About
Dr. Rory KJ Murphy
A board-certied neurosurgeon and an associate pro- fessor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Barrow Neurological Institute.
Dr. Rory Murphy’s clinical practice focuses on the surgi- cal treatment of complex cranial and spinal pathologies, including tumors and spinal cord compression, He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), AO Spine, the Congress of Neurosur- geons (CNS), and the Cervical Spine Research Society Education Committee.
Dr. Murphy earned his medical degree from University College Cork in Ireland. He completed his neurosurgery residency at Washington University in St. Louis, and a fellowship at the University of California-San Francisco.
Dr. Murphy is active in translational research. He is an investigator on Elon Musk’s Neuralink Precise & Convoy studies. He is an investigator for the Department of Defense Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Hypothermia Trial. His research has been published in the journals Nature, Journal of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, and Spine.
To provide better solutions to patients he has cofound- ed, invested in and acts as an advisor to a number of VC backed medical device start-ups(Intelligent Implants, Neurobell, Fortego Neuvotion). His work has featured on CNN, Fox, BBC, The Guardian and Tech Crunch.
Dr. Murphy is a trustee for myelopathy.org, a patient run organization to raise the awareness and treatment of degenerative cervical myelopathy, the most common cause of spinal cord injury. He is on the Barrow Neuro- logical Institute at Phoenix Children’s Hospital advisory board. He was voted a PHOENIX magazine Top Doc in 2023, 2024 and 2025
Dr. Murphy is committed to matching a person’s goals with the least invasive treatment option, utilizing motion preservation options, so they can return to their activities as soon as possible.
Awards
- Rosenman Innovator, University of California-San Francisco, 2017
- Bay Area Falling Walls Winner, Stanford University, 2016
- Charlie Kuntz Scholar Award, American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Section on Disorders of the Spine, 2016
- Augustus McCravey Resident Award, Southern Neurological Society, 2014
- Sanford Larson Research Award, American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Section on Disorders of the Spine, 2014
- Spine Clinical Trial Proposal Award, American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Section on Disorders of the Spine, 2013
Education
- Fellowship, University of California-San Francisco, Functional Neurosurgery, 2016-2017
- Residency, Washington University in St. Louis, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Neurosurgery, 2010-2016
- Basic surgical training, Royal College of Surgeons, 2008-2010
- Internship, Cork University Hospital, 2007-2008
Experience
- Brachial Plexus Injury
- Brain Tumor
- Disorders of Nerve Root or Plexus
- Herniated Disc
- Meningioma
- Neurosurgery
- OLIF Surgery
- Peripheral Nerve Surgery
- PLIF Surgery
- Radiosurgery
- Rare Brain Tumors
- Spinal Chordomas
- Spinal Cord Disorders
- Spinal Cord Tumors
- Spinal Fusion Surgery
- Spinal Trauma
- Spine Tumors
- TLIF Surgery
- XLIF Surgery
Professional Memberships
- American Association of Neurological Surgeons
- American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
- Cervical Spine Research Society Education Committee
- Congress of Neurological Surgeons