Dr. Ames is the director of spinal deformity and spine tumor surgery and co-director of the combined high risk spine service, the Neurospinal Disorders Program, and the UCSF Spine Center. He is board certified in neurosurgery and is ranked in the top 1% of all US Neurosurgeons for spinal tumor surgery and complex spinal reconstruction by US News and World Report. He was named to the 2015 Top Doctors in San Francisco Magazine and America’s Top Doctors for both neurosurgery and for cancer 2010-2015. His tumor practice focuses on en bloc tumor resection for chordoma, chondrosarcoma, giant cell tumor, soft tissue sarcoma, sacral tumors, and other primary and metastatic tumors. While at UCSF, Dr. Ames developed and published the transpedicular approach to previously unresectable cervical and cervical thoracic tumors.