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Long Island Residents
Dr. Salvatore M. Zavarella is a board-certified neurosurgeon and one of the co-founders and the Director Spine Surgery at SpineCare Long Island. He is also the Chief of Spine Surgery and the Associate Chief of Neurosurgery at Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, New York.
Dr. Zavarella’s clinical expertise is in the treatment of complex spine tumors, adult degenerative deformity and scoliosis, herniated discs, spinal fractures, spinal stenosis, disc arthroplasty, minimally invasive spine surgery, peripheral nerve tumor surgery and brain tumor surgery, including awake surgery for metastatic and primary brain tumors.
He completed a prestigious fellowship at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he obtained advanced clinical specialization in neurosurgical oncology with a focus on the surgical treatment of primary and metastatic spine tumors and performing awake brain tumor surgery. The recipient of multiple foundation grants for research, Dr. Zavarella started a clinical trial entitled “The brain and spinal cord tissue donation program” whereby spinal cord and brain tumor patients could donate a portion of their tumor specimen to study cell signaling mechanisms in central nervous system tumors. Dr. Zavarella’s focus is on treating neurosurgical disorders with a non-operative conservative or minimally invasive approach when possible and, when surgery is indicated, he is able to offer a wide range of minimally invasive options tailored to each patient.
Dr. Salvatore Zavarella understands the impact that missionary surgeries can have on underserved communities throughout the world. He has brought advanced surgical techniques for complex spinal deformity and scoliosis to the remote areas of the Dominican Republic and has changed the trajectory of countless young lives.
Biomedical Science
State University of New York at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY
New York College of Osteopathic Medicine
Old Westbury, NY
Hofstra North Shore LI School of Medicine
Hempstead, NY
The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
White T, Zavarella S, Jarchin L, Nardi D, Schaffer S, Schulder M. “Combined Brain Mapping and Compact Intraoperative MRI for Brain Tumor Resection.” Stereotact Funct Neurosurg. 2018; 96 (3), 172-181.
Shamik C, Zavarella S, Salas, S, Schulder M. “Intraoperative MRI for Resection of Intracranial Meningiomas.” J Exp Ther Oncol. 2017 Nov;12 (2), 157-162.
Zavarella S, Lee SH, Tatsui C, Ghia A, Amini B. Li J, Tannir N, Brown P, Rhines L. “Can the Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score Prior to Spinal Radiosurgery Predict Compression Fractures Following Stereotactic Spinal Radiosurgery for Metastatic Spinal Tumor?: A Post Hoc Analysis of Prospective Phase II. J Neurooncol. 2016
Coniglio S, Zavarella S, Symons M. “Pak1 and Pak2 mediate tumor cell invasion through distinct signaling mechanisms.” Mol Cell Biol. 2008 Jun;28(12):4162-72.
Zavarella S, Nakada M, Belverud S, Coniglio SJ, Chan A, Mittler MA, Schneider SJ, Symons M. “Role of Rac1-regulated signaling in medulloblastoma invasion. Laboratory Investigation.” J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2009 Aug;4(2):97-104.
Zavarella S, Schulder M. “Role of MRI in the resection of meningioma.” (in press)
Zavarella S, Schulder M. “Awake craniotomy with low field iMRI guidance.” (in progress)
Salvatore M Zavarella and Michael Schulder. “Intraoperative Anatomical Imaging.”Principles and Practice of Neuro-Oncology. Ed. Mehta et al. Demos Medical Publishing. NY 2011
“Brain and Spinal Cord Tissue Donation Program.” IRB approved clinical trial and GCRC funded. Over 300 patients and 320 brain/spinal cord tumor specimens were enrolled and demographic data chronicled from 2006-present. Brain Tumor Stem Cell Isolation Protocol Developed for Medulloblastoma and Glioblastoma
Initiated the grant-funded Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program in Laboratory for Brain Tumor Biology at Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Department of Oncology and Cell Biology.
Primary Investigator: Marc Symons, PhD
2005-Present
