits on the editorial boards of the following journals; Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Neurosurgery, and PLOS ONE. He is on the advisory board of the journal, Spine. He serves as Treasurer and on the Board of Directors for the Lumbar Spine Research Society (LSRS) and serves on the Membership Committee for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). He also sits on the Executive and Scientific Program Committees of the AANS/Congress of Neurosurgeons Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, and he has served as an abstract reviewer for many organized meetings. He is a two-time recipient of the Harold Rosegay Resident Teaching Award and has been awarded the Alumni Achievement Award from The Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery. He has served as abstract reviewer and faculty member for such organizations as the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), the North American Spine Society (NASS), the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), the AANS, the LSRS, the Global Spine Congress, and the International Meeting for Advanced Spinal Techniques (IMAST).
Board Certifications
- Neurological Surgery
Specialties & Expertise
- Back Pain
- Cervical and Lumbar Spine Surgery
- Cervical Spine Surgery
- Complex Spinal Surgery
- Complex Spine Surgery
- Degenerative Spinal Disorder
- Degenerative Spine Disease
- Kyphosis
- Minimally Invasive Cervical Spinal Surgery
- Minimally Invasive Procedures
- Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
- Minimally Invasive Spine Techniques
- Neck Pain
- Reconstructive Spine Surgery
- Revision Spine Surgery
- Scoliosis
- Spinal Surgery
- Spine (all aspects)
- Spine Deformity
- Spine Tumors
Education
- Medical School: University of California San Francisco
- Internship: The Johns Hopkins Hospital
- Residency: The Johns Hopkins Hospital
- Fellowship: Barrow Neurological Institute
Leadership, Titles & Positions
- Chief, Division of Spine Surgery, Department of Neurosurgery
- Co-Director, Minimally Invasive Scoliosis Surgery
- Co-Site Chief, New York Presbyterian-Allen Hospital
- Director, Spine Fellowship, Department of Neurosurgery
- Professor and Vice Chair of Neurological Surgery
Hospital Affiliations
- Och Spine At NewYork-Presbyterian