About Thomas S. Ellis, MD, FAANS, FACS

Thomas S. Ellis, MD, FAANS, FACS, is an experienced Neurosurgeon at Fort Worth Brain & Spine Institute, where patients are treated like family. 

Dr. Ellis has practiced Cranial Base, Vascular, and General Neurosurgery in Fort Worth since 1997. He founded Fort Worth Brain & Spine Institute, LLP, in 2003, collaborating with Dr. Philip C. Bechtel, Dr. Richard O. Hubbard, and Dr. Andrea Halliday.

With over twenty years of continuous practice in Fort Worth, Dr. Ellis specializes in the surgical and non-surgical, multi-modality management of cranial base/skull base tumors and vascular lesions, along with the full spectrum of general neurosurgical disorders, including general and complex spine disease.

Dr. Ellis trained under the world’s foremost expert in Pituitary Surgery, Edward R. Laws, MD, and one of the originators of Skull Base Neurosurgery, Dr. Laligham Sekhar, during his residency at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 

He completed his fellowship in Skull Base Neurosurgery and Endovascular Neurosurgery there, as well as his fellowship in NeuroPathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.  

Dr. Ellis trained United States and International Fellows in Skull Base Neurosurgery and was the Founding Director and Investigator at the Ammerman Cranial Base and Vascular Neurosurgical Laboratory at George Washington University.

He had the outstanding privilege of being the last resident to train and operate with Dr. Hugo V. Rizzoli – Dr. Walter Dandy’s last resident and originator of the “lumbar discectomy” and the first Neurosurgeon to perform and describe the clipping of a posterior circulation aneurysms.

Dr. Ellis was awarded the prestigious “Outstanding Resident in Neurosurgical Training Award” by the Neurosurgical Faculty at George Washington University and received the highest score to date on The American Board of Neurological Surgeons Written Board Exam during his ABNS Board Certification Process.

He also received the highest score recorded on his Maintenance of Certification Recertification Exam.

Dr. Ellis has been the Chief of the Division of Neurosurgery at Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth for over 12 years. 

He has made innumerable advancements to the Neurosurgical Community over the past 20+ years in Tarrant County. He has been selected as a “Top Doc” in Neurosurgery by Fort Worth Magazine and other community publications each year since such local physician polls started in 2002.

Dr. Ellis is a fifth-generation native Texan, born and raised in Dallas and his mother is a Daughter of the Republic of Texas. One of the accomplishments he is most proud of is being an Eagle Scout with Troop 72 since 1979. 

When he isn’t working, Dr. Ellis focuses on his wife and four children. He enjoys hunting, camping, kitesurfing, and beach activities with his family.