Zarina S. Ali, MD, MS, FAANS
Neurosurgery
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Penn Neurosurgery University City
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Make an appointmentCall 215-294-9494
Headshot of Zarina S. Ali, MD, MS, FAANS
Penn Medicine Provider

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: University of Pennsylvania Health System

What my patients think about me

Average Rating

669 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.

February 2026
she is very knowledgeable and caring
February 2026
competent providers
February 2026
great experience
February 2026
explained everything

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

Treatments and Conditions

My research

Golubovsky JL, Gu BJ, Massaad E, Dagli MM, Crabill GA, Ghenbot Y, Arena J, Shost M, Welch WC, Ali Z, Judy B, Malhotra NR, Shin JH, Ozturk AK Radiographic Predictors of Lumbar Disc Re-Herniation Requiring Repeat Discectomy or Fusion - A Matched Retrospective Cohort Analysis , Spine J, 2: 2026

Wilson TJ, Ali ZS, Davis GA, Dengler NF, Desai K, Garozzo D, Guedes F, Heinen CPG, Hong J, Jacques LG, Jitpun E, Kretschmer T, Mahan MA, Midha R, Pondaag W, Puffer RC, Rasulic L, Ray WZ, Rizk E, Rodriguez-Aceves CA, Saadeh YS, Shapira Y, Socolovsky M, Spinner RJ, Zager EL Core outcomes in nerve surgery: development of a core outcome set for lateral femoral cutaneous neuropathy , J Neurosurg, 9: 2026,1-9

Santangelo G, Sollenberger C, Wathen C, Macaluso D, Dagli MM, Ghenbot Y, Gu B, Malhotra N, Ali Z, Yoon JW, Welch WC, Judy B, Ozturk AK Patient factors rather than surgical approach are associated with readmission and reoperation for cervical spondylotic myelopathy , J Spine Surg, 1(12): 2026

Laimo FA, Lee HH, Tatarchuk MM, Browne KD, Ali ZS, Cullen DK Multimodal Predictors of Muscle and Nerve Recovery: A Regression-Based Analysis , American Society for Peripheral Nerve annual meeting: 2026

Das S, Gordián-Vélez WJ, Dave JR, Ali ZS, Ledebur HC, Cullen DK The nerve center of organ engineering , Nature Commun, 16(1): 2025,9834

Turlip RW, Ghenbot Y, Chauhan D, Dagli MM, Ahmad HS, Kincaid J, Kim RJ, Shin J, Judy B, Ali Z, Petrov D, Malhotra N, Ozturk AK, Welch WC, Yoon JW Endoscopic Decompression and Resection for Complex Spinal Tumors: A Paradigm Shift , Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) Annual Forum : 2025

Ghenbot Y, Turlip RW, Howard S, Arena JD, Dagli MM, Ahmad HS, Petrov D, Shammassian B, Ali Z, Schuster JM Osteotomy of a Congenital Paracondylar Process: 2-Dimensional Operative Video , Oper Neurosurg: 2025

Hejazi-Garcia C, Howard SD, Gabriel ED, Ferriby L, Rushanan S, McWilliams T, Ali ZS The association between prehabilitation participation and spine surgery outcomes , Clin Neurol Neurosurg, 256: 2025

Burrell JC, Ali ZS, Zager EL, Rosen JM, Tatarchuk MM, Cullen DK Engineering the Future of Restorative Clinical Peripheral Nerve Surgery , Adv Healthc Mater, 14(20): 2025

Agarwal AK, Ebert JP, Xiong R, Ali ZS, Lee D, Shofer F, Gitelman Y, Do D, Spencer EA, Grenader EM, Li F, Harhay MO, Delgado MK Peer and Patient Feedback to Increase Adherence to Postoperative Opioid Prescribing Guidelines: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial , JAMA Surg , 160(8): 2025,866-874

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