Danilo Otavio De Araujo Silva, MD

Danilo Otavio De Araujo Silva, MD, is a neurosurgeon and director of neurosurgery at Phelps Hospital, director of the Phelps Pituitary Center, and director of Phelps Spine Institute. He is also a faculty member of the prestigious Department of Neurosurgery at Lenox Hill Hospital."Both my parents were doctors, so that obviously led to my interest in medicine, but I also appreciated the teamwork aspect of medicine, which reminded me of when I used to play basketball," says Dr. Silva, who was born in Brazil. "I could see the intersection between medicine and team sports, and that just seemed cool to me."Dr. Silva is experienced in open and endoscopic skull base surgery, neurosurgical oncology, radiosurgery and functional neurosurgery, and treats a range of conditions, including brain tumors, gliomas, meningiomas, functioning and non-functioning pituitary adenomas, vestibular schwannomas, brain metastasis, trigeminal neuralgia, degenerative spine conditions and many others. Dr. Silva fell in love with brain anatomy during his first year in medical school at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, which led to a fascination with brain function and neurosurgery. He completed his post-residency training in the U.S. at the Cleveland Clinic, where he was awarded recognition for excellence in teaching by the graduate medical education office. He did additional postdoctoral research fellowships at Weill Cornell Medical College and Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Silva has authored various book chapters in his area of expertise and has published neurosurgical articles in publications such as Journal of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, Stroke, Surgical Neurology International and Journal of Clinical Neurosciences. He is also an assistant professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.A Portuguese, English and Spanish speaker, Dr. Silva is known for his ability to offer patients clarity in discussions about complex neurosurgical topics. Since joining Northwell in 2019, he feels that he has come full circle, back to the meaningful teamwork that he grew up with during his basketball years.That team-based approach, according to Dr. Silva, helps physicians blend evidence-based treatments with optimal patient communication and care. "At Northwell, there is so much collaboration and support, which in the end, always favors the patient." he says. "That brings out the best in everyone, and gives us a common goal, which is to provide the best patient experience and outcome."