William C. Welch, MD, FAANS, FACS, FICS, FAANOS

faculty photo
Frederick A. Simeone Professor in Neurosurgery
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Pennsylvania Hospital
Neurosurgery Staff, Pennsylvania Hospital Philadelphia, PA
Neurosurgery Staff, Hospital of The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA
member, Executive Committee Pennsylvania Hospital Philadelphia, PA
member, Operating Room Committee Pennsylvania Hospital
Member , Center for Bloodless Medicine, Pennsylvania Hospital
Chairman, Neurosurgery Committee on Academic Promotions (dCOAP)
Chairman , Department of Neurosurgery Pennsylvania Hospital
Co-Chair, Spine Committee, Pennsylvania Hospital
Member, Clinical Competency Committee (UPHS Department of Neurosurgery Residency Review)
staff, Neurosurgery Staff Penn Presbyterian Hospital Philadelphia,PA
Director, MS 200 Neurosurgery Rotation Pennsylvania Hospital
member, Bioengineering Graduate Group, School of Bioengineering University of Pennsylvania
Co-Developer, Perelman School of Medicine relationship with Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Medical Director , Spine Center at Pennsylvania Hospital
Vice Chair, Academic Affairs, Department of Neurosurgery
Vice-Chair, Faculty Affairs, Department of Neurosurgery
Department: Neurosurgery
Contact information
Department of Neurosurgery
Pennsylvania Hospital
801 Spruce Street
8th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Office: 215-829-6700
Fax: 215-829-3361
Email: william.welch@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Graduate Group Affiliations
Education:
B.S (BS-MD program)
The City College of New York , 1983.
 M.D.
State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, 1985.
Post-Graduate Training
Intern General Surgery, University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, N.Y, 1985-1986.
 Resident, Neurological Surgery, University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, N.Y., 1986-1991.
 Fellowship, Neuro-oncology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y., 1991-1992.
 Fellowship, Spinal Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Weiler Hospital, Bronx, N.Y., 1992-1993.
Certifications
American Board of Neurological Surgeons, 1995.
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Description of Research Expertise

Tarlov Cysts
Large Language Models
Spinal stenosis
Spinal biomechanics
Spinal outcomes

Description of Clinical Expertise

All aspects of spinal surgery (over 15,000 surgeries)

Selected Publications

Albayar A, Mensah-Brown K, Spadola M, Johnson M, Leibowitz L, Ali AS, Saifi C, Malhotra NR, Welch WC, Arlet V, Ozturk AK: Staging circumferential spinal fusions for adult spinal deformities adds admission costs without improving postoperative outcomes. JMIR Research Protocol 2025.

 Howard SD, Pessoa R, Costello L, Silpagar M, Gardiner D, Tambe U, Rushanan S, Josi D, Nguyen J, Macaluso D, Malhotra NR, Welch WC, Ali ZS: Accuracy of RAPT score in predicting discharge disposition in patients undergoing spine surgery within an enhanced recovery after surgery program. Clinical Spine Surg 134, 2025 Notes: 10.1097/BSD.0000000000001810.

 Sussman JH, Budihal BR, Gujral J, Santangelo G, Wathen CA, Ghenbot Y, Arena JD, Golubovsky JL, Gu BJ, Yoon JW, Ozturk AO, Anari J, Winkelstein B, Welch WC: Development and validation of a keypoint region-based convolutional neural network to automate thoracic cobb angle measurements using whole-spine standing radiographs. Nature Scientific Reports 13, 2025.

 Dagli MM, Wathen C, Golubovsky JL, Ghenbot Y, Arena J, Santangelo G, Heintz J, Welch WC, Yoon J, Arlet V, Ozturk AK: Preoperative anemia is associated with increased length of stay in adult spinal deformity surgery: evaluation of a large single-center patient cohort and future suggestions for patient optimization. Spine Deformity 13: 625-637, 2025 Notes: 10.1007/s43390-024-01003-w.

 Dagli MM, Turlip RW, Oettl FC, Emara M, Gujral J, Chauhan D, Ahmad HS, Santangello G, Wathen CA, Ghenbot Y, Arena JD, Golubovsky JL, Gu B, Yoon JW, Ozturk AK, Welch WC: Comparison of outcomes between staged and same-day circumferential spinal fusion for adult spinal deformity: systematic review and meta-analysis. Interactive Journal of Medical Research 14: e6729, 2025 Notes: 10.2196/67290.

 Elsamadicy AA, Cross J, Reeves BC, Shaffer A, McGuire LS, Welch WC, Arnold PM, Rosenow JM: Characteristics of reported industry payment to Neurosurgeons from 2019-2022: the impact of COVID-19. J Clin Neurosci 134, 2025 Notes: 10/1016/j.jocn.2025.111089.

 Dagli MM, Ghenbot Y, Ahmad HS, Chauhan D, Turlip R, Wang P, Welch WC, Ozturk AK, Yoon JW: Development and validation of a novel AI framework using NLP with LLM integration for relevant clinical data extraction through automated chart review. Nature Scientific Reports 14: 26783, 2025 Notes: 10.1038/s41598-024-77535-y.

 Sussman JH, Dagli MM, Wald SL, Akhtar SS, Natan K, Xu JA, Li A, Dawson B, Welch WC: Exploring the experiences of patients with rare diseases in Pennsylvania: a community-based study. Public Health Reports 134, 2025 Notes: 10.1177/00333549251362711.

 Ghenbot Y, Arena J, Dagli MM, Macaluso DM, Ghenbot S, Wathen C, Khela H, Ahmad H, Santangelo G, Golugobsky J, Wright J, Heintz J, Ali Z, Malhotra NR, Welch WC, Yoon J, Arlet V, Ozturk AK: The influence of the magnitude of sagittal correction and local junctional factors on proximal junctional kyphosis and failure following correction of adult spinal deformity: an inverse probability weighted analysis. Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine 13, 2025 Notes: 10.3171/2024.12.SPINE24899.

 Dagli MM, Wathen CA, Golubovsky JL, Ghenbot J, Arena J, Heintz J, Macaluso D, Santangelo G, Ali Z, Malhotra NR, Yoon J, Welch WC, Arlet V, Ozturk A. : Intravenous tranexamic acid reduces blood loss and perioperative transfusion requirements in adult spinal deformity: a propensity-scored observational study. Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine 7: 1-9, 2025.
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Last updated: 08/04/2025
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