Michael Lawton, MD, Joins the College
“Dr. Lawton is an internationally recognized neurosurgeon with a history of clinical and academic achievement,” said Guy L. Reed, MD, MS, dean of the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix. “He has a passion for mentoring students, residents and fellows. We are extremely fortunate to have a scholar, researcher and leader in neurosurgery of his caliber as our department chair.”
Dr. Lawton is president and CEO of Barrow Neurological Institute and the chair of the Department of Neurosurgery. He holds the Robert F. Spetzler Chair in Neuroscience and is board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery.
Dr. Lawton’s neurosurgical expertise includes cerebrovascular disorders (aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, cavernous malformations and stroke) and skull base tumors. He has treated more than 4,000 brain aneurysms and 1,000 cavernous malformations.
He is the principal investigator for the Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium, a NIH-funded multi-center group studying the genetics and clinical course of rare vascular diseases of the brain. He has published more than 450 peer-reviewed articles, three single-author textbooks and more than 70 book chapters. He co-founded Mission:BRAIN, a teaching mission to raise the level of neurosurgery practiced in developing countries, that conducts annual missions in Mexico and Asia.
Dr. Lawton received a degree in biomedical engineering from Brown University and a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his neurosurgery residency at Barrow, where he also completed a fellowship in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery. After joining the faculty at University of California, San Francisco, he later completed a fellowship in endovascular surgery there.
Dr. Lawton is a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Society of Neurological Surgeons, American Academy of Neurological Surgery, and World Academy of Neurological Surgery.
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About the College
Founded in 2007, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix inspires and trains exemplary physicians, scientists and leaders to advance its core missions in education, research, clinical care and service to communities across Arizona. The college’s strength lies in our collaborations and partnerships with clinical affiliates, community organizations and industry sponsors. With our primary affiliate, Banner Health, we are recognized as the premier academic medical center in Phoenix. As an anchor institution of the Phoenix Bioscience Core, the college is home to signature research programs in neurosciences, cardiopulmonary diseases, immunology, informatics and metabolism. These focus areas uniquely position us to drive biomedical research and bolster economic development in the region.
As an urban institution with strong roots in rural and tribal health, the college has graduated more than 1,000 physicians and matriculates 130 students each year. Greater than 60% of matriculating students are from Arizona and many continue training at our GME sponsored residency programs, ultimately pursuing local academic and community-based opportunities. While our traditional four-year program continues to thrive, we will launch our recently approved accelerated three-year medical student curriculum with exclusive focus on primary care. This program is designed to further enhance workforce retention needs across Arizona.
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