Dr. Dominique Mario Omar Higgins, MD, PhD

Dr. Dominique Higgins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, and serves as Co-Director of Surgical Neuro-Oncology and Director of Brain Tumor Therapies.Dr. Higgins graduated from Stanford University with a dual BS/MS in Biological Sciences, and an honors specialization in Neuroscience. He then completed a dual MD/PhD program at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, appeasing both his interests in medicine and research. While at Mayo, Dr. Higgins completed his PhD thesis on glioblastoma stem cells. He went on to complete his residency training in neurosurgery at Columbia University’s Neurological Institute of New York. He then completed a brain tumor fellowship at the University of Miami, with an emphasis on awake craniotomies, functional mapping, laser ablations, stereotactic radiation/Gamma Knife, implantable brachytherapy, fluorescent and AR/VR guided surgery, and minimally invasive open and endoscopic surgical treatments for brain …tumors.He leads the Brain Tumor Translational Science Research Lab with an NIH funding focused on the treatment of malignant brain tumors, including glioblastoma. He was the Director of Adult Neurosurgical Oncology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a full member of the Lineberger Cancer Center. Dr. Higgins lead a high volume clinical program, and served as principal investigator on several brain tumor clinical trials. The Higgins lab also investigates strategies to target brain tumor metabolism through novel therapies and diet. He is the recipient of the Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Career Development Award, the American Cancer Society Clinician Scientist Development Award, the Neurosurgery Research Career Development Program Award (K12), and the NIH/NINDS Mentored Career Development Award (K01). He is an executive committee member of the Section on Tumors Research and Neurosurgery Research Education Fund (NREF) subcommittee, and co-chaired the 2025 AANS tumor scientific program.