Zarina Ali, MD

Zarina S. Ali, MD is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Orthopedic Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and serves as Chief of Neurosurgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. She is Vice Chair of Clinical Operations and Quality Improvement in the department of neurosurgery and also is Co-Director of the multidisciplinary Penn Nerve Center. After undergraduate and medical education at the University of Rochester’s combined degree program, Dr. Ali underwent residency training in neurosurgery and subspecialty fellowship training in peripheral nerve surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ali then joined the Penn faculty as the first female neurosurgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital, where she developed a robust surgical practice specializing in nerve entrapment syndromes, peripheral nerve tumors, and complex reconstructive procedures of the peripheral nerves, as well as the surgical treatment of degenerative spine disease. Her research focus includes federally-funded studies of opioid stewardship following surgery, as well as work on tissue-engineering strategies to promote peripheral nerve regeneration in collaboration with Penn’s Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration & Restoration. Among her many accomplishments, she established one of the nation’s first neurosurgical Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programs, a value-based care approach to spine and peripheral nerve surgery.