Martin G. Piazza, MD

Martin Piazza, MD, is an assistant professor of pediatric neurosurgery in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery. He is the surgical director of the Pediatric Surgical Movement Disorders and Neurosurgery Spinal Programs at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

A native of Washington D.C., Dr. Piazza received his undergraduate degree in chemistry with a certificate in materials science and engineering from Princeton University. He earned his medical doctorate from Wake Forest School of Medicine. During medical school, Dr. Piazza spent a year at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland as a fellow in the Medical Research Scholars Program. During this time, he performed research in the Surgical Neurology Branch focused on edema associated with pediatric and adult brain tumors. Dr. Piazza is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Hospitals neurosurgery residency program. He completed fellowships in pediatric neurosurgery at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and in pediatric spinal deformity at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia. 

As well as general pediatric neurosurgery, Dr. Piazza has a strong interest in the neurosurgical management of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, including but not limited to spasticity, dystonia, and neuromuscular scoliosis. He has a long history of advocacy for this population; and he provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary care with colleagues from neurology, orthopedic surgery, and rehab medicine. 

Dr. Piazza is committed to leveraging multidisciplinary care for his patients to improve quality of life and meet patient goals both in and out of the operating room. His research focuses on decision analysis to create tools that incorporate individual patient and family goals to determine the best treatment plans for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and other complex neurosurgical diseases.

Outside of neurosurgery, Dr. Piazza enjoys spending time with his wife Kirstin, a nurse PhD, their son and dog.