The University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees has approved the reappointment of Joseph Cheng, MD, MS, as the Frank H. Mayfield Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery. He will remain the leader of the department until at least August 31, 2027. “We have so much positive momentum and things to do,” explains Cheng. “There is just so much positive energy, it’s hard for me to think about leaving a place like this.” 

Cheng left Yale University as the Vice Chair in 2017 to take over as the head of University of Cincinnati Department of Neurosurgery. In that time, he has been credited with a rapid rebuilding of the department. He took over the department when there was one full-time neurosurgeon on staff and he quickly assembled experts in every sub-specialty of the field to round out a full department.  

“I am most excited about the growth of our faculty and really the maturation of their practice,” states Cheng. “We have a number of people who are really coming into their own: Charlie Prestigiacomo, who is really spearheading education, Jon Forbes, who has turned out to be a really fantastic program director, Laura Ngwenya, who has created an up-and-coming neurotrauma program. We have a number of developing leaders; I could go on name after name. I want to leave a legacy behind; I want to really develop a generation of nationally known leaders.” 

As evidence of the department’s growth and stability, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education just approved a resident compliment increase, meaning the department will train two neurosurgery residents every year. “I can’t think of a better place,” says Cheng. “I don’t know if there would be a job that would give me a group of people that is collegial, the quality of care that is provided, the type of academic and scholarly activity, and just the fulfillment of being able to do all of our professional aspirations.” 

When asked what he hopes to create in the rest of his time at the helm of the University of Cincinnati department of neurosurgery, Cheng says his legacy will be that, “Medical students all over the world will covet the training that’s here in Cincinnati.”