Biography
Dr. Wajd Al-Holou was raised in southeast Michigan. After attending the University of Michigan Medical School, where he graduated with the highest award for research, he then began a 7-year Neurosurgery residency at the University of Michigan. Upon completion of residency in 2016, he completed a Complex Neurosurgical Oncology Fellowship at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. His training focused on the management of complex brain tumors, spinal tumors, and skull base malignancies.
Dr. Al-Holou specializes in the management of complex brain tumors, primarily focusing on gliomas and metastases to the brain. Dr. Al-Holou has expertise in the use of awake mapping techniques, microsurgery, and image-guidance to maximize tumor removal in the safest possible manner. He also specializes in the management of meningiomas and spinal tumors.
Dr. Al-Holou is the co-founder and co-director of the Michigan Medicine Multidisciplinary Brain Tumor Clinic (M3BTC). As a member of this Neuro-Oncology multidisciplinary team, he works strategically to ensure personalized treatment recommendations that will maximize the benefits for each individual patient.
Currently, he is a member of the AANS/CNS Executive Committee of the Section on Tumors. He served as the Co-Chair for Tumor Section Scientific Program for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) in 2018 and is a member of the Society of Neuro-Oncology. He also serves as an editor for cancer journal, BMC Cancer.
Dr. Al-Holou is committed to research and education in Neurosurgery and his life-long goal is improving the survival and outcomes for patients with tumors. His research interest focuses primarily on understanding the genetic mechanisms of recurrence in glioblastoma, and in identifying precision medicine therapies to target resistant tumors.
Areas of Interest
Research
In the Al-Holou Brain Tumor Microenvironment Lab, they work at the intersection of spatial biology, genetics, cutting-edge therapeutics, and patient care. They are committed to identifying new treatments to improve the survival and outcomes of patients with brain tumors. In the lab, they utilize state-of-the-art genetic technology with advanced laboratory modeling to push the boundaries of this field and define new vulnerabilities in the microenvironment of brain cancers, and develop new precision medicine targeted therapies.
Visit the lab website here.
Clinical Interests
Complex brain tumors, glioblastomas, gliomas, brain metastases, functional brain mapping, meningiomas, spinal tumors, functional outcomes for patients with brain tumors, and radiosurgery.
Credentials
Undergraduate
University of Detroit Mercy, 2003
Medical School
The University of Michigan Medical School, 2009
Residency
Neurosurgery, The University of Michigan Medical School, 2016
Fellowship
Complex Neurosurgical Oncology Fellowship, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, 2017
Published Articles or Reviews
A list of Dr. Al-Holou's recent publications is located here.
