Dr. Fraser C. Henderson Sr, M.D.

Born in the Philippines, Fraser Henderson lived in Hong Kong, and then was raised in Australia, where he was foreman on a cattle station in the Outback. In 1974, he came to the United States to earn a  Bachelor’s and a Medical degree from the University of Virginia. Serving in the US Navy, Lieutenant  Henderson served as Task Force Medical Officer with the Multi-National Peace Keeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon, earning the Navy Commendation Medal for preparedness and treatment of mass casualties following the terrorist bombing attack in Beirut in 1983.  He completed his residency at the Medical University of South Carolina under Professor Phanor Perot, one of the nations preeminent researchers , academicians and researchers. He served as Chief of Neurosurgery at the Veterans Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina, and then returned to  the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, as Director of Spinal Neurosurgery.  He was Brigade Neurosurgeon for the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade in the Desert Shield and Desert Storm campaigns of the First Gulf War, 1990-1.  He then completed a fellowship  in skull base and spine surgery under Professor Alan Crockard at the National Hospitals for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, the United Kingdom’s largest dedicated hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery .

Commander Henderson was recruited to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as Director of Neurosurgery of the Spine and Cranio-cervical Junction, and later Co-Director of the Lombardi Neuro-Oncology Division, Co-Director of the CyberKnife Radiosurgery Center, and Medical Director of the Neuroscience Units.  Dr. Henderson developed and patented inventions relating to spinal radiosurgery and treatment of spinal cancer, and was Principal Investigator in drug research.  He was active in advancing CyberKnife radiosurgery for treatment of complex spinal tumors, and was recognized by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons with the Mayfield Award for Excellence in Spinal Research.  He was promoted to Professor of Neurosurgery and Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine.

Professor Henderson entered private practice in Maryland, as Director of Neurosurgery at Doctors Hospital and Director of the Chiari Center of Excellence, focused on furthering the understanding, development, and treatment of deformity induced injury to the brainstem and spinal cord in Chiari Malformation and hereditary connective tissue disorders.  He has patented eleven other devices and concepts relating to disorders of the brainstem and spinal cord, published over 75 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, edited books and numerous mongraphs, and served as guest editor for numerous medical journals.  He has  given over 180 invited lectures worldwide, and hosts a quarterly lecture series viewed in 128 countries, with a focus on craniocervical disorders, Chiari Malformation and unusual problems of the spine. Dr Henderson served on the Executive Boards of the Ehlers Danlos Society and the Chiari Syringomyelia Foundation.  He is consistently recognized by national peer review and patients for compassionate and comprehensive care, and received Recognition  of Service awards from the ILC Canadian Rare Diseases and Chiari Syringomyelia Foundations, as well as the annual RISES Physician award for excellence from a Maryland community hospital.

Dr Henderson and his wife, Becky, live on a small farm outside of Washington. His interests include history, travel, and historic and cultural resource preservation.  With a strong focus on their family, they enjoy visiting relatives in France and England.