Dr. Maxwell Boakye is a Neurosurgeon-scientist, Tenured Professor of Neurosurgery, Chief of Spinal Neurosurgery, Associate Dean for Physician-Scientist Training, and Co-Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Louisville. He specializes in complex spinal neurosurgery, minimally invasive and endoscopic spine surgery, spinal radiosurgery, and the surgical management of spinal cord injury. Before joining UofL in 2011, he served as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University from 2003 to 2011. At UofL, Dr. Boakye has held multiple leadership roles, including Director of Quality Improvement, Director of the Spinal Neurosurgery Fellowship, Interim Director and Acting Co-Director of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, and Co-Director of the Professional Development Core for UofL’s Clinical and Translational Research grant. His research focuses on developing treatments and biomarkers for spinal cord injury using rodent, porcine, and human studies. His laboratory and clinical research programs investigate novel MRI- and ultrasound-guided biomarkers of spinal cord injury, therapeutic cerebrospinal fluid drainage for hemodynamic management after acute spinal cord injury, and neuromodulatory strategies to restore function after paralysis. He has served for more than a decade as the lead neurosurgeon for UofL’s epidural stimulation research program and has been the Principal Site Investigator for multiple acute spinal cord injury clinical trials. His work has been supported by the NIH, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Defense, and reflects a longstanding commitment to advancing translational spinal cord injury research and training the next generation of physician-scientists.