Zarina S. Ali, MD, MS, FAANS
Neurosurgery
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Penn Neurosurgery University City
View 2 additional locations
Make an appointmentCall 215-294-9494
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

627 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.

December 2025
take the time to explain and very helpful
December 2025
dr ali was very informative about the surgery i am to receive!
December 2025
recommendations from friends/colleagues who work with her.
December 2025
thorough and patient

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

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

Shultz RB, Laimo FA, Lee HH, Ali ZS, Huang R, Barnewall RE, Fetzek CG, Ledebur HC, Cullen DK, Katiyar KS A Nonhuman Primate Model to Evaluate Treatments for Long-Gap Ulnar Nerve Injury , J Neurosci Res, 103(8): 2025

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, 39(11): 2025,963-969

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

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

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

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