Dr. Nikhil Nayak, MD specializes in minimally invasive, complex, image-guided, and motion-preserving spinal surgery for a variety of degenerative, traumatic, and oncologic conditions, including cervical myelopathy, cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, spinal stenosis, spinal fractures, primary and metastatic spinal tumors, adult degenerative scoliosis, and revision spinal surgery.

Dr. Nayak’s versatility in spinal surgery affords him the ability to offer patients the full spectrum of available options for their spinal conditions, and he is frequently called upon to provide second opinions once surgery has been recommended. He also provides emergency neurosurgical call coverage and performs general cranial neurosurgery for head trauma, intracranial hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, brain tumors, and related conditions.

Dr. Nayak received his MD and MHS degrees from Yale University and is a magna cum laude graduate of Georgetown University. He completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of Pennsylvania and a clinical spine fellowship at Wellington Hospital - Capital and Coast District Health Board in Wellington, New Zealand. He has academic appointments as Clinical Instructor of both Medicine and Neurology at the George Washington University School of Medicine, where he is the site director for the VHC Health neurosurgery clerkship and serves as a preceptor for first- and second-year medical students. Dr. Nayak most recently served as Chief of the Department of Neurosurgery at VHC Health, Director of Neurotrauma, and partner at Virginia Neurosurgeons. 

He is guided by a simple but powerful principle: to care for patients the way he would want for his own family—with honesty, integrity, and a commitment to doing what is right. Whether through surgery or conservative management, Dr. Nayak strives to ensure patients feel informed, supported, and empowered to make decisions that align with their individual goals.