{"id":8517,"date":"2022-08-08T01:08:45","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T05:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/?post_type=directory&p=8517"},"modified":"2025-12-01T14:26:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:26:22","slug":"cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs","status":"publish","type":"directory","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Dr. Cheerag Upadhyaya is a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr. Upadhyaya grew up in a small town in Florida and attended college at Emory University. He then attended medical school at the University of Florida. He went on to complete his residency training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI followed by a fellowship in complex and minimally invasive spine surgery at the University of California in San Francisco, CA.<\/p>\n

Dr. Upadhyaya earned a Master of Science with a focus in clinical research after completing\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0research fellowship with the Robert\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span>ood Johnson\u00a0<\/span>C<\/span>linical\u00a0<\/span>S<\/span>cholars program. \u00a0He\u00a0<\/span>also completed\u00a0<\/span>basic science research fellowships at the Salk Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\/National Institutes of Health. \u00a0Most recently, he\u00a0<\/span>completed a Master of Business Administration with a focus on analytics and sustainability at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is passionate about research to improve patient outcomes by determining new, minimally invasive treatments, and\u00a0conducting research to improve access to patient care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Dr. Upadhyaya represents the Congress of Neurological Surgeons as the Alternate AMA CPT Advisor by the American Medical Association Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the\u00a0Journal of Neurosurgery Spine<\/i>. Dr. Upadhyaya is a member of the Scoliosis Research Society. He was also included on the Castle Connelly Top Doctors list for Kansas City in 2021.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

In his spare time, Dr. Upadhyaya likes to spend time with his wife and two children.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

TITLES
\n<\/b>Vice Chair, Business Innovation and Strategy<\/span>
\nChief Transformation & Business Strategy Officer
\nClinical Professor
\nMedical Director of Supply Chain, UNC Health<\/p>\n

SPECIALTIES
\n<\/b>Minimally invasive spine surgery
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

EDUCATION
\n<\/b>MBA \u2013 MIT Sloan School of Management, Boston, MA, 2022
\nFellowship \u2013 Clinical Fellow, Complex & Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, University of California San Francisco, CA, 2010
\nResidency \u2013 Neurosurgery Residency, University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI, 2009
\nMSc \u2013 Clinical Research, University of Michigan Rackham, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, 2009
\nResearch Fellowship \u2013 Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, Ann Arbor, MI, 2008
\nResidency \u2013 General Surgery Residency, University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI, 2004
\nMD \u2013 University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2001
\nResearch Fellowship \u2013 Howard Hughes Medical Institute \/ National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
\nResearch Fellowship \u2013 Salk Institute La Jolla, CA, 1997
\nBS \u2013 Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 1996<\/p>\n

BOARD CERTIFICATIONS
\n<\/b>Neurological Surgery \u2013 Board Certified, 2014<\/p>\n

AWARDS
\n<\/b>Castle Connelly Top Doctors, 2021
\nIngram\u2019s Top Physicians, 2018
\nScoliosis Research Society (SRS) Edgar Dawson Traveling Fellowship, 2014
\nOutcomes Committee Award, American Association of Neurological Surgeons & Congress of Neurological Surgeons Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerve, 2011
\nNominated for the Whitecloud Award for Best Clinical Paper at the 17th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques, 2010
\nBronze Beeper Award for Outstanding Medical Student Instruction, University of Michigan, 2002
\nUniversity of Michigan Health System Recognition for outstanding patient care, 2002, 2005<\/p>\n

RECENT PUBLICAITONS
\n<\/b><\/strong>For a complete list of recent publications, please visit Dr, Upadhyaya’s PubMed listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NEWS
\n<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scoliosis Research Society Launches L.E.A.D. SRS Program and Dr. Cheerag Upadhyaya is Among the Premier Cohort<\/a><\/p>\n

PATIENT STORIES<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/som-cell>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Cheerag Upadhyaya is a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr. Upadhyaya grew up in a small town in Florida and attended college at Emory University. He then attended medical school at the University of Florida. He went on to complete his residency training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11490,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-8517","directory","type-directory","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS | Department of Neurosurgery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS | Department of Neurosurgery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Cheerag Upadhyaya is a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr. Upadhyaya grew up in a small town in Florida and attended college at Emory University. He then attended medical school at the University of Florida. He went on to complete his residency training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, … Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Neurosurgery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNCneurosurgery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-01T19:26:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/460\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Upadhyaya_2025-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1978\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UNCneurosurgery\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/\",\"name\":\"Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS | Department of Neurosurgery\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/460\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Upadhyaya_2025-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-08T05:08:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-01T19:26:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/460\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Upadhyaya_2025-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/460\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Upadhyaya_2025-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1978,\"height\":2560},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/\",\"name\":\"Department of Neurosurgery\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS | Department of Neurosurgery","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS | Department of Neurosurgery","og_description":"Dr. Cheerag Upadhyaya is a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr. Upadhyaya grew up in a small town in Florida and attended college at Emory University. He then attended medical school at the University of Florida. He went on to complete his residency training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, … Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/","og_site_name":"Department of Neurosurgery","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNCneurosurgery\/","article_modified_time":"2025-12-01T19:26:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1978,"height":2560,"url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/460\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Upadhyaya_2025-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@UNCneurosurgery","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/","name":"Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS | Department of Neurosurgery","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/460\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Upadhyaya_2025-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-08T05:08:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-01T19:26:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/460\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Upadhyaya_2025-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/460\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Upadhyaya_2025-scaled.jpg","width":1978,"height":2560},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/directory\/cheerag-upadhyaya-md-mba-msc-faans-facs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/","name":"Department of Neurosurgery","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_upd_display_name":["Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc, FAANS, FACS"],"_upd_reverse_display_name":["Upadhyaya, Cheerag"],"_upd_last_name":["Upadhyaya"],"_upd_first_name":["Cheerag"],"_upd_sortorder_override":[],"_upd_sortorder":["1"],"_upd_gallery_summary":["<span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Vice Chair, Business Innovation and Strategy<\/span>\r\nChief Transformation & Business Development Officer\r\nClinical Associate Professor\r\nMedical Director of Supply Chain, UNC Health"],"_upd_no_link":[],"_upd_degree1":[],"_upd_degree2":[],"_upd_email":[],"_upd_phone":[],"_upd_address":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/8517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/directory"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/8517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11142,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/8517\/revisions\/11142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurosurgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}