Ammar H. Hawasli, MD, PhD
Ammar H. Hawasli, MD, PhD, has joined Meritas Health Neurosurgery. He had been a staff neurosurgeon at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Saint Louis Children’s Hospital since 2016. He joins board-certified Stephen L. Reintjes Jr., MD, who came to the practice two years ago.
Dr. Hawasli’s training and experience will expand the practice’s spectrum of neurosurgical care. He provides surgery for brain and spinal diseases, injuries and tumors. He also has expertise in performing complex spine surgery, using a minimally invasive approach and providing enhanced recovery after surgery.
Passions
“My goal is to provide compassionate, effective, state-of-the art care to all of my patients to achieve the best possible outcomes,” said Dr. Hawasli, who is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery.
He said he “fell in love with neurosurgery” for three reasons. “First, neurological diseases have a debilitating impact on patients. It affects their function, their daily life and how they identify themselves. I wanted to make a big impact on their lives,” Dr. Hawasli said. “Second, the mystery of the brain and spinal cord are of interest to me because the field provides a combination of the science and art of medicine. Third, I love how the field is always evolving and progressing because so much is yet unknown.”
Training
He distinguished himself by earning his bachelor’s degree in chemistry, magna cum laude, from Washington University and his combined medical and doctorate in philosophy degrees from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Dr. Hawasli was a neurological surgery resident and chief resident and then a fellow in complex spine surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. During his residency, he was a specialist neurosurgery registrar (resident) at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.
After completing his fellowship in 2017, he joined the Washington University faculty as an assistant professor of neurosurgery, biomedical engineering, orthopedic surgery and neuroscience. He also served as director of the Enhanced Recovery After Spine Surgery Program and neurosurgery liaison for Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Trauma Performance Improvement Committee from 2018-2020.