About Us

Who We Are

The mission of the Neurosurgery Foundation at Goodman Campbell is to provide the resources necessary to care for patients in an environment of healing, teaching and discovery by empowering clinical innovation, investing in transformative research, training the next generation of neurosurgical leaders and fostering community awareness and engagement.

Origin Story

In 2009, Troy Payner, MD, a cranial specialist, neurosurgeon and president of the Indianapolis Neurosurgical Group (later Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine), saw an opportunity for the practice to establish its own foundation. Doing so, he said, would give the neurosurgery team more freedom to pursue philanthropic initiatives, expand clinical research, and elevate their academic mission. His colleagues agreed, and what is now the Neurosurgery Foundation at Goodman Campbell was established.

Between 2010 and 2017, IU Health seeded the foundation, and its academic and research mission expanded — growth that helped Goodman Campbell attract national leaders to Indiana, such as Nicholas Barbaro, MD, a research neurosurgeon from the University of California San Francisco who brought the largest NIH-funded neurosurgery grant in the U.S. to the IU School of Medicine. In a few short years, the foundation developed a robust cadence of research activity and transformed the neurosurgery program at IU School of Medicine into a top-tier program attracting future neurosurgeons and sought-after MD-PhD candidates.

Three particular milestones were crucial to the foundation’s growth:

In 2012, the practice became one of only 12 groups collecting data as part of a national spine registry, which has become one of the most robust registries in the U.S.
The Brain Bolt 5K race and community event launched in 2015, growing into the foundation’s largest annual fundraising initiative.
A dedicated research department was established in 2019, led by a full-time research director, Heather Cero.

In 2019, the foundation turned another corner as Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine became wholly independent. The shift led to further integration and collaboration between our academic and research areas, as these continue to overlap and nurture one another for the good of patients in our Midwest clinics and around the world.

Since the foundation’s inception, its supporters have made it possible for us to invest over $20 million in neurosurgical research and education.