Stephen C. Harward II, MD, PhD
Neurosurgeon
My Locations
About Me
As a Functional Neurosurgeon, I am excited to offer my patients today’s most innovative and cutting edge neuromodulatory therapies such as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Focused Ultrasound (FUS or HIFU), Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS), Responsive Neurostimulation (RNS), and Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS). Common conditions that I treat include epilepsy, movement disorders (Essential Tremor, Parkinson’s Disease, and Dystonia), stroke, chronic neck/arm/leg/back pain, diabetic neuropathy, spinal cord injury, and neuropsychiatric disease (Depression and OCD). Daily I am amazed and humbled at the strength and perseverance of my patients. The conditions I treat often prove incredibly debilitating and have a huge impact on quality of life. As a father of four and an avid runner and golfer, I value the joy an active life brings. Recognizing this, I strive daily as your doctor to be readily accessible and actively engaged as a partner to you and your family on this journey. Together, we will develop creative and forward-thinking approaches to improve your quality of life. Even if surgery is not an option, my team and I are committed to helping in any way that we can. We truly believe that any benefit, even if small, is worth fighting for.
LGBTQ+ Identified or Ally
- Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery 2023
- Assistant Professor in Neurobiology, Neurobiology 2024
Call for an Appointment
Areas of Expertise
- Diabetic Neuropathy
- High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)
- Chronic Arm Pain
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Chronic Neck Pain
- Chronic Pain Related to Spinal Cord Injury
- Dystonia
- Essential Tremor
- Deep Brain Stimulation
- Responsive Neurostimulation
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
In the News
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Clinical Focus and Research
In my lab, we study epilepsy, neuropsychiatric conditions (depression, OCD, PTSD), and tremor. Our goal is to better understand why these conditions develop in the brain and what we can do to treat them. We are particularly interested in developing new surgical neuromodulatory therapies for these conditions, with particular emphasis on the use of focused ultrasound. From our work, we hope to be able to provide our patients with new, truly disease modifying therapies that offer the promise to not only help with symptoms but actually treat the underlying condition.
- Synaptic plasticity awarded by Max Planck Institute 2013 - 2016
- TrkB receptor activation awarded by National Institutes of Health 2012 - 2015
- Souza, Daniel N. de, Andreas Seas, Kathryn Blethen, Jacob Feigal, Bhavya R. Shah, Gerald A. Grant, and Stephen C. Harward. “Focused ultrasound as an emerging therapy for neuropsychiatric disease: Historical perspectives and a review of current clinical data.” Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, February 12, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/pcn.13799.
- Shah, Bhavya R., Jody Tanabe, John E. Jordan, Drew Kern, Stephen C. Harward, Fabricio S. Feltrin, Padraig O’Suilliebhain, et al. “State of Practice on Transcranial MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound: A Report from the ASNR Standards and Guidelines Committee and ACR Commission on Neuroradiology Workgroup.” AJNR. American Journal of Neuroradiology 46, no. 1 (January 2025): 2–10. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.a8405.
- Seas, Andreas, Katrina Hon, David Chung, Lynne Todd, Bhavya R. Shah, Shivanand P. Lad, and Stephen Harward. “Four-tract tractography: multiparametric direct targeting of the dentatorubrothalamic tract.” Neurosurg Focus Video 11, no. 2 (October 2024): V2. https://doi.org/10.3171/2024.7.FOCVID2483.
- Harward, S. C., and E. M. Thompson. “Thalamic Tumors.” In Youmans and Winn Neurological Surgery: Volumes 1-4, 8th Edition, 1770-1776.e2, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-66192-8.00234-2.
- Harward, Stephen C., John D. Rolston, and Dario J. Englot. “Seizures in meningioma.,” 170:187–200, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822198-3.00053-7.
- Dahlben, B., N. Bukhari-Parlakturk, D. A. Turner, S. Harward, D. Southwell, and K. T. Mitchell. “Deep Brain Stimulation Outcomes in Underreported Dystonias: A Case Series.” In MOVEMENT DISORDERS, 38:S732–S732, 2023.
- Harward, Stephen C., Jordan M. Komisarow, Jess Rames, Sarah E. Hodges, Henry Rice, Eric M. Thompson, Herbert E. Fuchs, Carrie R. Muh, Timothy M. George, and Gerald A. Grant. “Timing of Intra-abdominal Surgery and Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Placement in the Pediatric Population: Risk of Shunt Infection.” In NEUROSURGERY, 68:91–91, 2022.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.
External Relationships
- Insightec