David Darrow, MD

An amazing time in lisbon at the international neuromodulation society #ins2026 with amazing talks, friends, colleagues and hope for our patients with #pain, #depression #paralysis epilepsy stroke and more So can we do even better in Minnesota? We will continue to take it to the next level @umntwincities @umn_neurosurgery

Great time at #AANS2026 with amazing students and residents representing @umn_neurosurgery @florajyang @isabela.pena94

Amazing chat between my colleague Dr. Park and #dbs pioneer Dr. Benebid #umnneurosurgery #aans2026

Important paper on stereotactic radiosurgery for refractory cluster headache. The clinical results are useful: most patients had meaningful pain improvement after treatment, but recurrence was common over time. In this series, satisfactory pain control occurred in 79% of procedures after a median of 4 months, but pain recurred in 80% of those who initially improved, after a median of 27 months. That time course may be the most interesting part. Pain circuits are not abnormal circuits. They are normal physiologic circuits involved in sensation, autonomic function, arousal, and protection. In cluster headache, those circuits may become dysregulated. When radiosurgery produces relief and then symptoms return months or years later, it raises an important mechanistic question: are the circuits adapting around the lesion, or is the radiation effect itself changing as tissue recovers over time? Either way, this kind of long-term outcome data helps us understand not just whether a treatment works, but how pain-related networks respond, recover, and reorganize. Article: Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Cluster Headache: A Single Center Retrospective Study [/10.1227/neu.0000000000003725] #ClusterHeadache #Neurosurgery #PainMedicine #FunctionalNeurosurgery #Radiosurgery #Neuromodulation #HeadacheMedicine #ChronicPain

While it was certainly different to attend a spine conference #spinesummit as a pain and functional neurosurgeon, I was honored to contribute to the stellar momentum for the future of functional in spine surgery brought about by a fantastic course led by @dpfields2 @yiluspine and @josephneimat Modulating the spinal cord for #spinalcordinjury amongst many other disorders is just the beginning for a true partnership of functional and spine. @aansneuro @spinesection

Anesthesia dolorosa isn’t always “complete numbness.” There may be a spectrum of deafferentation — where partial sensory disruption still drives central pain. If residual afferents remain, could we modulate thalamic circuitry through them? Our case report explores trigeminal ganglion stimulation as one step in that direction. From @crinamirelap And @kawtharanisarah 🔗 Link in bio #Neurosurgery #Neuromodulation #FacialPain #PainScience

Thank you @u2fp for inviting me to talk about the future of #neuromodulation for #spinalcordinjury. It is always a different view from the stage! @u2fp put together such a compelling program with @roadreck weaving together a plan for SCI advocacy culminating today with the descent on the capital. Such an amazing group at this meeting.

Today, we’re talking to Dr. David Darrow for a second time. Check out episode 30 for our first discussion back in 2019. David is a neurosurgeon and assistant professor in the departments of neurosurgery and psychiatry at the University of Minnesota. Many of you will also know that he is a researcher and the primary investigator of the successful and ongoing E-STAND clinical trial, which uses epidural stimulation and optimization protocols for delivering functional outcomes for the SCI community. We discussed the E-STAND trial, how it’s progressing, and highlights from its now eight years of running. We also talk about the FDA and the quandary of determining what is meaningful in the eyes of research participants, as well as with regulators. And we get into spinal cord stimulation data sharing, the exciting horizon of combinatorial therapies, and much, much more. As you will hear on this call, David is a smart, innovative, forward-thinking ally of the SCI community. Link in bio‼️ #estand #fda #spinalcordinjury #spinalcordresearch #scirecovery

Thank you to @apdamn for inviting me to talk about the history and future of #neuromodulation for #Parkinsons especially nonmotor up in #duluth in this beautiful fall 🍂 @mndrive_brain @umn_neurosurgery

Congratulations 🎉 to @crinamirelap Sanjay Dhawan and Dr. Tummala 3rd place winners at the #2025cns #cns2025 SANS competition! @umn_neurosurgery

Celebrating another year of #molliday missing Dr. Hubbard but with a 5k. @umn_neurosurgery

Meet Mike *30+ years severe depression *first hospitalized @ 13y *20 meds *3 rounds of ECT *2 near-fatal suicide attempts Mike felt joy for the first time in decades after we turned on his new brain pacemaker or PACE see paper in profile link Using Precision Functional Mapping (PFM) we mapped Mike’s unique brain networks. @drdamienfair We found his salience network was 4× larger than normal - it encroached on mood and attention systems. Now with PFM, prior cortical stim work by Ziad Nagas @umnpsychiatry for depression could be patient specific. We developed the end-to-end minimally invasive PACE solution used to place electrodes directly on Mike's salience, default, fronto-parietal, and action mode networks. At home, we used Bayes Tuning, an optimization procedure to refine and personalize stimulation settings. @ 7 weeks → suicidal thoughts gone. @ 6 Months → depression in full remission. @ 30 months later → Mike is still well. As a bonus some of if cognitive skills improved!! This is the future. The reality of biological #psychiatry. We listen to the patient, create a personalized map of their brain, use algorithms to disrupt stuck networks, and adapt the stimulation over time while continuing our quest to understand those networks. @umn_neurosurgery And it isn't about invasive stimulation. It is a tool that we have amongst many and has its uses. But at the same time it sets the stage for validating noninvasive stimulation approaches. We can do invasive stimulation for those who truly need it. #depression Monstrous team effort Damien Fair Tay Netoff Ziad Nahas Alex Herman Alik Widge @ndosenbach @hermandarrowlab Robert Hermosillo @umniem @umntwincities and so many more