Nicolas Dea

CLINICAL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UBC DIVISION OF NEUROSURGERY SURGERY, FACULTY OF MEDICINE – VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH

ASSOCIATE FACULTY MEMBER, SPINE DIVISION HEAD, UBC ORTHOPAEDICS

Division:
spine

Hospital Site:
Vancouver – Vancouver General Hospital

Dr. Dea is a Clinical Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of British Columbia and is the Division Head of the Combined Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery Spine division at Vancouver General Hospital and the University of British Columbia. He completed his MD program and his neurosurgical training in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and his spine surgery fellowship in Vancouver, BC. Dr. Dea completed his Masters in Health Economics, Policy and Management at the London School of Economics & Political Sciences in London, UK. He is the Vice-Chair of the Neurosurgery Examination Committee at the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada. He is on the Steering Committee of the AO Knowledge Forum: Tumor, an international multi-disciplinary panel of experts pursuing innovative research into spine oncology and is the co-PI of an international study dedicated to the primary tumors of the spine. He also sits on the executive board of the Canadian Spine Society, is a Steering Committee member of the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network and is the Principle investigator of the Canadian Prospective Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy study.

Post fellowship, he returned to his roots in Sherbrooke, taking on the role of Neurosurgery Program Director at the Université de Sherbrooke. Under his proactive leadership, the Neurosurgery program developed an international reputation for excellence and he was granted an award for “outstanding professor” by the Université. He was also named as Vice President of the Quebec neurosurgical association.

Dr. Dea returned to Vancouver in 2017 as a valued and welcome addition to the Vancouver Spine Surgery Institute team. His clinical and research interest in spinal oncology, cervical myelopathy and health economics has gained the attention of the international community where he is an in-demand guest lecturer. He was nominated within the top 20 spine specialists under 40 in North America by the North American Spine Society in 2020. He is the recipient of multiple national and international awards for his work in oncology and degenerative conditions of the spine. He has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed publications and participated in many textbooks in the field of neurosurgery and spinal surgery.

As a fellowship trained spine surgeon, Dr. Dea’s practice is confined to adult spine surgery with special clinical interests in oncology, cervical myelopathy, intra-dural pathology and trauma.

Research Interests & Publications

Research Interests:

  • Spine oncology
  • Cervical myelopathy
  • Health Economics

Publications:

Karim SM, Cadotte DW, Wilson JR, Kwon BK, Jacobs WB, Johnson MG, Paquet J, Bailey CS, Christie SD, Nataraj A, Attabib N, Phan P, McIntosh G, Hall H, Rampersaud YR, Manson N, Thomas KC, Fisher CG, Dea N. Effectiveness of Surgical Decompression in Patients With Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Results of the Canadian Prospective Multicenter Study. Neurosurgery. 2021 Oct 13; 89(5):844-851. PMID: 34382661

Dea N, Versteeg AL, Sahgal A, Verlaan JJ, Charest-Morin R, Rhines LD, Sciubba DM, Schuster JM, Weber MH, Lazary A, Fehlings MG, Clarke MJ, Arnold PM, Boriani S, Bettegowda C, Laufer I, Gokaslan ZL, Fisher CG. Metastatic Spine Disease: Should Patients With Short Life Expectancy Be Denied Surgical Care? An International Retrospective Cohort Study. Neurosurgery. 2020 Aug 1; 87(2):303-311. PMID: 31690935

Dea N, Fisher CG, Reynolds JJ, Schwab JH, Rhines LD, Gokaslan ZL, Bettegowda C, Sahgal A, Lazáry Á, Luzzati A, Boriani S, Gasbarrini A, Laufer I, Charest-Morin R, Wei F, Teixeira W, Germscheid NM, Hornicek FJ, DeLaney TF, Shin JH; AOSpine Knowledge Forum Tumor. Current treatment strategy for newly diagnosed chordoma of the mobile spine and sacrum: results of an international survey. J Neurosurg Spine. 2018 Oct 19; 30(1):119-125. PMID: 30497218


For more information regarding Dr. Deo’s published research, please click here.

Teaching Interests

  • Spine surgery
  • Spine oncology
  • Spine trauma

Academic Background

  • MSc, The London School of Economics and Political Sciences, 2014
  • FRCSC, Neurosurgery, Université de Sherbrooke, 2011
  • MD, Université de Sherbrooke, 2005