Joe Watson, M.D.
Joe Watson, MD is a NIH fellowship trained pituitary surgeon with 20 years experience in brain protection research and has headed brain protection laboratories at the NIH and University of California, Davis.
He has published more than 30 articles in the areas of pituitary surgery, cerebrovascular disease, spinal disorders, and neuromonitoring, is a national and international speaker on these subjects and participates in annual medical missions to Guatemala.
In addition, he is the founder and President of the Pituitary Adenoma Research Foundation.
At Inova Fairfax Hospital, Dr. Watson is the Medical Director of neurosurgery and holds a teaching appointment with the VCU Inova Medical Campus.
Specialties - Cerebrovascular Disease
Since college at Stanford, Dr. Watson has been involved in research studying ways to protect the brain from damage due to stroke or head injury. He has performed research in collaboration with investigators at UCSF, UCSD, UC Davis, Virginia Commonwealth University MCV campus, NIH, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Currently he is the only VCU School of Medicine Fairfax Campus cerebrovascular surgeon at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Pituitary Tumors
While at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Watson studied pituitary disorders, especially acromegaly and Cushing’s disease. He specializes in the removal of pituitary adenomas using a technique that spares the normal pituitary gland. Dr. Watson has a laboratory that studies the genetics and behavior of these tumors and has created a non-profit organization, the Pituitary Adenoma Research Foundation (PARF) that supports pituitary research.
Spinal surgery
Dr. Watson specializes in minimally invasive spinal surgery techniques that allow patients to return to home sooner with less pain. These include endoscopic spinal fusion and muscle dilating minimally invasive discectomy techniques. Dr. Watson completed a spinal surgery proctorship with Dr. Maurice Smith in Memphis, TN, the co-inventor of the minimally invasive spinal discectomy system.
Dr. Watson is a recognized expert in neurosurgery for these techniques and is the author on the chapters for minimally invasive spinal surgery in the premier textbook in neurosurgery, “Spine Surgery”. Furthermore Dr. Watson has published on the evaluation of cervical myelopathy, and spinal dural AV fistulas, and he was the first surgeon in the Bronx, NY, to perform the lumbar artificial disc replacement.
Pediatric Neurosurgery
Dr. Watson maintains proficiency in pediatric neurosurgery by participating in medical missions to underserved countries. He has presented some of his experience at national and international meetings.