Saint Luke’s Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute Names New Medical and Surgical Co-Directors

Saint Luke’s Health System is proud to announce the addition of Carlos A. Bagley, MD, MBA, and Sara Hocker, MD, to serve as surgical and medical co-directors of Saint Luke’s Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute.

“Following a robust national search, I am exceptionally pleased to be able to share these key leadership appointments,” said Mike Main, MD, Saint Luke’s Health System Senior Vice President and Saint Luke’s Physician Group CEO. “Dr. Bagley and Dr. Hocker are highly accomplished clinicians, prolific researchers, and respected leaders in the neuroscience community. Their combined leadership and expertise ensure Saint Luke’s Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute patients can be confident they are receiving world-class care right here in Kansas City.” 

Carlos A. Bagley, MD, MBA, will serve as Co-Director of Saint Luke’s Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute; Chief, Department of Neurosurgery; and Co-Chair of Saint Luke’s Physician Group Neurosciences Division. Dr. Bagley will also serve as the Edward T. Matheny, Jr./Missouri Endowed Chair in Neuroscience.

Most recently, Dr. Bagley served as a professor of Neurological Surgery and Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine in Dallas, Texas, where he also served as president of the Texas Association of Neurological Surgeons. He serves on the editorial review boards of numerous spine and neurosurgery journals including Global Spine Journal, Evidence-Based Spine-Care Journal, and Neurosurgery. He is the author or co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed medical journal publications.

Dr. Bagley completed his undergraduate education in biological sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and received his Doctor of Medicine from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in neurological surgery—serving as Chief Resident—and a fellowship in spine surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He received his Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Bagley joined Saint Luke’s on July 28.

Sara Hocker, MD, will serve as Co-Director of Saint Luke’s Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute; Chief, Department of Neurology; and Co-Chair, of Saint Luke’s Physician Group Neurosciences Division.

Prior to joining Saint Luke’s, Dr. Hocker served most recently as a professor of neurology, chair of the division of neurocritical care and hospital neurology, and hospital practice chair at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, serves on the editorial board of Neurocritical Care, and is a leader in post-graduate medical education and an active clinical researcher with more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in medical journals.

Dr. Hocker received her undergraduate degree in cell biology and anatomy from the University of Kansas and her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She completed a neurology residency at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, and a neurocritical care fellowship at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Hocker joined Saint Luke’s on April 9.

In addition to naming Bagley and Hocker to top leadership positions, Saint Luke’s Neuroscience Institute has also significantly expanded the neuroscience team, including the addition of Megan Baumgardner, DO, memory disorder specialist; Yifei Duan, MD, cerebrovascular surgeon; Samuel Goldlust, MD, neuro-oncologist; and Kristopher Southard, MD, and Nathan Lightfoot, DO, both vascular neurologists.

About Saint Luke’s Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute
Saint Luke's Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute, a part of Saint Luke's Health System, is a comprehensive center for neuroscience research, education, and evidence-based medicine that combines faculty in neurology, neurosurgery, interventional neuroradiology, neurotology, psychiatry, and physical medicine and rehabilitation. Its legacy of innovation began in 1993 when doctors performed one of the world's first intra-arterial stroke reversal procedures. Saint Luke's specialists have continued to pioneer new stroke treatments and reverse strokes in thousands of patients through its network of stroke centers. The Neuroscience Institute is a global leader in utilizing both drug and mechanical interventions to reverse the permanent and debilitating effects of ischemic stroke. 

Saint Luke's Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute brings together highly specialized neuroscientists to provide comprehensive treatment for the most complex neurological diseases, including stroke, epilepsy, brain tumors, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, multiple sclerosis, headaches, and facial pain, as well as aneurysms, intracerebral hemorrhages, memory disorders, hearing and balance disorders, and 87 known sleep disorders. The Neuroscience Institute’s multispecialty team provides the latest minimally invasive spinal surgical techniques to treat acute and chronic back pain. It has a fellowship-trained neurosurgery team with subspecialties ranging from asleep deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery to treating skull-based tumors and everything in between.

Saint Luke's Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report and strives to be a national leader in neurological treatment and care by advancing clinical research and evidence-based clinical practice. Patients have access to the only comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation hospital in the region—Saint Luke's Rehabilitation Institute. Follow Saint Luke's Health System: Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn