Sandeep Kunwar

Sandeep Kunwar, MD Medical Director - Board certified in neurosurgery and renowned for his work in minimally invasive neurosurgery, Dr. Kunwar is co-medical director of the Gamma Knife® Program, the centerpiece of Washington Health’s Bell Neuroscience Institute of Silicon Valley.

In addition to his focus on Gamma Knife radiosurgery, Dr. Kunwar specializes in minimally invasive brain and spine surgery. His innovative work in these fields and pioneering research in drug delivery to the brain have brought him national and international recognition. He has performed more than 1,500 minimally invasive operations, and has developed a minimally-invasive approach to skull-based tumors, applying this approach to maximize recovery for transcranial and spine patients as well.

In addition to his leadership of the Gamma Knife program, he serves as medical director of the Institute’s Transphenoidal Center and co-medical director of its Movement Disorders Program.

Dr. Kunwar is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha medical society and a recipient of the Preuss Resident Research Award and the Ronald Bittner Tumor Award from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. He has served as the lead principal investigator in a number of international multi-institutional clinical trials, including the largest surgical based drug trial for brain tumors (PRECISE trial).

In 2006, Dr. Kunwar began his private practice in Fremont, California, and joined the medical community at Washington Health. He also continues to serve as Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, which he joined in 1999. While there, he developed one of the busiest surgical programs in San Francisco and was selected by world-renowned neurosurgeon, Charles Wilson, MD, to take over his pituitary surgery practice after his retirement. Dr. Kunwar received his medical degree and neurosurgical training at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.