Robert Solomon grew up and attended high school in Baltimore, Maryland.  He graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1976.  A 1980 graduate of the John’s Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Solomon has spent his professional career uninterrupted at the Neurological Institute of New York, jointly affiliated with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York Presbyterian Hospital.  There he has progressed through the ranks as a surgical intern, a neurosurgical resident, and faculty member of the Department of Neurological Surgery.  In September 1997 he was named the Byron Stookey Professor and Chairman of the department.

Dr. Solomon has carried out extensive research in cerebrovascular diseases.  In the laboratory, early in his career, he developed small animal models of subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral vasospasm, and stroke.  His work was the first to outline the blood flow changes in the brain microcirculation that accompany ruptured cerebral aneurysms.  He also did pioneering laboratory work on the value of hypothermia in protecting the brain from stroke, and then developed those concepts into a clinical program for deep hypothermic circulatory arrest for the management of complex brain aneurysms.

His clinical research has been focused on the management of patients with brain aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations.    His most important research contribution has been the identification of the blood volume deficit that occurred in patients that developed delayed strokes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.  This work led to the now universally adopted practice of early aneurysm surgery for ruptured brain aneurysms, followed by intravenous volume expansion therapy for the prevention and treatment of delayed cerebral ischemia.   Dr. Solomon’s ability to combine both basic research and investigations with clinical importance is recognized nationally and internationally as evidenced by his extensive bibliography and history of NIH research support.

Currently, Dr. Solomon’s surgical practice is limited to patients with cerebral aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, and carotid artery stenosis.  His special interests are in the identification and definitive treatment of these diseases before rupture and before the onset of devastating neurological problems.  As chairman, Dr. Solomon is especially proud of the outstanding team of physicians he has assembled to handle the most complex neurosurgical problems with minimal invasion and the highest degree of safety, arguably the best such department in the country.

Dr. Solomon is a past Director and Chairman of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, and a past President of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery, the Society of University Neurosurgeons, and the New York State Neurosurgical Society.  Currently Dr. Solomon is on the Executive Council of the Society of Neurological Surgeons.