Johanna T Fifi, MD

Dr. Fifi is a board-certified neuroendovascular surgeon and a Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Radiology. She is also Associate Director of the Cerebrovascular Center, Co-Director of the Pediatric Neuroendovascular Program, and Co-Director of the Neuroendovascular Surgery Fellowship Program. Dr. Fifi specializes in the endovascular treatment of cerebrovascular disorders in both adults and children, including stroke, intracranial and carotid stenosis, brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations and fistulas of the brain and spine, and pre-operative embolization of tumors, vein of Galen malformations, as well as craniofacial vascular lesions.

Born in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Fifi earned a combined biomedical engineering and medical degree from the Boston University School of Medicine. She performed her medicine internship and neurology residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Fifi completed a clinical fellowship in stroke and cerebrovascular disorders at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. While at the NIH, she was co-investigator of several phase II and phase III clinical trials for treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Dr. Fifi then trained in Interventional Neuroradiology at Washington Hospital Center and at Columbia University. After her neurointerventional training, Dr. Fifi completed further studies in pediatric neurointervention under the tutelage of Alejandro Berenstein, MD at Mount Sinai West. During this period, she was invited to join the neuroendovascular group as a staff physician where she has developed a clinical practice taking care of patients with vascular disorders of the brain, spine, head and neck. Dr. Fifi continues her clinical research as an investigator in several multi-center trials.

Dr. Fifi has published her research in peer-reviewed journals and has presented her work at national and international meetings, including the International Stroke Conference. She is a member of the American Stroke Association, Society for Vascular and Interventional Neurology (SVIN), and Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery. She is currently a member of the national board of the SVIN. She is an elected fellow of both the American Heart Association and the SVIN. She is currently President-Elect of SNIS.

From Day 6 to Year 6: Read about how Dr. Fifi and Dr. Tomoyoshi Shigematsu assisted Dr. Alejandro Berenstein in curing a child of his vein of Galen malformation with 16 neurovascular embolizations over the course of six years in the 2020 Neurology & Neurosurgery Specialty Report.