If you are searching for the best neurosurgeon in Denver, peer recognition is one of the most meaningful ways to evaluate your options. Unlike patient review platforms or paid advertising, physician peer-nomination programs ask doctors to name the colleagues they would trust to care for their own family. That is the foundation of the Castle Connolly Top Doctors list — and for the second consecutive year, seven Neurosurgery One neurosurgeons have earned that distinction.
Castle Connolly announced its 2026 Top Doctors list on January 21, 2026. The list represents the top 7% of practicing physicians across the United States — just 72,000 doctors selected from over 1.1 million practicing clinicians. Selection is entirely merit-based and begins with peer nominations, followed by a rigorous review of each physician’s professional qualifications, education, hospital and faculty appointments, research leadership, professional reputation, and interpersonal skills including how effectively they listen, communicate, and earn patient trust. No physician can pay to be included.
Neurosurgery One is Colorado’s largest independent neurosurgery practice and one of the top 10 physician-owned neurosurgery groups in the nation. The 2026 honorees are: Wissam Asfahani, Joshua Beckman, Angela Bohnen, Ronald Hammers, John Hudson, J. Adair Prall and David VanSickle. Together, these neurosurgeons and their partners collectively cover the full spectrum of brain, spine, and movement disorder surgery, bringing subspecialty expertise that is rarely found under one roof outside of a major academic medical center.
What Does It Mean to Be a Castle Connolly Top Doctor?
For more than 35 years, Castle Connolly has been seen as an independent source for identifying top physicians in the United States. Peer-reviewed and research-based methodology, such as that used by Castle Connolly, is more reliable than awards that rely solely on patient reviews when it comes to identifying clinical quality.
When you want to know who the best neurosurgeon in Denver is, Castle Connolly Top Doctor status is the kind of verifiable, third-party, peer-validated credential that distinguishes exceptional physicians from the field. It is not an award a physician can buy or nominate themself for. It reflects what fellow physicians — the people who work alongside these surgeons every day — believe about their expertise, their judgment and their care for patients.
Meet the Neurosurgery One 2026 Best Neurosurgeons in Denver, Named by Castle Connolly
Dr. Wissam Asfahani, MD, FAANS — Parker Spine Surgeon and Neurosurgeon
Dr. Asfahani is a board-certified neurosurgeon and the Medical Director of Neurosurgery at AdventHealth Parker, where he has earned hospital recognition for both clinical excellence and exceptional patient experience. He specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery, brain and spine tumors, and pituitary tumors, and is known for thoroughly exhausting all non-surgical options before recommending an operation. A graduate of the American University of Beirut, he completed his neurosurgical residency at the University of Kentucky, previously chaired the Neuroscience Section at Avera McKennan Hospital in South Dakota, and co-directed that institution’s Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Program. He is fluent in English, French, and Arabic. Patients who ask who the best neurosurgeon in Denver is for minimally invasive spine care or complex tumors will find Dr. Asfahani’s combined clinical expertise, national peer recognition, and record of patient outcomes make him a compelling answer.
Dr. Joshua Beckman, MD, FAANS — Denver and Lakewood Spine Surgeon
Dr. Beckman is a board-certified neurosurgeon who served as Director of Spine Surgery at San Antonio Military Medical Center, the nation’s largest military hospital and a Level I trauma center, before joining Neurosurgery One. A veteran of the United States Air Force, he brings rare real-world experience managing the most severe spinal injuries in military personnel — infantry soldiers, rescue operators, and special operations forces whose jobs place extraordinary physical demands on the spine. He was the first surgeon in Colorado to perform the Total Posterior Spine (TOPS) facet joint replacement procedure, a motion-preserving alternative to spinal fusion for patients with spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis who want to stay active. His philosophy is rigorous shared decision-making, early recovery after surgery (ERAS protocol), and mobilizing patients the day of or the day after their procedure. For patients asking who the best neurosurgeon in Denver is for minimally invasive spine surgery or complex spinal deformity, Dr. Beckman’s combination of military trauma experience, academic credentials, and innovative surgical technique sets him apart.
Dr. Angela Bohnen, MD, FAANS — Littleton Brain Tumor and Spine Surgery Specialist
Dr. Bohnen
is a board-certified neurosurgeon and the Chief of Surgery at AdventHealth Littleton. She completed a fellowship in neuro-oncology at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and her clinical expertise reflects that advanced training. She is one of the foremost brain tumor surgeons in the Denver region, specializing in awake craniotomy and intraoperative brain mapping for the removal of tumors in functionally critical areas of the brain that were once considered inoperable. She is among the first neurosurgeons in Colorado to offer GammaTile therapy, an innovative approach that implants radiation tiles directly into the surgical site at the time of tumor removal. Dr. Bohnen also treats a full range of spine conditions and uses spinal cord stimulation to manage chronic pain when surgery is not the best option for resolving symptoms. For patients seeking the best neurosurgeon in Denver for brain tumors, complex skull base surgery, or eloquent cortex cases, Dr. Bohnen’s Mayo fellowship training and firsthand pioneering of advanced techniques represent a benchmark of expertise.
