Dr. Abel Ferrés Pijoan

Career

I am a neurosurgeon with a solid academic background and extensive experience in advanced brain and spine surgery. I graduated in Medicine with distinction and completed my Neurosurgery specialist training at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona with a distinction grade.

I subsequently obtained my PhD, summa cum laude, from the Universidad de Barcelona, focused on new therapies for glioblastoma, and completed an international fellowship in endoscopic and minimally invasive surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine (New York).

I currently carry out my clinical activity at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and in the private sector as co-founder of Brain & Spine Barcelona (Hospital El Pilar and Quironsalud Aribau medical centre) and as a specialist at Barnaclínic+.

I combine clinical work with hospital coordination and university teaching, training the next generation of medical professionals.

Clinical practice areas

1. Spine surgery · primary private focus

Endoscopic approach (Ultra Minimal Invasive) and microsurgical technique with millimetre incisions, high-definition visualisation and muscle preservation. Patients can return to daily life in days, not weeks.

• Cervical spine · cervical disc herniation, stenosis, cervical spondylotic myelopathy.
• Thoracic spine · thoracic disc herniations, vertebral tumours, osteoporotic fractures.
• Lumbar spine · lumbar disc herniations, stenosis, spondylolisthesis, post-laminectomy syndrome.
• Spinal cord surgery · decompression, stabilisation and endoscopic spinal techniques with vertebral fusion.

2. Neuro-oncology

Brain tumour surgery with maximum safe resection, neuronavigation and intraoperative mapping where indicated. My doctoral research focused on new therapies for glioblastoma, and I maintain active research into resection biomarkers and prognosis.

• Gliomas · maximum safe resection with functional monitoring.
• Meningiomas · microsurgical and endoscopic approaches according to location.
• Brain metastases · multidisciplinary neuro-oncology committee.

3. Skull base surgery

Endoscopic endonasal and microsurgical approaches for tumours and complex skull base pathology, in collaboration with ENT and maxillofacial surgery when needed.

• Anterior skull base tumours · olfactory and sphenoidal meningiomas, pituitary adenomas.
• Middle and posterior skull base tumours · schwannomas, epidermoid cysts, cerebellopontine angle lesions.
• Complex pathology · cerebrospinal fluid leaks, microvascular decompressions.

4. Other areas

• Hydrocephalus and Chiari malformation · endoscopic third ventriculostomy, shunts, cranio-cervical decompression.
• Cerebrovascular surgery · spontaneous intracerebral haematomas, vascular malformations.
• Chronic pain · neuromodulation, spinal cord stimulation, refractory neuropathic pain management.
• Neurotraumatology · traumatic brain injuries, acute spinal cord injuries.

Research

My commitment to excellence is reflected in active research: more than 45 scientific publications and participation in high-impact national and international projects.

• New therapies in glioblastoma (doctoral thesis, Universidad de Barcelona).
• Application of artificial intelligence to diagnosis and surgical planning in epilepsy.
• Resection biomarkers and prognosis in neuro-oncology.
• Management of spontaneous intracerebral haematomas.

Teaching

Lecturer on the Biomedicine Master's programme at the Universidad de Barcelona, with seminars on minimally invasive spine surgery, endoscopic techniques and traumatic brain injury.