Murat Günel, MD

Murat Günel, MD, is chair of the department of neurosurgery at Yale School of Medicine, where he is the Sterling Professor of Neurosurgery and a professor of neurobiology and genetic. He serves as neurosurgeon-in-chief of the Yale-New Haven Health System, chair of the Yale Medicine Board, co-director of the Yale Program on Neurogenetics, and director of the Yale Program in Brain Tumor Research.

His clinical expertise lies in complex cranial microneurosurgery and his scientific work aims to understand disorders of brain development, vascular function, and tumor biology and translate insights into neurosurgical strategies that restore neurological function. His research has discovered causes of and potential therapeutic targets to address lissencephaly and cortical malformations. He also contributed to foundational work identifying genetic causes of autism spectrum disorder in collaboration with the State Lab. In meningiomas, Dr. Günel’s group identified molecular subtypes defined by genetic mutations and demonstrated how epigenetic changes and enhancer reprogramming contribute to tumor progression. His team has characterized the clinical and anatomical correlates of these subtypes, enabling refined surgical planning and risk stratification. In gliomas, his research has described the malignant transformation of IDH1-mutant lower-grade gliomas into glioblastomas, driven by recurrent alterations in MYC, PTEN, and cell cycle regulators. His lab has also advanced the understanding of intracranial aneurysms through both population-based and familial genetic studies.

In 2015, Dr. Günel was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), which jointly honored him in 2022 with the Ralph G. Dacey Medal for Outstanding Cerebrovascular Research. In 2021, he received the WINN Award from the Society of Neurological Surgeons for sustained contributions to neuroscience research. Dr. Günel previously served as Chair of the AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section and has been elected to the Society of Neurological Surgeons and the Academy of Neurological Surgeons. In 2020, he was recognized by the Turkish Academy of Arts and Sciences for Outstanding Achievement in Health and Life Sciences.