Henry Brem

Brem, a professor of neurosurgery, ophthalmology, oncology and biomedical engineering and director of the department of neurosurgery, was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He received an A.B. from New York University in 1973 and his M.D. from the Harvard Medical School where he received his in 1978. Brem completed an internship in surgery at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in 1979, a fellowship in neurosurgery and ophthalmology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1980, and a neurosurgery residency at the Neurological Institute of New York, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1984. As a student, Brem served as a research assistant in the cardiopulmonary lab at New York University Medical School from 1967 to 1970, as a pre-doctoral fellow in the microbiology department at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1971 to 1972, a pre-doctoral fellow in surgery at Children’s Hospital Medical Center from 1972 to 1978 and as a consultant at the Wilmer Eye Institute at The Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1975 to 1979. In February, 1994, Brem took part in the Harvard School of Public Health: Program for Chiefs of Clinical Service.

In 1983, Brem was appointed staff associate in neurosurgery at Columbia University. Arriving at Hopkins in 1984, he was appointed assistant professor in neurosurgery and in oncology and given an appointment in ophthalmology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. That same year, he was named director of Neurosurgical Oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Brem was promoted to associate professor of neurosurgery in 1988 and associate professor of oncology in 1989. In 1984, he was named Director of the Hunterian Neurosurgical Research Laboratory. Brem was promoted to full professor in both neurosurgery and oncology in 1993 and in 1995 was named vice chairman of the neurosurgery department. Brem was named Harvey Cushing Professor and Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Neurosurgeon-in-Chief at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in 2000. He also served as co-functional unit director of clinical neurosciences at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 2010, he was promoted to professor in biomedical engineering. In 2011, he established the Neurosurgery Pain Institute at Johns Hopkins. In 2014, an endowed professorship to advance brain tumor research was established in his name, and Brem was appointed the Henry Brem Professor in that year.

Brem’s research is focused on treatment of brain tumors, drug delivery, angiogenesis, and immunology. Brem is credited along with Robert Langer for co-inventing the Gliadel wafer, an implantable device that enables direct chemotherapy placement during brain tumor surgery. This has inspired other novel therapies such as chemotherapy cocktail delivery systems by implantable microchips and by way of electrospun fiber membranes. Brem built the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Brain Tumor Center into one of the largest brain tumor research and treatment centers in the world. He reinstituted the Hunterian Neurosurgery Laboratory, originally founded by Harvey Cushing, and has trained numerous researchers who have revolutionized the fields of intraoperative imaging, angiogenesis, immunotherapy, and controlled release polymers for drug delivery to the brain.

As of 2025, Brem has published more than 400 peer-reviewed journal articles, over sixty book chapters and several books. He has an H index of 104 with over 48,000 citations. He holds patents on fifteen medical devices and has mentored and trained many students, residents, fifteen fellows and faculty. Brem has served as an editor or on the editorial board of many journals including Neurosurgery, Neuro-Oncology, World Neurosurgery and Annals of Surgical Oncology. During his leadership of the department of neurosurgery, Brem raised over $360 million and founded twenty endowed professorships. Over twenty neurosurgery chairmen have come from the department under his leadership. He is a member of many professional societies including the American Academy of Neurological Surgery and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and was named a fellow in the American College of Surgeons. His awards include the Professor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching from The Johns Hopkins University, the New York University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Dean’s Distinguished Mentoring Award. In 1998, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and in 2000, the Society of Neurological Surgeons awarded him the Grass Award of Neurological Surgeons for meritorious research. In 2019, the neurosurgery department was ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report. Brem stepped down as chairman of neurosurgery in 2025 after serving for twenty-five years. He continues his neurosurgical brain tumor practice and is the Director of the Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery Translational Research Center and the Hunterian Research Laboratory.