Dr. Ronald L. Hammers, MD, FAANS — Parker and Lone Tree Neurosurgeon
Dr. Hammers
is a board-certified neurosurgeon who has practiced in Colorado since 2011, and who was recognized as a Top Doctor in neurosurgery by Colorado Springs Magazine for nine consecutive years (2017–2025) before his 2026 Castle Connolly national designation. He brings broad neurosurgical expertise to the care of brain and spine trauma, brain tumors, degenerative spine disease and peripheral nerve disorders. He is particularly noted for his mastery of both fusion and motion-preserving, non-fusion spine procedures, including cervical disc replacement, which maintains the natural movement of the neck and often allows a faster recovery than traditional fusion. His approach is patient-first. He considers the most conservative treatment options first and reserves surgery for cases where it offers clear benefit. By joining Neurosurgery One, Dr. Hammers brings decades of proven excellence and a nine-time peer-nominated designation to a team already recognized as the best neurosurgery practice in Colorado. This makes him an outstanding choice for patients seeking the best neurosurgeon in Denver or the surrounding south metro area.
Dr. John Hudson, MD, PhD, FAANS — Denver and Lakewood Neurosurgeon
Dr. Hudson
is a Denver native, board-certified neurosurgeon and the former Medical Director of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at St. Anthony Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Lakewood. He earned his undergraduate degree, medical degree, and neurosurgery residency all at the University of Colorado. He also completed a PhD in neuroscience and pharmacology there, reflecting a research-grounded commitment to understanding the nervous system at its most fundamental level. His clinical specialty is neuroendoscopy and minimally invasive brain surgery, with deep expertise in image-guided surgery that uses intraoperative MRI brain mapping to safely reach tumors previously deemed inoperable. He is a recognized regional authority in treating brain tumors, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), and spinal cord tumors, and also serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the UC Health Sciences Center. For patients looking for the best neurosurgeon in Denver for complex brain surgery or brain tumor removal, Dr. Hudson’s multi-decade track record at a Level I Trauma Center, his academic affiliation, and his pioneering work in minimally invasive neuroendoscopy are defining credentials.
Dr. J. Adair Prall, MD, FACS, FAANS — Littleton Neurosurgeon and Founding Partner
Dr. Prall
is a founding partner of Neurosurgery One, a board-certified neurosurgeon with more than 30 years of experience in cranial and spinal surgery, and a Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He is nationally recognized as a leading expert in neurosurgery, helping to shape national neurosurgery standards through his work as a founding member of the Joint Guidelines Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Prall’s practice includes advanced minimally invasive spine surgery, spinal deformity correction, complex cervical and lumbar spine reconstruction, brain tumors, aneurysms, and arteriovenous malformations. He also is recognized for his expertise in vascular compression syndromes, particularly trigeminal neuralgia, and has performed more surgical procedures for this condition than any other neurosurgeon in the Rocky Mountain region. Dr. Prall earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati. When patients want to know who the best neurosurgeon in Denver is for trigeminal neuralgia, stereotactic radiosurgery, or complex spinal conditions, Dr. Prall’s three-decade record, academic credentials, and national leadership in shaping surgical guidelines define the answer.
Dr. David VanSickle, MD, PhD, FAANS — Founding Managing Partner, Neurosurgery One
Dr. VanSickle
is the founding managing partner of Neurosurgery One and the architect of the practice’s growth into one of the top 10 private neurosurgical practices in the United States. Under his leadership, Neurosurgery One has expanded to six metro Denver locations with a team of neurosurgeons and interventional pain specialists covering the full spectrum of brain, spine, and nerve care — a depth of subspecialty expertise rarely found outside a major academic medical center. As a clinician, Dr. VanSickle is a board-certified neurosurgeon with expertise spanning spine surgery, brain tumor surgery, and stereotactic radiosurgery, including both Zap-X and Gamma Knife technology to deliver highly targeted, non-invasive radiation to brain tumors and other intracranial lesions. He also remains one of Colorado’s most experienced practitioners of deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders. He holds a PhD in bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh, where he also earned his medical degree, and completed his neurosurgical residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. For patients seeking the best neurosurgeon in Denver, Dr. VanSickle represents a rare combination: a clinician-scientist with elite academic training, a technology pioneer in stereotactic radiosurgery and DBS, and the visionary who helped build Colorado’s premier independent neurosurgical practice from the ground up.
What Seven Castle Connolly Top Doctors Means for Patients
Having seven neurosurgeons from a single independent practice named to the national Castle Connolly Top Doctor list — for the second consecutive year — is unusual in the Denver healthcare landscape. Most practices with this volume of Top Doctor recognition are large academic medical centers or multi-hospital health systems. Neurosurgery One is physician-owned and community-based, which means patients receive the concentrated subspecialty expertise typically found only at an academic center while also benefiting from a practice culture that is built around individual physician-patient relationships rather than system protocols.
Together, these seven neurosurgeons cover the full spectrum of what patients in the Denver metro area need from a neurosurgical practice: minimally invasive spine surgery, complex spinal deformity and reconstruction, brain tumor surgery including awake craniotomy and brain mapping, deep brain stimulation for movement disorders, trigeminal neuralgia treatment, neurotrauma care at Level I trauma centers, and non-surgical pain management. Each physician on this list is available to see new patients at one or more of Neurosurgery One’s six metro Denver locations — in Littleton, Lakewood, Denver (Porter), Parker, Lone Tree, and Castle Rock.
In addition to the seven neurosurgeons recognized here, three of Neurosurgery One’s interventional pain management physicians also received Castle Connolly recognition this year. Read about those honorees in our companion blog post.
How to Find the Best Neurosurgeon in Denver for Your Condition
The best neurosurgeon is not just the most credentialed — it is the one whose subspecialty expertise matches your specific condition. We encourage you to review each physician’s profile on our website to understand their focus areas and approach to care. If you are unsure where to start, contact our scheduling team at 720.638.7500 and we will connect you with the physician best suited to your needs.
Neurosurgery One can see new patients at all six Denver-area locations within 5 days. Request an appointment online at neurosurgeryone.com or call 720.638.7500.
