Penn Medicine Provider
Neurosurgery
Zarina S. Ali, MD, MS, FAANS
4.9
(535)
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Penn Neurosurgery Bucks County
View 2 additional locations
Make an appointmentCall 215-294-9494

About me

  • Chief of Neurosurgery, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
  • Vice Chair, Clinical Operations and Quality Improvement
  • Co-Director, Penn Nerve Center
  • Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the Presbyterian Medical Center of Philadelphia
  • Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Zarina S. Ali, MD, MS, FAANS is Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Chief of Neurosurgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. She is co-director of the Penn Nerve Center and leads the Neurosurgery Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program at Penn which serves as a vehicle to deliver value-based care with a patient-centric focus. Her clinical and research expertise is in spinal and peripheral nerve surgery.

Philadelphia Magazine highlights Dr. Ali as trailblazer

First female neurosurgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital

Education and training

  • Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine
  • Residency: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

What my patients think about me

Average Rating
4.9

535 reviews

Comments are submitted by patients and reflect their views and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not necessarily reflect the views of Penn Medicine.

June 2025
5.0
5.0
very caring and knowledgeable
June 2025
5.0
5.0
caring
May 2025
5.0
5.0
she saved my life.
May 2025
5.0
5.0
they competent, kind and knowledgeable

Insurance accepted

My Locations

Penn Medicine hospital privileges

  • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Pennsylvania Hospital: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Penn Presbyterian Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Dr. Ali is a Penn Medicine physician. In New Jersey, providers are affiliated with Penn Medicine through Clinical Health Care Associates of New Jersey or Princeton Healthcare Affiliated Physicians, PC.

Qualifications and experience

My research

Smith CJ, Howard SD, Arena JD, Ghenbot YG, Ali ZS, Petrov D, Kumar MA, Schuster JM A prediction model of adenosine diphosphate inhibition among traumatic brain injury patients , Brain Inj, 11: 2025,1-7

Burrell JC, Ali ZS, Zager EL, Rosen JM, Tatarchuk MM, Cullen DK Engineering the Future of Restorative Clinical Peripheral Nerve Surgery , Adv Healthc Mater: 2025

Howard SD, Pessoa R, Costello L, Silpagar M, Gardiner D, Tambe U, Rushanan S, Joshi D, Nguyen J, Macaluso D, Malhotra NR, Welch W, Ali ZS Accuracy of RAPT Score in Predicting Discharge Disposition in Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery Within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program , Clin Spine Surg: 2025

Wilson TJ, Ali ZS, Davis GA, Dengler NF, Desai K, Garozzo D, Guedes F, Jacques LG, Kretschmer T, Mahan MA, Midha R, Puffer RC, Rasulic L, Ray WZ, Rizk E, Rodriguez-Aceves CA, Shapira Y, Socolovsky M, Spinner RJ, Zager EL Core outcomes in nerve surgery: development of a core outcome set for sciatic injury and neuropathy evaluation , J Neurosurg, 28: 2025,1-10

Ghenbot Y, Arena JD, Dagli MM, Macaluso D, Ghenbot S, Wathen C, Khela H, Ahmad HS, Santangelo G, Gobulovsky J, Wright J, Heintz J, Ali ZS, Malhotra NR, Welch WC, Yoon JW, Arlet V, Ozturk AK The influence of the magnitude of sagittal correction and local junctional factors on proximal junctional kyphosis and failure following correction of adult spinal deformity: an inverse probability weighted analysis , J Neurosurg Spine, 42(6): 2025,748-757

Hejazi-Garcia C, Howard SD, Quinones A, Malhotra NR, Yoon JW, Ozturk AK, Schuster JM, Petrov D, Hsu JY, Ali ZS The Social Deprivation Index and lumbar spine surgery outcomes , J Neurosurg Spine, 42(5): 2025,579-588

Dagli MM, Wathen CA, Golubovsky JL, Ghenbot Y, Arena JD, Heintz J, Macaluso D, Santangelo G, Ali ZS, Malhotra N, Yoon JW, Welch WC, Arlet V, Ozturk AK Intravenous tranexamic acid and reduction in blood loss and perioperative transfusion requirements in adult spinal deformity: a multicenter propensity-scored observational study , J Neurosurg Spine, 42(4): 2025,481-489

Arena JD, Ghenbot Y, Tomlinson SB, Wathen CA, Schneider ALC, Chen HI, Ali ZS, Schuster JM, Petrov D Navigated Osteosynthesis for Unstable Atlas Fractures: Technical Note and Case Series , World Neurosurg, 194: 2025

Shan E, Xiong R, Katzman M, Ali Z, Lee D, Delgado MK, Agarwal A Effect of providing at-home opioid disposal kits at discharge after an orthopaedic surgery , BMJ Open Qual, 14(1): 2025

Hejazi-Garcia C, Howard SD, Quinones A, Hsu JY, Ali ZS The association between surgical start time and spine surgery outcomes , Clin Neurol Neurosurg , 248: 2025

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