Daniel Lu

About Daniel Lu

Dr. Daniel Lu is an associate professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the school's Neuroplasticity and Repair Laboratory Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at UCLA. He is also a member of the Comprehensive Spine Center in Santa Monica.

Daniel was born in Taiwan. At the age of 10, he came with his family to the Los Angeles area.

In 1996 Daniel received his BA from Dartmouth College with distinction and with high honors in biochemistry and molecular biology. He earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and an MD from the University of California at San Diego in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

At Dartmouth College, Daniel organized conferences on AIDS, organized student outreach programs to assist families affected by AIDS, played first violin in the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, and was assistant concertmaster of the Dartmouth Pro Musica. In 2000 he received a research scholar award from the Alzheimer's Association and presented his findings at the World Congress in Washington, DC.

Daniel completed a neurosurgery residency at University of California, San Francisco and rotated through pediatric neurosurgery at Children's Oakland Hospital. He is also first author on two publications, one in the Annals of Neurology and the other in the Journal of Neurochemistry.

Dr. Lu's clinical focus is on minimally invasive techniques in the surgical management of degenerative, traumatic, and neoplastic spinal disorders. His research efforts are focused on the molecular biology and regenerative treatment of traumatic spinal cord and brain injury.