Timothy Witham

Timothy F Witham, MD, FACS, FAANS, is a Professor of Neurological Surgery and Section Chief of Spine Surgery at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He is also the Director of The University of Chicago Neurosurgery Spinal Fusion Laboratory.



Dr Witham earned his BS in Biochemistry with Honors at The Pennsylvania State University and was the top graduate in the College of Science serving as the student marshal for the college at his graduation. Witham was a four-year letter winner in varsity swimming and was a GTE First Team Academic All-American as well as Penn State's McCoy Award winner given to the university's top male student athlete. He earned his MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine graduating AOA and in the top 5 in his class. Dr Witham completed his internship in general surgery and residency in Neurological Surgery at The University of Pittsburgh. After serving for 4 years in the United States Air Force and winning a Meritorious Service Medal, he completed a clinical fellowship in Complex Spinal Surgery and Spinal Oncology at Johns Hopkins University. Dr Witham stayed on faculty there for over 20 years serving as an Endowed Full Professor and The Director of The Johns Hopkins Bayview Neurosurgery Spine Program, the Associate residency program director for 10 years, and The Director of The Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery Spinal Fusion Laboratory.



Dr Witham won the Chairman's Award for Teaching and The Resident's Award for teaching while at Johns Hopkins in Neurosurgery. He is a busy surgeon performing over 250 surgical cases per year with expertise in complex spinal surgery, spinal oncology and augmented reality as it pertains to spinal surgery. He is a pioneer in augmented reality(AR) as applied to spinal surgery and was the first in The United States to perform surgery on a patient using Augmented Reality guidance. He speaks nationally and internationally on this topic. He has published numerous manuscripts on AR and overall has published over 325 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr Witham has a research interest in improving outcomes of spinal fusion surgery and has a patent pending for a novel biomimetic bone graft. He currently serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Neurosurgery Spine and has served as a reviewer for multiple other journals. He has served on The Board of Directors of The Lumbar Spine Research Society.