West Virginia University
Morgantown, United States
Christopher P. Cifarelli MD, PhD, MMM, FAANS, FACS is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery & Radiation Oncollogy at the West Virginia University and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Cifarelli completed his doctoral degrees at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, earning a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology & Teratology focused on cancer cell migration mechanisms, followed by his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College. He subsequently completed his residency in Neurological Surgery at the University of Virginia, including a fellowship at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand.
Since 2014, Dr. Cifarelli has served as the Director of the West Virginia University Gamma Knife Radiosurgery program. An active member of the International Radiosurgery Research Foundation, Dr. Cifarelli and his team have published over 50 manuscripts on radiation management in neuro-oncology and radiosurgery. In 2017, the WVU IORT Program, developed under his direction, enrolled the first U.S. patient in the INTRAGO II Clinical Trial for the treatment of newly diagnosed Glioblastoma. Subsequently, Dr. Cifarelli has expanded the use of IORT to management of surgically resected metastatic brain tumors, creating an international collaborative group and patient registry dedicated to IORT in brain metastases.
Dr. Cifarelli is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Neuro-oncology and a member of the Tumor Section Executive Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons & Congress of Neurological Surgeons, where serves the Section’s liaison with ASTRO and Chair of the Innovation and Technology Committee. In 2022, Dr. Cifarelli was named the American College of Surgeons - American Association of Neurological Surgeons Health Policy Fellow and continues to advocate for neuro-oncological patient care in rural settings, pursuing research related to remote access and telehealth.