Neurosurgeon · Principal investigator

Dr. Iahn Cajigas, MD, PhD

Dr. Cajigas is a brain surgeon at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania. He also leads the RESToRe Lab, which studies the brain during surgery.

Functional and stereotactic neurosurgery · Penn Medicine

Iahn Cajigas, MD, PhD

His full name is Iahn Cajigas Gonzalez. Penn Medicine lists him under that name. His research papers and this website use Iahn Cajigas. Both names refer to the same person.

To make an appointment, call Penn Medicine at 800-789-7366.

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What he treats

Surgery for movement, seizures, pain and stroke recovery.

His field is functional and stereotactic neurosurgery. That is the kind of brain surgery used for movement disorders, epilepsy and pain. He also removes brain tumors and cares for people with head injuries.

Condition

Movement disorders

Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia. Treatments: deep brain stimulation (DBS), MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) and Gamma Knife radiosurgery.

Condition

Epilepsy

Seizures that medicines do not control. Treatments: stereo-EEG (SEEG) to find where seizures start, surgery to remove that area, laser therapy (LITT), and nerve and brain stimulators (VNS, RNS and DBS).

Condition

Pain

Trigeminal neuralgia and other face pain, and back, leg and nerve pain that other treatments did not help. Treatments: microvascular decompression, Gamma Knife, and spinal cord, nerve root and nerve stimulators.

Condition

Stroke recovery

Arm and hand weakness that stays after a stroke. Treatment: paired vagus nerve stimulation (paired VNS) together with intensive therapy.

He works with the Penn Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, the Penn Movement Disorders Center and the Penn Comprehensive Stroke Center. These teams look at each case together before anyone suggests surgery. The For Patients page explains each treatment in plain language.

Training

Where he trained.

MD and PhD: Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (Harvard Medical School and MIT).
Neurosurgery residency: University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Fellowship: epilepsy, functional and stereotactic neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco.

Research

The RESToRe Lab.

Dr. Cajigas leads the RESToRe Lab at Penn Neurosurgery. The lab records brain activity during surgeries that patients already need. It uses these recordings to improve surgical planning, brain stimulation and brain–computer interfaces.

In 2026 he received an NIH R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The grant studies how the motor cortex controls the arm and hand.
In 2026 he received the North American Neuromodulation Society's Kumar New Investigator Award.

See the lab's research, publications, clinical trials and software.

Contact

How to reach him.

Appointments: call Penn Medicine at 800-789-7366.
Main clinic: Penn Neurosurgery, Pennsylvania Hospital, 801 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Phone 215-829-6700.
Lancaster clinic: LG Health Physicians Neurology, 2150 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster, PA 17601. Phone 717-396-9167.
Doctors referring a patient: see the referring physicians page.
Research and the lab: email [email protected].