Scholars@Duke
Steven Cook

Steven Cook

Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
steven.cook@duke.edu
DUMC 3807, Durham, NC 27710
3643 N Roxboro Street, Durham, NC 27704
Office hours

Scholarly Works

The Scarlet Letter of the Unmatched Neurosurgery Reapplicant: Trends, Opinions, and Guidance from a Nationwide Survey.

Journal article J Am Coll Surg · June 1, 2026 BACKGROUND: Increasing interest in neurosurgery residency has led to a growing number of unmatched applicants, who often struggle to find appropriate guidance for their next steps. The authors examined trends, opinions, and options available to unmatched n ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reassessing the Leadership Principles of the Duke Healthcare Leadership Model for Use in Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education.

Journal article J Healthc Leadersh · 2026 Intentional leadership development core curriculum continues to be absent in both undergraduate and graduate medical education - as opposed to elective courses and voluntary experiences. To help address this gap, a leadership model was developed from 2014 ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Surgical Coaching Program: Developing a One-on-One Technical Curriculum for Junior Neurosurgical Residents.

Journal article J Surg Educ · November 2025 OBJECTIVE: Evolving constraints on resident operative autonomy require development of efficient resident training curricula outside the operating room (OR). We introduce a one-on-one technical curriculum for junior neurosurgical residents (Surgical Coachin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intraoperative brain tumor classification via laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and machine learning.

Journal article J Neurosurg · August 1, 2025 OBJECTIVE: To optimize neurosurgical tumor resection, tissue types and borders must be appropriately identified. Authors of this study established the use of a nondestructive laser-based endogenous fluorescence spectroscopy device, "TumorID," to almost imm ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Validation of the graded prognostic assessment and recursive partitioning analysis as prognostic tools using a modern cohort of patients with brain metastases.

Journal article Neurooncol Pract · December 2024 BACKGROUND: Prognostic indices for patients with brain metastases (BM) are needed to individualize treatment and stratify clinical trials. Two frequently used tools to estimate survival in patients with BM are the recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) and ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Beyond medical knowledge: a didactic curriculum focused on knowledge, wisdom, and application.

Journal article J Neurosurg · September 1, 2024 OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether a flipped classroom curriculum coupled with case-based learning would improve residents' perceptions of the learning environment, improve education outcomes, and increase faculty engagement. Researc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Milestones for neurosurgery sub-interns: a novel evaluation tool to quantitatively differentiate residency applicants.

Journal article J Neurosurg · December 1, 2023 OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to create a novel milestones evaluation form for neurosurgery sub-interns and assess its potential as a quantitative and standardized performance assessment to compare potential residency applicants. In this pilot study, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pedicle screw placement accuracy using ultra-low radiation imaging with image enhancement versus conventional fluoroscopy in minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: an internally randomized controlled trial.

Journal article J Neurosurg Spine · February 2018 OBJECTIVE A previous study found that ultra-low radiation imaging (ULRI) with image enhancement significantly decreases radiation exposure by roughly 75% for both the patient and operating room personnel during minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar inte ... Full text Link to item Cite

Racial, Socioeconomic, and Gender Disparities in the Presentation, Treatment, and Outcomes of Adult Chiari I Malformations.

Journal article World Neurosurg · January 2017 OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of race, gender, and socioeconomic factors on presentations and outcomes of adult Chiari I malformations. METHODS: The charts of 638 adult patients with Chiari I malformations were reviewed, and 287 patients were include ... Full text Link to item Cite

Developing a model for effective leadership in healthcare: a concept mapping approach.

Journal article J Healthc Leadersh · 2017 PURPOSE: Despite increasing awareness of the importance of leadership in healthcare, our understanding of the competencies of effective leadership remains limited. We used a concept mapping approach (a blend of qualitative and quantitative analysis of grou ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Longer Delay From Chronic Pain to Spinal Cord Stimulation Results in Higher Healthcare Resource Utilization.

Journal article Neuromodulation · July 2016 INTRODUCTION: A shorter delay time from chronic pain diagnosis to spinal cord stimulation (SCS) implantation may make it more likely to achieve lasting therapeutic efficacy with SCS. The objective of this analysis was to determine the impact of pain-to-SCS ... Full text Link to item Cite

Repeat abdominal computed tomography scans after pediatric blunt abdominal trauma: missed injuries, extra costs, and unnecessary radiation exposure.

Journal article J Pediatr Surg · October 2010 PURPOSE: We hypothesized that pediatric blunt trauma patients, initially evaluated at nontrauma centers with abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans, often undergo repeat scans after transfer. This study was designed to quantify this phenomenon, assess co ... Full text Link to item Cite