A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Kristen Riley completed her M.D. degree at the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1998, where she was inducted into the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. She completed a neurosurgery residency at UAB, under the training of Dr. Richard Morawetz. Dr. Riley also completed a 6-month fellowship in epilepsy surgery at The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, England. She joined the faculty at UAB in 2004, and was board certified by the ABNS in 2007.

Dr. Riley directs the neurosurgical Pituitary Disorders Clinic. This clinic was founded in 1988 to provide multidisciplinary treatment of pituitary tumors. Patients in this clinic are seen by a neurosurgeon, Dr. Riley, and an endocrinologist. Dr. Brooks Vaughan provides specialized endocrine management for patients with pituitary tumors. Patients are able to have their neurosurgical and endocrine issues related to their diagnosis addressed in a single clinic visit. For patients requiring surgery for pituitary tumors, Dr. Riley performs minimally invasive endoscopic resection of the tumor. The majority of patients are discharged after a single night in the hospital.

In addition to the pituitary tumor service, Dr. Riley serves as the Director of the Adult Epilepsy Surgery Program. A combined program with the UAB Epilepsy Center, patients are evaluated for potential surgical treatments of epilepsy. Surgical procedures for epilepsy include anterior temporal lobectomy, focused cortical resections, invasive monitoring procedures followed by cortical resections, corpus callosotomy and vagal nerve stimulators.

Dr. Riley also specializes in surgical treatment of primary brain tumors, metastatic tumors to the brain and skull base and other intracranial neoplasms. These diseases are addressed using the most advanced imaging and a comprehensive treatment plan is derived which may include stereotactic biopsy, surgical resection, with or without awake intraoperative mapping. Patients are evaluated for minimally invasive endoscopic approaches and for stereotactic radiosurgery when appropriate.

She is also active in the training and guidance of medical students interested in neurosurgery.

Education

Medical School
UAB

Residency
UAB

Fellowship
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, England

Contact

Campus Address
FOT 1046

Patient Appointments and Questions
205-934-7170

Email
koriley@uabmc.edu