Biography

Dr. Kelly is internationally recognized in the field of minimally invasive endonasal and transcranial removal of brain, pituitary and skull base tumors. He has published extensively on the topics of surgical outcomes, patient satisfaction and complication avoidance for a wide range of brain and skull base pathology including pituitary adenomas, craniopharyngiomas, meningiomas, Rathke’s cleft cysts, chordomas, schwannomas, sinus carcinomas and gliomas. Combining keyhole surgical approaches, endoscopy and surgical navigation techniques, he has helped push this highly specialized area of neurosurgery toward progressive minimalization and better patient outcomes. With over 1,000 endonasal surgeries, he has one of the largest patient series world-wide using the direct endonasal transsphenoidal approach. His specialized instrumentation for endonasal skull base surgery is being increasingly used both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Kelly is the author or co-author of over 60 peer-reviewed publications and a dozen book chapters. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Neurosurgery. He is an active member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the Pituitary Society. He is also a member of the recently appointed Pituitary Adenoma Treatment Guidelines Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

His research interests are in the fields of minimally invasive surgery, quality of life studies, pituitary hormonal recovery and traumatic brain injury. He was recently the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health funded study assessing pituitary hormonal loss after head injury . He is currently the co-principal investigator of a study on the impact of repeat concussion on pituitary hormonal function in retired National Football League players (read more). He is also active in fostering the development of neurosurgical training programs in under-served areas of the world and is on the Board of the Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery (FIENS).

Dr. Kelly, completed neurosurgical residency training at George Washington University Medical Center in 1993. He joined UCLA and Harbor-UCLA Medical Centers that same year and in 1998 became director of the UCLA Pituitary Tumor and Neuroendocrine Program. Before leaving UCLA in June 2007, he was Professor of Neurosurgery and Vice-Chief of Clinical Affairs for the Division of Neurosurgery and Co-Director of the UCLA Clinical Brain Injury Program.

Dr. Kelly’s new neurosurgical partner as of October 1st, 2009 is Dr. Amin Kassam, who is the Director of the newly established Saint John's Neuroscience Institute. With Dr. Kelly as director of the Brain Tumor Center and Dr. Kassam as Director of the Neuroscience Institute, they will focus their combined efforts on providing comprehensive care and minimally invasive surgery for patients with brain, pituitary and skull base disorders, as well as on neuroscience and neuro-oncology research, fellowship training in minimally invasive neurosurgery and on patient education and support. fellowship training in minimally invasive intracranial surgery.