Dr. Igor DeCastro specializes in minimally invasive and microsurgical techniques for brain and spinal cord conditions and tumors. He completed neurosurgical residency programs in both his home country of Brazil and also in the United States at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). In 1999, he was selected to participate as a research fellow in Microneurosurgery at UAMS under world-renowned neurosurgeons Gazi Yasargil, MD, and Ossama Al-Mefty, MD. During that year, Dr. DeCastro assisted Professor Yasargil in writing a special Neurosurgery paper entitled “Legacy of Microneurosurgery: Memoirs, Lessons, and Akionas” which was published in a special edition, “Men of the Century: 1950-2000.”

Upon completion, Dr. DeCastro returned to Brazil to practice at the Air Force Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. There he collaborated on several papers with José Alberto Landeiro, MD, the President of the Brazilian Neurosurgical Society. Dr. DeCastro also assisted in the creation of the Microsurgical Laboratory in the Air Force Hospital. While there, he was invited to teach a Microsurgical Anatomy of the Brain course at the prestigious Cranio-Cervical Junction workshop coordinated by Professor Evandro de Oliveira, MD for the purposes of training residents from all over the world.

Dr. DeCastro moved to the United States in 2004 to complete another neurosurgical residency at UAMS. During his training he had the opportunity to work under GNI’s Dr. Richard Rowe on complex spine procedures. During his second residency, Dr. DeCastro was honored as the “Resident of the Year” three times and he became the first Resident to receive the “Chris Hackler Ethics Award.” Additionally, Dr. DeCastro obtained the highest score on the Neurosurgical Boards for the last 15 years among UAMS graduates.

Dr. DeCastro entered private practice in Hot Springs, AR, in 2010 where he also served as a member and Chief of Staff of St. Vincent Hospital’s Medical Executive Committee. Dr. DeCastro has always had a goal of joining a larger practice with an emphasis on academics and research. He will serve as an Associate Professor of Neurosurgey at Mercer University.