Penn Medicine Provider
Neurosurgery
Zarina S. Ali, MD, MS, FAANS
4.9
(528)
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

529 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

Agarwal AK, Ebert JP, Xiong R, Ali ZS et al. Peer and Patient Feedback to Increase Adherence to Postoperative Opioid Prescribing Guidelines: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial , JAMA Surg : 2025

Wilson TJ, Ali ZS, Davis GA, Dengler NF, Desai K, Garozzo D, Guedes F, Jack MM, Jacques LG, Kretschmer T, Mahan MA, Midha R, Pondaag W, Puffer RC, Rasulic L, Ray WZ, Rizk E, Rodriguez-Aceves CA, Shapira Y, Smith BW, Socolovsky M, Spinner RJ, Zager EL Core outcomes in nerve surgery: development of a core outcome set for common peroneal (fibular) neuropathy , J Neurosurg, 16: 2024,1-9

Borja AJ, Karsalia R, Chauhan D, Gallagher RS, Malhotra EG, Punchak MA, Na J, McClintock SD, Marcotte PJ, Yoon JW, Ali ZS, Malhotra NR Association Between Race and Short-Term Outcomes Across 3988 Consecutive Single-Level Spinal Fusions , Neurosurgery: 2024

Wilson TJ, Ali ZS, Davis GA, Dengler NF, Desai K, Garozzo D, Guedes F, Jack MM, Jacques LG, Kretschmer T, Mahan MA, Midha R, Pondaag W, Puffer RC, Rasulić L, Ray WZ, Rizk E, Rodriguez-Aceves CA, Shapira Y, Smith BW, Socolovsky M, Spinner RJ, Zager EL Core outcomes in nerve surgery: development of a core outcome set for brachial plexus and upper extremity nerve injuries , J Neurosurg, 141(2): 2024,474-483

Dagli MM, Wathen CA, Golubovsky JL, Ghenbot Y, Arena, JD, Santangelo G, Heintz J, Ali ZS, Welch WC, Yoon JW, Arlet V, Ozturk AK Preoperative anemia is associated with increased length of stay in adult spinal deformity surgery: evaluation of a large single-center patient cohort and future suggestions for patient optimization , Spine Deformity: 2024

Mannam SS, Subtirelu R, Chauhan D, Ahmad HS, Matache IM, Bryan K, Chitta SVK, Bathula SC, Turlip R, Wathen C, Ghenbot Y, Ajmera S, Blue R, Chen HI, Ali ZS, Malhotra N, Srinivasan V, Ozturk AK, Yoon JW Large Language Model-Based Neurosurgical Evaluation Matrix: A Novel Scoring Criteria to Assess the Efficacy of ChatGPT as an Educational Tool for Neurosurgery Board Preparation , World Neurosurg, 180: 2023,e765-e773

Albayar A, Santangelo G, Spadola M, Macaluso D, Ali ZS, Saifi C, Heintz J, Han X, Bilker W, Malhotra N, Welch WC, Wathen C, Dagli MM, Ghenbot Y, Yoon J, Arlet V, Ozturk AK Comparison of Staged vs Same-Day Circumferential Spinal Fusions for Adult Spinal Deformity , Int J Spine Surg, 17(6): 2023,843-855

Agarwal AK, Xiong R, Ebert J, Shofer F, Spencer E, Lee D, Ali Z, Delgado MK Identifying Patient Characteristics Associated With Opioid Use to Inform Surgical Pain Management , Ann Surg Open, 4(4): 2023

Miranda SP, Chauhan D, Nguyen J, Zager EL, Ali ZS Common Peroneal Nerve Decompression for Slimmer’s Palsy: A Case Series with Intraoperative Stimulation , The Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting 2023, Washington, DC : 2023

Santangelo G, Wathen C, Macaluso D, Dagli MM, Ali ZS, Malhotra NR, Casper DS, Spadola M, Ghenbot Y, Thakkar K, Maze G, Welch WC, Ozturk AK Comparison of Single-Level Posterior Cervical Foraminotomy to Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion for Radiculopathy , International Journal of Spine Surgery , 17(3): 2023,418-425

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