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Meet Neurosurgeon Mark Bilsky

Mark Bilsky is a neurosurgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering and Chief of the Multidisciplinary Spine Tumor Service. Learn about his expertise in treating patients with spine tumors and spinal cancer.
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Mark H. Bilsky, MD

Mark H. Bilsky, MD

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Spine tumors and spinal cancer
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Get to Know Me

I have been a neurosurgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering my entire career, since completing neurosurgical residency and spine fellowship in 1995. I specialize in the care of patients with primary and metastatic tumors of the spine and spinal cord.

I am the director of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Multidisciplinary Spine Tumor Center, which evaluates and treats over 1,500 spine tumors a year. Our goal is to create an individualized treatment plan for each patient that is most effective for improving neurologic function and mobility, stabilizing the spine, controlling tumor growth, and ultimately improving quality of life. Every member of our team specializes in spine tumors. This group of experts from different areas meets weekly to discuss individual patients’ cases and optimize the delivery of timely, coordinated care. These efforts have helped us develop treatment models that include advanced radiation techniques, surgery, and interventional procedures. These models have been adapted by many centers worldwide.

I operate on more than 150 spine and spinal cord tumors each year, but the majority of patients can be effectively treated non-invasively with stereotactic radiation therapy, an advanced type of external radiation therapy that delivers extremely precise, very intense doses of radiation to eliminate tumors. Additionally, many patients can benefit from proton beam therapy, which uses proton particles instead of x-rays to kill cancer cells and keep nearby tissue healthy. Sometimes radiation is combined with percutaneous kyphoplasty, a technique in which a radiologist inserts bone cement into a vertebra through a minimally invasive procedure in order to provide support and relieve pain.

For patients who require open surgery, we have made enormous strides in treatment. We’ve developed and refined tumor-specific surgeries, such as separation surgery, that are much less invasive and require shorter operating times than previously used techniques. Combining separation surgery with radiosurgery has revolutionized our ability to provide effective tumor control, reduce complications, shorten hospital stays, and return patients to systemic therapy quickly.

I am the author of more than 170 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and a lead author of the book Tumors of the Spine. I have delivered over 300 lectures across the United States and internationally. I am also on the editorial board of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Neurosurgery, and Annals of Surgical Oncology.

I often meet people at a really complicated time in the course of their illness and know that placing trust in a new physician is not easy. For those reasons, I consider it an absolute privilege to be a part of their care and work hard to make them feel cared for and safe.

Outside of work, I love spending time with my wife and daughter. We are all avid runners, although they are significantly more talented than I am. Over the past five years, I have also been involved in efforts to prevent sports-related concussions.

What I Do at MSK

I'm a spine neurosurgeon, which is a doctor with special training in surgery on the spine.

  • William E. Snee Chair
  • Vice Chairman of Clinical Affairs, Neurosurgery
  • Chief, Multi-Disciplinary Spine Tumor Service
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Spine tumors and spinal cancer
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, Emory University

Residencies

  • Neurosurgery - New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center

Fellowships

  • Neurological Surgery - University of Louisville

Board Certifications

  • Neurological Surgery

Awards and Honors

  • Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctor (2025)
  • Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctor (2024)
  • Top Doctors New York Metro Area, Castle Connolly (2023)
  • Castle Connolly: New York Magazine Best Doctors (2005-2020)
  • Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctors (2005-2020)
  • America’s Top Doctors for Cancer (2005-2020)
  • Patient’s Choice Award (2011-2012, 2014)
  • Compassionate Doctor Recognition (2011-2015)
  • Super Doctors, New York Times Magazine (2008-2016)
  • Orthopedics This Week: Top 28 spine surgeons in the US (2014)
  • Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence, MSK (2014)

Insurance Information

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If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

Make an Appointment

Current Patients
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Contact and Location

Dr. Bilsky sees patients at one location.

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
1275 York Avenue New York NY 10065

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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Neurosurgery doctors

Clinical Trials

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Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

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Research and Publications

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Bilsky’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Mark H. Bilsky discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Brainlab
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Globus Medical
    Intellectual Property Rights
  • icotec Medical, Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities
  • UptoDate
    Professional Services and Activities

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.


This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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